Behind every successful startup business is a well laid plan, right? Maybe not. The new trend is a lean canvas. The old-school business plan has met its demise because it just can’t keep up with the rapid changes necessary for startup success. After all, one of a startups early goals is dynamic growth. That means a business plan can quickly become obsolete. A business plan is also created behind a desk as a theory. A lean canvas is created in the trenches, so to speak.

• Attention Span: Reviewing a lean canvas is much more attractive to prospective investors than a typical business plan. Instead of perusing a multi-page document, investors are tasked with a one-page lean canvas. An entrepreneur is able to convey his mission in less than a minute of an investor’s time.
  
  
• Exposure: The more eyes on the canvas, the more opportunities to reach the right person who wants to invest in your business. It is so much easier to share a single page document than a large file.
  
  
• Time Is Money: In any business, that old adage is true. When problems arise, a business wants to solve their problems quickly and efficiently. A lean canvas offers a one-page model a business can use that offers problem solving at record pace. Considering that business experts at Harvard report that 75% of startups fail, it is important to be equipped with the best problem-solving tools.
  
  
• Methodology: Business plans of old often took weeks of preparation. They were elaborate plans that laid out a path to success. But, judging by the numbers out of Harvard, it seems that such detailed planning did not really work out that well. The methodology of a lean canvas approach allows for more creativity, experimentation, if you will. Flexibility is integrated into a lean canvas because it can be adjusted according to customer feedback. Instead of being a soothsayer, projecting what you expect to happen with a business plan, entrepreneurs become a mirror, reflecting customer feedback on a canvas.
  
  
• Perfection Fallacy: A business plan’s weakness lay in its self-confidence that if the proposed path is followed, the business simply cannot fail. The lean canvas turns this perspective on its head. The lean canvas says, “Hey, I expect bumps in the road. I even expect some of my ideas to bomb. But I have a quick response plan that creates fluidity within my business. I can adjust and recover quickly.”
  
  
• Years To Launch: It has not been uncommon for a business or product idea to spend years being researched. That is time wasted and revenue lost. A product or service could have been engaging consumers and evolving, becoming more relevant, allowing feedback to shape it into exactly what customers desire. Master plans fail because they lack this real-world input.