Planning a business? Study Apollo 11

NASA celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20th.

While many people typically look at the moon landing itself as the “big story,” I am first and foremost impressed with the immense amount of planning that was required to make this incredible event happen.

Planning is about setting a goal or defining a mission and then creating the definitive list of “things” that have to happen… in the precise order they need to happen so that you reach the goal.

This planning also includes contingencies. Because as much as we would like to see things happen 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and so on, they don’t always do that. Something happens along the way that requires us to transpose two steps, eliminate one of those steps, or create a new step. The end result could be 1, 3, 2, 4a, 4b, 7, 6a, and so on. You get the picture.

Starting a new business is no different that putting a man on the moon. It requires a clear and definite destination. And then it requires an understanding of the steps necessary to make it happen. That means breaking down the mission into a series of manageable steps or activities.

Starting a new business requires considerably fewer steps than putting a man on the moon. My approach in helping people start a new business is to create a “short list” of only the most essential steps of the startup, and then go back later to fill in all of the other steps.

The other thing that impresses me about this mission is that before that first moonwalk, no one had walked on the moon. All of the planning occurred without previously having the specific experience of putting a man on the moon.

So it is with a business startup. You don’t need specific experience in how to start a business. Your lifetime of experiences in other endeavors is usually more than ample to carry you through this planning as well as the implementation.