According to our original business plan, I would probably just now be exiting our health care business. But the exit ended up happening about twelve years earlier than we had thought. As carefully as we plan, the same change that creates the opportunity can lead us in unexpected twists and turns.
A great example of this can be found in the story of Chipotle told by its founder Steve Ells in a recent issue of Time.
After two years, I started to have thoughts about opening my own restaurant–a large-scale place, a “fancy” restaurant. But the economic side of the business was daunting. Knowing that many restaurants fail within a few short years of opening, I wanted some sort of backup, so that’s where the idea for Chipotle came. It wasn’t intended to be my main focus but a cash cow that would help position me to open a full-scale restaurant.
They now have hundreds of restuarants located all across the country. Plans do indeed change….
(Thanks to Sarah Brown for passing this along).