These articles always make me think of this Eisenhower quote: "In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable."
This. The real value in creating a "business plan" is in the focusing of your business.
It isn't necessarily a good idea to go into business completely blind with no knowledge of who your potential customers and competitors are and what your revenue model is. Writing a business plan forces you to think through these key components.
The definition of a "business plan" should be flexible. I prefer to use three pages or less, single spaced. That's enough room to cover all the topics while keeping it brief.
There will be time to make revenue models and projections once you actually have some sales on which to base your calculations.
Yeah I've written one business plan in my life as a final project for my MBA.
The plan itself was pretty much useless, I've never used it (note it wasn't just a project, I killed two birds with one stone by writing a plan for a business I have actually started, and used it for my final).
But the act of going through the steps was an invaluable learning experience.
