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One of the first things most businesses do during their extremely exciting startup phase is rush to create a business plan. While some entrepreneurs who should do this skip it, the majority actually do spend a lot of time going through and attempting to think through every possible component of their business’s future. The major trouble is, everything is going to change in time. While a business should have a plan, you need to understand that plans change.

Every business plan has some pitfall possibilities to it. While sometimes it’s more a matter of “the future feasibility of buggy whips,” other times it may boil down to “people might not want to wear computers like clothing.” Different ideas can suffer from different setbacks. The problem is so pervasive that some advisors are skeptical about business plans period. While any problem can be fixed, ultimately it comes down to whether an entrepreneur is willing to change how they think dramatically enough to do so. It’s all too easy to fall in love with your idea and not want to let go any part of it.

However, the most successful entrepreneurs are both willing and able to push through all of the internal resistance they might be feeling and make things change. Your business plan should be a reflection of how you want your company to start out, not how it’s going to be in 50 years. Even the most stable and secure businesses have pivoted heavily over their lifespans, and will continue to do so ffor as long as they’re relevant. Just be willing to make the changes.

A lot of businesses start out simply because an entrepreneur has a new idea and their boss isn’t interested in its development. For many companies, this is the start of something scary and ultimately very rewarding. However, the fact of life about technology is that it’s destined to change again and again. From walking to beasts of burden, and from electric to gas and back again, the automobile industry is just one area where technology has gone to many new places.

So how does your business plan compensate for the inevitable onslaught of new technologies? If it glosses over the entire issue, you have a serious issue on your hands. It’s downright silly to try and ignore the fact that everything is destined to change. If you do, it should come as no surprise to you when some new upstart comes around and challenges every preconceived notion in your marketplace. Your entire method of doing business may one day be rendered obsolete, and this is something you may not be able to plan for today.

Even the best entrepreneurs and wealthiest individuals can only plan about ten years out. That requires some substantial stretching intellectually, and it can be a serious challenge. When it comes to technology especially, you need to think about how you do something as just a means to an end. Before, information was transmitted and stored on paper, and computers merely picked up and eased the burden. The paper and the computer aren’t the business. They are merely tools by which the business happens, and that make it easier for you. A great entrepreneur can build a business out of air.