For all of those that are thinking about starting a business, you will do well to not over plan. Launch your business and forgo the superfluous planning.

One cannot forecast market response with complete accuracy.  Thus, a startup must be prepared to make changes to the product or service and respond to the environment.  A successful startup must alter plans and continue to move forward. No one is capable of total accuracy when anticipating consumer response. No one; not all the scientists at NASA.

To launch a successful start-up means putting your product or service into the world and listening to consumer feedback. A business person needs to be flexible and respond to the needs of the public, making changes along the way.

Make Sales.  I have witnessed startups in the planning stage for a decade. That's right; ten years of human existence devoted to planning. Yet that decennial is no closer to understanding the consumer response than a company born yesterday.  The likelihood of success for the decade-old company is no greater than the infant-company, for the former does not know how well it will be received.

Ultimately the best barometer for your product is sales. Sales data is objective and does not lie. Either you have made sales or you have not.

Avoid the Trap of Thinking Too BIG. To paraphrase an oft-repeated expression, “Shoot for the moon, and if you miss you'll land among the stars.”   High aspirations are important, yet such ambition should not foreclose the present.  Instead of organizing your logistics to become the next behemoth, launch the product, respond, and grow. Large companies grew from something small. By focusing too far down the road we make missteps along the way.

The Action Plan. The plan is simple: create a product or service, launch, and watch. Focus on the present and grow your business. Respond and make changes along the way. As your business grows and develops you can begin to focus more time on future growth. But the present is the most important time in your business life. Launch, Respond and Make Sales.