Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."

When I was a young entrepreneur, just getting going in my business career I had some experiences that put me on a clear path. And now, after having done hundreds of business plans and seen over and over what a difference they can make to a business owner - the clear end goal, the action steps they provide, the sense of ease they help with, the increase in revenue… I know how much an effective, up to date, action based plan helps.

But not every entrepreneur and business owner understands that. I was reading over at All Business the other day… there's a column there written by Tim Berry who's the president of Palo Alto software. He was writing in response to a question from a reader, who wanted advice on what to do next but was unwilling to write a plan for his business.

It seems obvious. If you don't know where you are going, how do you know which steps to take and when, in order to get… somewhere? Somehow, many people have decided that planning takes too much time and that time, is better spent doing more stuff.

Since when has doing more become the answer to having too much to do?

Things change and your plan has to be flexible. That takes thinking and working "on" your business time. The value in the plan is that you know where you are going so you can better adapt to a changing path getting there.

In a small business, you never have enough time. You must be smart and efficient with your use of the time available. Having a plan and updating it regularly, makes that possible.

And, no matter how carefully you plan your goals, they will not amount to anything unless you pursue them with gusto.