FBC – 156 – Should You Go In ONLY With A Plan A? How Brave Are You?

Should You Go In ONLY With A Plan A? How Brave Are You?

Today, we are going to discuss the necessity (or not) of going in with a contingency plan when going after your dreams. There are different approaches to it. Which one would you pick?

I will tell you what I would do inside the episode

Today I want to tell you about a conversation that I had with a bunch of friends. A conversation that could go either way. So I am going to give you both versions, because I don't think I have a set answer for this.

And the topic was, when you start a business or something, should you go in with a plan B? All right. So, you know, it's debatable. Right. So some people might decide to go with one plan. Other people might decide to go with a plan B. So I just wanted to explore both options. If you ask me, both of them make sense.

So my friends were saying that, well, you know what? You know, when you're back’s against the wall and basically you have to make it work. This is when you are the most resourceful. And you'll come up with something incredible that comes from thinking outside the box and everything. Okay.

So I told you that sometimes you need to put yourself in that situation where your back is against the wall, like you will limit the budget that you have, that you have to be creative and stuff and you basically limit the options, you know. Because, you know, again, when you don't feel you don't have a choice and your backs against the wall, you need to make it happen.

And it's actually a good thing when you don't have a plan B, you know. So it's a motivator. And you have to make it happen. So I do agree with them on that point.

But I didn't agree with them on the fact that people, who go in with the Plan B, are not really committed to their plan A. So basically, you know, having a Plan B is basically a like some sort of an excuse, you know, like a walking stick. You can you can lean on. When it starts getting tough on the plan A, try plan B. You know, so that could be could be this. And it happens.

I think some people need a Plan B just in case. You know, you need to do a little bit of planning. You need some sort of like contingency plan just in case something goes bad. But I said as well. I mean don't over complicate things and overthink everything and have a plan B and plan C and plan D. The actual thing I wanted to say about plan B will lead me to my point.

Are you the type of person to go with the plan A? Or are you the type of person who still goes in but has some sort of like contingency plan like plan B?

Me, I'm more the plan B type. You know, not because I am planning on giving up on plan A. But it's just because I know I want to be able to make something happen just in case it doesn't work out.

So the number one is a very, very, very dangerous number in business. So let me tell you this, if you go with Plan A, for example, and your plan A revolves around Facebook and all of a sudden you lose your Facebook account, what now? You get slapped in the face by Facebook and you haven't planned for anything else.

Then everything goes down the drain. And well, I mean, if you had to deal with these people, you'd know how complicated it is to get an account back. All right. So this is what I told them.

Should You Go In ONLY With A Plan A? How Brave Are You?

There are some aspects of your plan where you actually need a plan B. So there is one thing which is needing it and there is another thing, which is the timing. So don't ever be in a position where the survival of your business revolves around one platform or one external element.

So my point was that timing is crucial. OK. So I do understand that maybe you created this workflow, whatever. It works like gang busters. And it's maybe killing it for the next five years, 10 years or whatever. So what do we do in that case? We just become complacent. Right. You like the way it works and it will be there until the end of time and you just rely on it. OK.

And then one day Bam hits you in the face. OK. So my thing was, dude, make sure that as bad ass as this platform or this traffic strategy or the traffic source or whatever is, you know, as good as it is, you need to consider what your plan will be if one day it all goes down.

Take some time to get something else going. Have these things running in the background in parallel. Just in case if something goes down one day, then. Well, you at least you have something else.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it dangerous to start a business with only a Plan A?

Only if Plan A has a single point of failure you cannot recover from. The risk is not the lack of Plan B, it is the lack of awareness about what kills Plan A. Knowing your three biggest failure modes and pre-deciding how to respond beats having a vague backup plan.

What is the difference between Plan A only and burning the boats?

Burning the boats removes the option to retreat so commitment becomes total. Plan A only is a belief that the first strategy will work without contingency planning. Both increase focus, but burning the boats is a deliberate strategic choice while Plan A only is often denial wearing a brave face.

When should an entrepreneur have a Plan B ready?

When the cost of Plan A failing is catastrophic (debt, dependents, no income), build Plan B before launch. When the cost is bearable (3 to 6 months of saved runway, no fixed obligations), Plan A only sharpens execution. The trigger is downside math, not personality preference.

How do you decide if your Plan A is worth full commitment?

Score it on three axes: market evidence (real money exchanged in pre-sales), unfair advantage (a skill, network, or access others lack), and recovery cost (months to rebuild if it fails). Plans scoring high on all three deserve full commitment. Plans missing two of three need a Plan B.

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

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