In an ideal world, we'd make careful plans before going to work for ourselves. But planning for your small business or when you are self-employed is a bit like planning for the arrival of your first child.

You prepare the nursery, decide whether or not to hire a diaper service, and arrange to get some help in the first weeks.

But no amount of planning can prepare you for the reality of having a child.

Likewise, there's a very big gap between the plans we lay before starting a business and the reality of being out on our own.

Does this mean you can ignore strategic planning in small business?

Of course not. Planning is an essential part of bringing your dream to life. So is letting go of the results.

Business planning...For as long as you work for yourself, you will make plans, implement them, and let go of them. You'll need to evaluate the results you get and apply what you learn to your next plan.

You may be tempted to compare your experience with the results you see in other people's businesses.

That will make you crazy.

There's very little resemblance between how a business looks from the outside and the way it looks from the inside. And there is virtually no valid comparison between the outside of someone else's life and the inside of yours.

The truth is that working for yourself is a messy business. You do things without understanding the consequences. You revise your tactics based on what really happens. And then, finally, you are equipped to do it "right."

And then it changes, and you start over again.

This is the way of it. Whenever you feel overwhelmed by woulda-coulda-shouldas, remember that the right way to grow a business is to get your hands dirty.