The ADHD-friendly Business Plan You'll Actually Use
If you've ever felt overwhelmed, boxed in, or just plain bored by traditional business plans as a small business owner with ADHD, this episode is for you! Host Diann Wingert is here to reimagine business planning in a way that's actually ADHD-friendly—lean, flexible, visual, and, most importantly, useful.
Whether you’re new to entrepreneurship or tired of winging it and hitting hidden roadblocks, Diann guides you through a business planning approach that celebrates how the ADHD brain works best. Get ready to create a plan you'll actually want to use!
Episode highlights:
The Big Lie:
Your ADHD brain thinks planning cramps your style—but done right, the opposite is true. Planning can be the external structure that fuels freedom, creativity, and calm in your business. The trick? Ignore the boring templates and create a plan tailored to how your brain truly operates.
Why Traditional Business Plans Don't Work for ADHD Brains:
The pitfalls of rigid, lengthy plans and how they trigger resistance and procrastination.
Why our tendency to wing it isn’t always as productive (or painless) as it feels.
The Hidden Costs of ‘Winging It’:
Missed opportunities
Wasted energy
Unfinished projects.
Introducing the ADHD-Friendly Minimal Business Plan Framework:
Four simple pillars (instead of 40 pages)
North Star: Your “why,” distilled for everyday decisions.
Revenue Reality Check: Getting real with three simple numbers.
Zone of Genius: Maximizing what energizes you and minimizing the rest.
Next Three Moves: Concrete, short-term steps—no five-year forecasts here!
Making Your Business Plan Visual & Flexible:
Why a one-page, visual dashboard beats a document you’ll never open again.
Tools and formats—Trello, Canva, voice-to-text, and more—that play to ADHD strengths.
Get it Done (Without Overwhelm) with The Sprint Method
25 minutes a day, one pillar at a time, over four days.
Walk away when the timer rings—even mid-sentence.
No giant blocks of time, no perfectionism, no overwhelm.
Homework:
Take 25 minutes this week and pick ONE pillar to focus on—whichever feels easiest or most fun. (Money anxiety? Start with your North Star instead!) Next week, another pillar. Within a month, you’ve got an ADHD-friendly business plan that you will actually use!
Share your ADHD-friendly business plan with Diann
SpeakPipe voice messaging: https://www.speakpipe.com/AskDiannAnything
About the Host:
Diann Wingert (she/her) is a former psychotherapist turned business strategist with a passion for supporting neurodivergent entrepreneurs. With real-world experience as both a clinician and a business owner—and her signature no-BS, motivational style—Diann specializes in helping business owners find strategies and systems to balance their passion and purpose, with profit, and avoid burnout in the process.
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© 2025 ADHD-ish Podcast. Intro music by Ishan Dincer / Melody Loops / Outro music by Vladimir / Bobi Music / All rights reserved.
