Yet this does not support the argument against formal planning, since the more successful firms did work from a prescribed text, as noted by Sexton and Van Auken. Their research established that 20 percent of firms that engaged in no formal strategic planning failed compared with 8 percent of those who did plan. “Strategic planning appears to be a scarce, fragile commodity in the small business environment… despite the evidence that financial performance, Orphen concludes with the finding that the amount of time and the quality of the planning done by small firms rewarded them with financial success, in contrast to small firms who did none of the above.