Does your business plan defy the laws of physics?

Over the years, I have seen many intelligent-sounding business plans which:

1. Were based on fantasy or otherwise not grounded in reality;
2. Were out of date before the ink was dry; or
3. Went into someone’s desk drawer never again to see the light of day.

In one way or another, most of these business plans defied the laws of physics. Here are some examples.

• The Law of Inertia – bodies at rest tend to stay at rest. This category includes plans based on wishful thinking: “We want revenues to grow at 20% per year. If we write it down, maybe it will happen.” As in physics, a business requires net new energy to be applied to speed it up or move it in a different direction.

• The Law of Gravity – what goes up must come down. Or my favorite variation, “trees don’t grow to the sky.” Many companies especially favor a revenue forecast that looks like a hockey stick with the handle pointed up and to the right. “If we can just get this [whatever] off the ground, it will take off like a rocket.”

• The Law of Entropy – like a toy spinning top, a business left to its own devices will eventually spin down. It requires periodic injections of net new energy to keep it going.

Where does this energy come from?

Management initiative, innovation, and investment. Starting and growing a business is hard work. It requires focused energy and lots of it.