Plans never go as smoothly as you would hope. There are always some kinks or changes along the way. A rigid plan may not be able to withstand the obstacles thrown or the changes that are happening.

There may be instances when the market and environment may shift and things may look a lot more different than what was originally conceived earlier.

For example, say you sold only one product – cassette tape recorders. But suddenly CD’s and MP3 players started coming into the market. If you stuck to your product and did not change with the times, then you would most likely have gone out of business. Rather than that, if you changed your strategy and started bringing in CD and MP3 players, you would be doing much better.

Question is, was your business flexible enough for you to change your strategy???

With a flexible plan you will be able to change with the times and alter your business strategies as changes happen around you. This gives you more opportunity and fewer restrictions to conduct business in the market.

You have to allow for your business to adapt to the change in the market and the consumers.

How do you make your business plan fluid? How to be flexible?

1. Contingency Planning – It is best to put in some Plan B’s in case something goes wrong or markets change. This shows that you have thought of different scenarios and are open to make changes in case anything happens, mentally preparing you to be flexible.
2. Spend on what you need. Don’t block funds.
   Unless you are absolutely sure that you need a particular item or service for your business, try not to use too much of funds in the beginning. Especially in the initial stages of your business, there could be a lot of changes, thus the need for flexibility. If you have put all your money in one basket and the market changes, then you may have dead machinery or a huge amount of unmovable stock.

Try your best to avoid tying up your funds too early, unless absolutely necessary. Having some cash on hand, will help you adjust during changing times.

As we have mentioned before, work on starting small and scaling upwards, it gives you more space to work and test your ideas. So if something fails, you will be able to change plans and move to another direction quickly.

Consider the business plan as a living document; something that evolves over time. That being said an entrepreneur should not lose track of the vision and uniqueness of the idea being implemented and their end goal.

It is good to be flexible, taking different routes along the way, but ensure that you finally reach the destination that was planned for in the beginning.