20 Lessons Leaders Wish They Had Prioritized in Their Business Plans

Learn from seasoned entrepreneurs as they reveal overlooked priorities that can turn a shaky business plan into a roadmap for lasting success.

When starting a business, it’s easy to get caught up in ambition and momentum—sometimes at the expense of long-term priorities. From hiring the right people early to clarifying purpose, ensuring financial sustainability, and planning for resilience, many entrepreneurs later realize what they could have emphasized more in their business plans. These overlooked factors often determine whether a business struggles to stay afloat or builds a foundation for lasting success.

Below, 20 Fast Company Executive Board members share the factors they wish they had prioritized from the start—and why doing so could have changed the trajectory of their businesses.

1. Communicating Broader Potential

When building our tool, we underestimated how widely our approach to data gathering could be applied. We initially focused on a specific use case, but over time, it proved adaptable in other areas where identifying risks and improving outcomes were key priorities. Looking back, I wish we had communicated that potential sooner. It might have helped others adopt similar strategies earlier. – Kelsey Morgan, EverFree

2. Making Decisions Quickly

It’s so important to make decisions quickly, as time equals money when building your business. Investing good money in bad ideas that aren’t working becomes very expensive the longer it continues. Take an experimental mindset and build rapid decision-making into your product cycle. Use data to decide your course, review results, and re-decide within six to 12 weeks max. Save time and money with hard choices. – Cheryl Contee, Change Agent AI

3. Investing in Networks

I continue to examine our business development. Most of our clients come through referrals, but referral business is not steady. Networking helps grow that, but that is time-consuming. – Al Sefati, Clarity Digital, LLC

4. Finding Your ‘Why’

Solidifying your “why” is the foundation for everything that follows, and something I wish I had done from day one. Without it, you waste time chasing what doesn’t matter. With it, you build with clarity, lead with intention, and make decisions that actually move the needle. – Evan Nierman, Red Banyan

5. Investing in People and Skills

I wish I had put even more weight on the people side of the plan—how to attract, retain, and develop talent from day one. Too often, business plans obsess over products, markets, and capital, but it’s the team that turns a good idea into a sustainable enterprise. If you invest early in skills and culture, you build the foundation to adapt to whatever the market throws at you. – Nicholas Wyman, IWSI America

6. Clarifying Purpose Early

Having a high level of clarity on purpose from the start is critical. Too many businesses begin loosely defined, assuming they can figure it out later. A clear vision and execution strategy—paired with flexibility, scrappiness, and a get-it-done attitude—gives teams the focus and resilience to navigate inevitable market shifts and makes achieving desired outcomes far more likely. – Eddy Azad, Parsec Automation Corp.

7. Focusing on Unit Economics

We didn’t have a business plan per se, but I think we definitely should have paid more attention to healthy unit economics. Our company grew exponentially during COVID-19, and we ended up with an effectively unsustainable business. This resulted in roughly a year lost to turning the company around toward sustainable growth. – Max Azarov, Novakid Inc.

8. Recognizing Fundraising Demands

The time and energy required to fundraise nearly constantly and to sync with your controller or CFO and board cannot be underestimated. Having working capital and funds available to invest into the business in growth areas is paramount to the morale and health of your startup and overall sanity. – Ken Grohe, SPHERE

9. Hiring Skilled Workers Early

Spend the money to hire the needed talent early. You cannot afford to have people learn on the job early in the lifecycle of a business. Top talent will take you to the top! – Chaun Powell, Elevate by Principal

10. Understanding the Market

One factor I wish I had prioritized, and that I think is one of the most important factors when creating a business plan, is having a clear, data-driven understanding of the market and how your business will compete. This foundation guides financial projections, operations, and marketing, ensuring that every part of the plan aligns with real opportunities tied back to the data. – Justin Rende, Rhymetec

11. Choosing Secure Systems

Many startups begin with technologies that were intended for personal, not company, use. These file-sharing services don’t meet compliance and security requirements, which can become a problem as a business grows. My advice is to start your business with secure information management platforms that offer additional services like automation and AI. That way, you’re supported for the long term. – Christina Robbins, Digitech Systems

12. Building a Strong Brand

There’s an old saying, “What’s in a name?” Turns out, it’s more than I thought. At first, we underestimated how much our brand and name mattered and tied ourselves too narrowly to an early idea. This disconnect had real costs—we struggled to attract the right talent, raise capital, and win customers who couldn’t see our full ambition. Thankfully, our rebrand aligned our identity with our true vision. – Aron Alexander, Runa

13. Narrowing to Core Strengths

If we could redo our business plan, we’d focus sooner on the services we excel at and are passionate about. Many agencies chase every opportunity, but narrowing to core strengths lets you deliver greater value, build deeper expertise, and stand out—leading to stronger long-term growth, even if reach seems limited at first. – Martin Pedersen, Stellar Agency

14. Prioritizing Action Over Plans

I wish I hadn’t prioritized a business plan! It took too much time, it distracted from execution, and it changed countless times before I found the right fit. Acting, testing, and adapting in real time proved far more valuable than perfecting a plan on paper. – Toni Pisano, PortPro Technologies, Inc.

15. Centering on Client Growth

One factor I wish I had paid more attention to is building the plan from the outside in. Too often, plans can be internally focused, and proper growth comes when they center on clients and how to grow their business. Equally critical are execution and governance—without clear accountability and discipline, even the best plans remain ideas. – Jani Hirvonen, Google

16. Having a Plan From Day One

Looking back, I wish I had created a business plan in the first place. I dove in with passion and vision, but I lacked structure. A plan would have given me clarity, a stronger financial footing, and fewer stumbles early on. The lesson: even the boldest ideas need a roadmap to grow. – Sudhir Gupta, FACTICERIE

17. Building a Lead-Nurture Funnel

Looking back, I wish I’d prioritized building a structured lead-nurture funnel early. Without an automated email sequence and retargeting workflow in my initial plan, many first-time visitors and signups fell through the cracks. Embedding that nurture sequence upfront would have accelerated conversions, improved cash flow, and turned potential leads into clients more predictably. – Kristin Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC

18. Planning for Scalability

I wish I had prioritized scalability earlier, not just growth. Building with future scale in mind, from systems to team structure, avoids costly rebuilds later. It’s easier to adapt a lean, scalable foundation than to retrofit one under pressure when momentum kicks in. – Gianluca Ferruggia, DesignRush

19. Improving Operational Efficiency

I wish I had prioritized operational efficiency earlier. Building lean systems from day one would have reduced costs, improved scalability, and freed resources for growth. Strong processes aren’t just back-office—they’re the foundation for sustaining profitability and competitive advantage. – Stephen Nalley, Black Briar Advisors

20. Prioritizing Resilience Planning

I wish I had prioritized resilience planning earlier—anticipating crises, market shifts, or sudden scale. A business plan often leans on growth projections, but resilience builds longevity. When disruption hits, adaptability and buffers make the difference between survival and setback. – Boris Dzhingarov, ESBO ltd

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