Tim Berry of Palo Alto Software (www.businessplanning.com) offers these eight common mistakes to avoid when creating or revising your business plan:

Too many businesses make business plans only when there is no choice in the matter – unless the bank or the investors want a plan, there is no plan. Don’t wait to write your plan until you think you’ll have enough time. “I can’t plan. I’m too busy getting things done,” business people say. The busier you are, the more you need to plan.

Most people think in terms of profits instead of cash. When you imagine a new business, think of what it would cost to make the product, what you could sell it for and what the profits might be. We are trained to think of business as sales minus costs and expenses, which equal profits. Unfortunately, we don’t spend the profits in a business – we spend cash. So understanding cash flow is critical. If you have only one table in your business plan, make it the cash flow table.

Don’t overestimate the importance of the idea. You don’t need a great idea to start a business; you need time, money, perseverance and common sense. Few successful businesses are based entirely on new ideas. A new idea is harder to sell than an existing one, because people don’t understand a new idea, and they are often unsure if it will work. Plans don’t sell new business ideas to investors; people do. Investors invest in people, not ideas. The plan, though necessary, is only a way to present information.

Creating a business plan isn’t as difficult as you might think. You don’t have to write a doctoral thesis. There are many good books, advisors among the Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs, www.sba.gov/sbdc), business schools and software available to help you.

Leave out the vague and the catchy business phrases (such as “being the best”), because they are simply hype. Remember that the objective of a plan is its results, and for results, you need tracking and follow-up. You need specific dates, management responsibilities, budgets and milestones. No matter how well-planned or brilliantly presented, your business plan means nothing unless it produces results.

Tailor your plan to its real business purpose. Business plans can be different things. Often they are just sales documents to sell an idea for a new business. They can also be detailed action plans, financial plans, marketing plans and even personnel plans. They can be used to start a business or just run a business better.

Remember, strategy is focus. A priority list with three or four items is focused. A priority list with 20 items is certainly not strategic and rarely, if ever, effective. The more items on the list, the more the importance of each is diminished.

Sales grow slowly at first but then shoot up boldly with huge growth rates as soon as “something happens.” Have projections that are conservative so you can defend them. When in doubt, be less optimistic.