Do we really need a business plan for a business?

There is somewhat heated debate about the advantages and disadvantages of having a business plan for a business. Some people or businesses do not have one and some have elaborate ones. If you want to get funding then I believe you would need one since you would have to show the trajectory of your business from start up to maturity so that the investors know how much time it would take them to cash out or even know if their investment is worth the risk. But if you are self-funding than either you can have one so that you know you are on the right track or at least fulfilling some of the goals of your business or you can just build one as your business grows. Here I can say that you need to have a plan business or otherwise so that you know where you are heading. You can either create one from scratch or have some software do it for you but at least you should have rough draft of what you want to get out of your business. I believe that business plan is needed but it should not be so elaborate that you are hung up on it so much that you are paralyzed in case you don’t follow through. As always business plans are very dynamic and fluid and as your business grows so does your business plan. A business plan is just a starting point and it can take sometimes a few hours or sometimes a few months but don’t get too much attached to this notion in a way that your business never gets off ground.