Do You Really Need a Business Plan?
"I don't need a business plan."
Neither did Alice in Wonderland.
"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where," said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
As a consultant, I have people ask me "How can I increase my business?" The answer is often easier than they think. But before figuring out how, they must decide where they want to take their business. This is why everyone in business should have a business plan, not just the people seeking venture capital.
Your business plan will be the "road map" of your enterprise. It will show you how to get to where you want to go. To develop a good plan, you need to write down the answers to quite a few questions.
To get you thinking, let's jump twenty years into the future. Describe your life. Are you still working or are you retired? Are you worth a lot of money? If so, how is your wealth distributed? Stocks? Bonds? Equity in your business? Other businesses? Are you an independent consultant or do you have a company? How large is your practice/company? What is your annual revenue (in today's dollars)? How many hours per week do you work? Do you work on weekends? Do you travel? And most importantly, are you happy?
Tough questions? Maybe. But they need to be answered honestly and realistically. I know that life can hit you with some unwelcome surprises that might change the way you want things to be. It is because of these changes, however, that you should re-evaluate your plan every two years -- about as often as you replace a pair of daily-wear shoes.
After defining your long range goals, break them down into ten year and five year goals. Make sure they are consistent with your twenty year plan. The next step is to determine what you need to do to achieve your goals.
Here are some short-term questions you should think about: Do you want more customers or steady customers? What is your competition doing? Will advertising help increase your profit? If so, what kind of advertising and what media should be used? Think of your own questions.
Your specific marketing strategies will depend on your individual goals (once you have an idea of where you want to take your business). Put your answers down on paper! Organize your thoughts, questions, and concerns. If you have financial data, use it. You don't have to take your plan to the bank, but by recording your income and expenditure you will have a benchmark to use when you review your goals and accomplishments. Business plans often follow a general format. You can modify this one to suit your exact needs.
Review your plan for consistency. Is it coherent? Is it realistic? This is your guide to your business. It will help you get what you want. Keep it updated. Change it as your goals change or as the market changes. Remember, a little planning will take you a long way.
Raj Khera is a partner in MoreBusiness.com, a comprehensive resource for small businesses. Find tips, articles, ideas, templates, worksheets, sample business plans, tools, financial benchmarks, sample contracts, and much more to help grow your business.
Copyright 2005 Raj Khera. All rights reserved.
More Resources
Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exitingMore Strategic Planning Information:
Related Articles
10 Ways To Make Your Business Unique
1. Largest Selection -One way that you can make your product or service stand out is to offer the largest selection of products, services or programs.
Seasonality: Whats the Big Deal?
Do you work in or own a business that's affected by seasonal cycles? Do you live in a community whose population changes significantly during the year (e.g.
Sample Business Plan Outline
If you are looking for a partner, funding, angle investor or venture capital you will be asked for a business plan. Even if you are not in need of capital in the formation of your new business endeavor you will still be glad you prepared a business plan to help you prove to yourself that you have the right stuff and that the business is economically viable.
Advice To Manufacturers Creating A Business Plan
If you are a manufacturer wanting to use your business plan to attract investors, then your plan must do two things. It must:Comfort prospective investors with putting their money into your hands, andShow why potential customers will award business to you rather than your competitors.
Changing Strategy Without Losing Your Customers - Three Vital Steps to Refining Your Strategy
American Eagle Outfitters and Wet Seal Stores have issued statements about company turnarounds needed to cut sales loses. This kind of story occurs far too often: a business disconnects from their customers because the company either wants to sell to a larger customer base or they want to upgrade to a more prestigious look.
Thinking Like A Farmer
One of the difficulties we face in our industrialized age is the fact we've lost our sense of seasons. Unlike the farmer whose priorities change with the seasons, we have become impervious to the natural rhythm of life.
Vendor Relations Strategies Sample Outline
One of the quintessential parts to any business is your supply chain. To insure that the supplies are there when you need them; in this new day and age of "just in time" distribution where very little sits on warehouse shelves until you order it you will need excellent vendor relations.
The 7 Critical Steps to Formulating Your Annual Strategic Business Plan
Businesses tend to avoid doing their annual business plan thinking that it is an arduous task that does not accomplish much. Formulating your annual plan is, however, critical to your business success and if done correctly should be quick, easy and generate bottom line results.
Cost-cutting Essential to Maintaining Profits
Why cut costs now?
Efforts are multiplying to cut costs wherever possible in order to achieve or preserve high profits. The resulting benefits for all of a company's employees should be obvious.
The Impact of Price Popularity on Profits
The goal of almost every business owner is to generate a profit either for themselves or their shareholders. This can be challenging at best.
The Six Sigma Method and Design of Experiments
Six Sigma is becoming a proven approach for businesses and organizations to
improve their performance. The spectrum of companies actively engaging in Six Sigma today is wide from industrials like Celanese, Caterpillar, GE, Honeywell, and 3M to service/retail organizations like Starwood Hotels, Sears, and Home Depot.
2 Simple Steps Before Starting Your Business
There is so much small business information available today that it's easy to be bogged down by the sheer volume of it all. Where does one start? Well, it's safe to say not all the information you'll receive will be of equal value.
Microsoft Great Plains Implementation: Healthcare/Hospital example - overview for consultant
Microsoft Great Plains fits multiple services market niche and healthcare is not exemption. In the case of Healthcare/Hospital there is usually healthcare patient history tracking system in place and backoffice or accounting application should be integrated on the ongoing basis with the above mentioned system plus often Hospital or association is non-profit organization and non-for-profit accounting specifics should be taken into consideration.
Why Do a Business Plan?
To Grow (Catapult) Your Business That's Why.When it's in your head it's not as likely to happen--too much missed.
Is Your Company Growing Fast Enough for You?
Are you frustrated by the lack of growth in your firm, or the effort required to squeeze any up-tick in performance? Are inadequate policies and procedures a root cause? To find out, take this simple self assessment to see if this may be inhibiting real growth at your company.Q.
Don't Allow Yourself to Get Burned
I am not a big fisherman, but I do enjoy it whenever the opportunity comes my way. I have some friends who are fanatics and occasionally I will go out with one of them.
The Power of Strategic Thinking: Creating Meaningful Success
Too much goal setting and strategic planning can leave you
feeling like you're working against the forces of nature;
too little and you end up where you never intended to
be-with a life or business that is bigger, smaller, or
different than what you genuinely desire. Though getting you
and your organization where you most want them to be at any
given time can be hard work it can also be exhilarating.
Describing Intellectual Property in Your Business Plan
Most companies that are worthy of raising venture capital have proprietary Intellectual Property (IP). In fact, the quality of the IP and the management team are often the two most important aspects of a venture capitalist's investment decision.
Be Like Bill - Think!
Twice a year, Bill Gates goes to a remote island hide-a-way for a week at a time. No, he's not going for a fishing vacation; instead of rods, reels, and lures he takes market analyses, position reports, engineering reports, and opportunity papers.
Three Steps to Give Your Strategic Plan Traction
We all agree Strategic Planning is a critical part of a company's success. All too often, however, strategic plans stall before they ever make it to execution - or they gradually lose momentum.
Writing Your Business Plan is Actually Storytelling
Storytelling and writing a business plan actually go hand in hand. The same ingredients used in telling a story are also used in writing a business plan.