Facing the daunting task of creating a more comprehensive plan for my ever evolving business structure(s), I found myself beginning to liken the business plan to an age old computer game. I was first exposed to Oregon Trail at the age of around six or seven, when a school workstation was nothing more than a drab concoction of green type and stick people. None the less, the game was exciting to a budding entrepreneur such as myself. Each day for about an hour I would set off into the undiscovered wilderness on a rickety old covered wagon, hoping that it would be the day that my wagon wheel remained in tact and I was able to make just a bit further than the day prior. Each day I would be faced with a new challenge and each day I would leave that tiny little computer lab wondering why I didn’t have what it took to traverse the trail unscathed. What I did not realize until much later in life were the underlying lessons of the game itself.
A business plan is much like a game of Oregon Trail in that you set out with what you hope to be all of the necessary tools to achieve your final destination, but somewhere along the way you run into a detour. Your wagon wheel becomes unhinged or your water supply becomes scare and you are forced to ration. The question is are you willing to adapt and avert the detour or will you smack your keyboard and throw your hands up in surrender. Your business plan is not the be all end all for the life of your business, it is simply a roughly sketched road map. You can not plan for everything that lies before you on the long dusty trail, you will not always have enough water but if you are willing to adapt and innovate your wagon will eventually arrive.
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