You don't need a business plan. You need a mental plan.

Left brained people, you might want to take some Advil or Pepto-Bismol before reading the next sentence.

 “I like doing things without having complete reasoning behind it,” he says, sounding unlike just about any other businessman on the planet. “The reasoning comes later.”

Do you know who said it?  You’re right if you think it’s one of them internet entrepreneurs.  Which one?  Here’s a hint:  The community that surrounds his brand creates the ideas for every one of their products and decides on which ones get produced.  More on that in a bit.

There’s a lot that’s interesting about that statement. 

“I like doing things without having complete reasoning behind it,” he says.  Maybe not complete, but my guess is, he’s got plenty of reasoning behind it.  Being a right brainer, he’s done a lot of the pre-thinking thinking without even knowing it, collecting thoughts and ideas as he walks down the street, rides his bike, watches videos and movies, and lives his life.  He may not admit to having a complete and total plan but it’s all up there.  

“…sounding unlike just about any other businessman on the planet.”  Hmmm.  Have you been to 1871, the incredibly cool tech incubator on the 12^th floor of the Merchandise Mart?  Have you heard of that Zuckerberg guy and/or seen the Social Network?  

For every businessperson on our planet with a business plan laid out, there’s another one with a loosely formulated collection of thoughts rolling around in her head that paint a picture what the future of her business may look like. The startup folks at 1871 start with a great idea and a healthy combination of belief and passion and are constantly searching out new information.  But they’re also figuring it out as they go.


To quote my business bible, Re-Work: "Planning is Guessing."

“The reasoning comes later.” Or maybe it never comes at all. Maybe your faith in your idea leads you down an ever-changing path that you hold onto for dear life because you know there’s something phenomenal on the other side, and along the way, great things are sure to happen.. 

That’s what’s happened so far to Jake Nickell, the founder and owner of Threadless, the T-shirt company with over 2 million members, 400,000 designs submitted, and over $5 million awarded to artists who’ve designed shirts for Threadless (One of the designs is pictured above).

Oh, Jake’s made a few bucks on Threadless too.

Without having complete reasoning behind it.

So left and right brainers, collect your thoughts, roll them around in your head, and the plan will form, whether it’s completely thought through or not.