Dear Farillio reader,

On 25th February 2021, you asked our brilliant expert partner Joshua Bicknell:

"How long does it take to plan a business using your tool? I've got some thoughts already, but I find the planning process overwhelming. There's so much stuff I'm not sure about and I'm not great at putting things in writing. I don’t know where to start."

And Joshua said:

Be mighty always, Farillio

Transcript:

“I think the key in any business idea is, that plan needs to be proportionate to how far along and how developed you really are. But then it's about going deeper, right? So, once you got that idea, you then need to start talking to people and testing it to come up with a more developed plan. You need to think about if this is going to work and that will obviously take longer, and it depends on how long it takes you to find something that really fits. I think at that first stage, on Validate, you can run through an idea. You can think about your customers, what value you’re offering, how you get to market, your operations, your finances, and you can do that in 15 or 20 minutes, and that's the first stage. I think the key thing about a business plan, and where Validate comes in, is that it shouldn't just be this document that you create, even after you’ve launched, which then sits in a cupboard and you never look at it. It should be iterative because every week or month you're learning and you're honing your idea. I really recommend going back into Validate and updating bits of your canvas, updating your tests and your plan, so that it really relates to real life.”

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Want more from Joshua?

You can also find Joshua’s answers to other questions being asked by you and your community in our Dear Farillio section on our blog site, and Joshua’s great guidance on business here.

Please note: The contents of this blog are not tailored business advice or legal advice. This is guidance and information, which we do our best to keep current, relevant and helpful. If you need business or legal advice, please use our Speak To An Adviser service or you can get in touch via our LiveChat.