Completely disregarding the planning process is asking for trouble. If you're not looking for outside funding you might not need as detailed a plan as otherwise, but you still should develop the important parts of your business plan. For example, you should still create a mission statement and set goals for your company. Don't disregard the importance of mapping out pro forma financial statements for five years. You should definitely still research your target market and develop a detailed marketing plan and strategy. These are all important parts of business plans that should not be disregarded in any case.

The study doesn't suggest that no planning is done by those businesses that are successful without a written business plan, but it does suggest that you don't need to actually write your business plan. The main reason why I disagree with this idea is because I don't believe that a goal is a goal until you've written it down, and the real value in writing a business plan isn't describing your management team or what technology you will use. The real value comes from the goals and objectives you set.

One point that I readily agree with is raised by Professor William Bygrave. He explained that many would-be business owners spend too much time planning and not enough time doing. That's definitely the truth in many cases. It's one of the main reasons why we developed the Business Plan Success template - to make this planning process easier so that business owners could finish their business plan and concentrate on running their business quickly. I agree with his advice to get out and "just do it." I disagree with the idea that you should get out and do it without any written planning or direction though.

Don't use the study from Babson College to justify not writing a plan for your business. While many businesses are successful without a formal business plan, I'm willing to bet that there was some sort of planning involved in getting every successful business started.