There are two schools of thought regarding business plans. One demands a formal written plan before you launch your enterprise. The other doesn’t.

Many entrepreneurs believe business plans are superfluous. Indeed, there’s no shortage of success stories that involved little advance planning. Many entrepreneurs claim they’re guided by intuitive sense, and insist they respond instinctively to changing circumstances. Perhaps.

But here’s a tip. If you don’t have a plan, you don’t know where you’re going. You won’t know whether you’ve arrived. And you won’t have contingencies when you reach a dead end. Moreover, if you need financing and don’t have a formal plan, be prepared to borrow from Aunt Ellen, not institutional lenders.

There are stacks of business planning books and software. Some are good. Indeed, some are recommended here.

But before you fill in the blanks, write esoteric mission statements and chart demographics, note some basics. You may find it unnecessary go much beyond them.

When planning your business, consider:

• The cost to get started, and how you will get the money.

• Who your buyers are, and what motivates them—value, status, basic needs.

• Where your buyers are, and how to reach them.

• When your buyers buy, and how to accommodate their purchasing habits.

• How to determine your price.

• Where and under what terms will you acquire what you sell, or the equipment, facilities and supplies to create what you sell.

• Who you will employ, how much to pay and where will to find them.

• How much money you need to begin, and how much for reserves.

• How to expand to accommodate growth—or contract if sales decline.

• Who your competitors are, and how they address these issues.

• Your goals, and how to measure them.

As a concession to the “I-don’t-need-no-stinking-business-plan” mentality, it’s true that an excruciatingly detailed blueprint probably is more work than it’s worth.

However, it’s worth writing down who you are, who your customers are, how to bring the two together and what “Plan B” is when “Plan A” flops. Write it in pencil; that is, make it flexible. There’s no rule that says you must march in lockstep to a plan that’s not working or when circumstances change.