Planning behaviour of successful and non successful founders of new ventures

A business plan is often considered as a critical success factor for a new venture. A literature review offers that the extent of planning derived from suggested business plan structures differs widely. Situation specific requirements of the extent of planning needed are rarely found. Most of the literature seems to be prescriptive in an unfounded manner. An empirical study comparing successful and non-successful founders of new ventures reveals that not the extent of planning but the quality of planning is a critical factor. The ability to separate essentials from matters of secondary importance and to concentrate on key elements of the foundation and early start-up phase are related to successful founders.