| At the tender age of 7, my swimming coach | | | | business plan consisted of at least thirty pages and I |
| attempted to drown me. | | | | struggled vehemently to get past the first two pages. |
| Growing up in Nigeria, a full-sized swimming pool was | | | | The plan required too much information. You needed a |
| very hard to find. So it was a pleasant surprise when I | | | | mission statement, a budget, a five year vision, a |
| discovered that my neighbors from across the street | | | | business name and much more. |
| had an actual pool. Unfortunately, my excitement was | | | | My inability to get past the first two pages of my |
| quickly dampened by a lingering reality, "I couldn't swim." | | | | business plan inadvertently stalled my business dream. |
| While the other kids jumped and splashed around the | | | | And would have killed it completely, if it weren't for a |
| pool, I remained rooted in the shallow end engulfed in a | | | | simple phone conversation...I needed price-quotes for a |
| resplendent glow. A glow that emanated from the | | | | website to complete the budget section of my |
| numerous orange colored swimming aids that | | | | never-ending business plan. So I called upon the only |
| prevented me from drowning in the shallow end! For | | | | web developer I knew, my older brother. To create a |
| years I sat at the edge of the pool wondering what it | | | | website I was informed I would need at least $1000! I |
| would feel like to swim unassisted in the deep end...until | | | | was shocked but intrigued at the prospects of having |
| one summer I met Coach Mike. | | | | a website created. |
| Coach was a rocks answer to floating. He was what I | | | | "But I don't have a business name and my plan is not |
| needed to overcome my fear of the deep end. | | | | complete" I blurted out to my brother. The response |
| Coach's promise was that he would have me | | | | over the phone was an almost one minute long bout |
| swimming laps around the pool by the end of summer. | | | | of uncontrollable laughter. |
| The next several weeks would prove to be grueling | | | | "Business plan?" my brother stuttered incredulously. |
| as I was subjected to a strict regimen of numbing | | | | "You don't need a business plan to build a website and |
| exercises; from the wall-paddling to the free-style | | | | surely you don't need a business plan to start your |
| "float assisted" glide. Soon I became an expert, | | | | business." |
| conditioned to swim effortlessly in the shallow end | | | | But everyone said you needed a business plan. Even |
| without any assistance. | | | | the lawyer at the entrepreneurship forum echoed the |
| After weeks of intense training, it came time for us to | | | | needs of a business plan. But then I remembered she |
| test our skills in the deep end. Now this was the true | | | | started her law business only because she got laid off! |
| test of swimmers. It was what separated the rocks | | | | But what about Kamil? He had written up to 3 |
| from the feathers. All we had to do was dive into the | | | | business plans, all of which were brilliant. However, he |
| deep end with floaters and swim across the face of | | | | still did not have a business. He had three concrete |
| the pool to the opposite end. One by one, each kid | | | | proposals, but no business. At that moment, I realized |
| splashed, wriggled and paddled their way to the target | | | | that contrary to common knowledge, my business plan |
| destination. Every kid, except me. Overcome by fear, I | | | | was actually an obstacle that had prevented me from |
| stayed planted to the edge of the pool. The coach | | | | starting my dreams. |
| employed different strategies to get me to jump. He | | | | The next morning, I took a leap of faith and mailed out |
| tried encouraging me, but that didn't work. He even | | | | a $250 check as a down payment to begin work on a |
| tried screaming at me, but the more he yelled, the | | | | website. I didn't have a business name; neither did I |
| more terrified I became. By this time the entire pool | | | | have mission statement. But with $250 invested in a |
| area had come to a quiet standstill, everyone had | | | | website, my mind suddenly became productive. And |
| stopped swimming. The resulting silence was suddenly | | | | within a week I had come up with two different |
| disrupted by a loud scream and subsequent splash. | | | | business names, a mission statement and a one page |
| That was the sound of me being flung several feet | | | | biography. An act that led to the creation of Ofili |
| across the pool, landing awkwardly in the now still | | | | Speaks Inc and a business. A business that has seen |
| water...I struggled frantically to stay afloat, kicking and | | | | me travel all over America and potentially author a |
| paddling with the conviction of a man doomed to a | | | | book. Accomplishments that were never captured on |
| bitter fate. In all the chaos I could hear the muffled | | | | the pages of a business plans. |
| sounds of bodies splashing around as they dived to | | | | As I write today I reflect deeply on the instance I made |
| rescue me. But in my state of confusion and panic, I | | | | the decision to start. That moment allowed me to |
| kept paddling frantically and then suddenly I stopped | | | | begin a journey. A journey marked by tears, laughter, |
| struggling and just swam...I could swim! | | | | disappointments and occasional triumphs. But most |
| Several years later, I found myself in a similar | | | | importantly, a moment that enabled me to struggle but |
| predicament. As I stared down the deep end of life, | | | | swim against the harsh currents of business |
| yearning to jump in. But this time, I was stuck in the | | | | entrepreneurship. After I was forced into the pool, I |
| shallow end of corporate America, working a 9 to 5 | | | | realized that I had always possessed the potential to |
| routine job. I had a passion trapped inside of me, a | | | | swim. But yet I was stuck at the edge, paralyzed by |
| strong desire to impact my community through public | | | | fear and weakened by excuses. |
| speaking and writing. Instead I was stuck on the edge | | | | Today's business dreams are trapped, in the same |
| of life crippled by my inability to come up with a | | | | way, on the edges of great minds like yours. Your |
| business plan. I had heard the business-plan-advice | | | | dreams are waiting to leap unto a website, a brochure, |
| everywhere, from financial advisors to legal | | | | a store...but sadly they lie dormant, waiting for the |
| practitioners... | | | | perfect set of circumstances to bring them to life. |
| "You need a business plan to start a business" | | | | Unfortunately, those circumstances often come in the |
| "A business plan is a must if your business is to stay | | | | form of layoff's or financial difficulties. Your dream is |
| afloat" | | | | too precious to be imprisoned by a metaphorical |
| So for years, I tried working on a business plan, but this | | | | business plan. Start your dream, discover your potential |
| turned out to be quite an impossible task. The average | | | | and draft your business plan as you swim along. |