What? You mean I have to write a business plan?
Absolutely, positively without a doubt, yes, you should write a business plan.
Many people freeze up when it comes to writing their business plan -- even though it's an essential step in launching a business.
They'll stall and make excuses for procrastinating on writing their plan when the best thing is to just jump in and get started.
There are two main reasons why you need a business plan:
1. It is your guide or road map to running your business. It is how you said you would run your business when you were clear-headed and calm and not caught up in the day-to-day challenges of running a business. It gives you a set of goals and objectives that you verified. It explains the overall strategy so that you can keep your business developing in the right direction. It also keeps you and your associates honest with yourselves because it is a written plan so you must address it if you decide to change directions.
2. Your business plan is your first and most important communication tool. Bankers, investors, advisors and a host of others will read your plan, so it must clearly and concisely communicate your business concept, how it will be executed, who will benefit and how will it be funded. Also remember that others will use it to make decisions. If the information is not expressed well, then you have made it hard for readers to back you and your team.
WHAT GOES INTO
A BUSINESS PLAN?
To put it bluntly, any and all information needed to communicate your concept and not one word more.
To get an idea about what the format of a business plan should be, the best place to start is on the Small Business Administration's website, www.sba.gov. You will find, under the ''Small Business Planner'' section, a host of tools to help you in writing your plan. And it's all free. You will also find a ''Local Resources'' section that includes business analysts who can help you with the planning process.
HOW DO I START
WRITING MY PLAN?
Can you believe that Shakespeare wrote Hamlet without a laptop and some folks find it hard to start their plan? The problem: They are not in the right frame of mind. To get there, just decide not to accept any reasons for not writing your plan. Next, commit to a time when you will start writing it.
The exercise I usually give my clients is to get a pad and pen (not a pencil, since you will not need to erase) and then go to a park or beach and start writing. Write as if you are writing a letter to a friend about your business idea and how you will get it off the ground. This always gets folks started. From there, you can edit, correct and format until the plan is done.
Now get to writing.
Good luck and Happy Business!
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