How To Write A Comprehensive Business Plan
And Why You Should Do It!

Why a business plan?

Because you want to DO business rather than just being IN business!
Because you want to be not just successful but the best you can be!

Whether you have a large or small business,
whether you’re an established business or just starting out,
you need a comprehensive, realistic business plan!

A comprehensive, well-thought-out business plan will save you
a lot of time and aggravation in making a success of your business.
It will cover all the necessary details and give you a clear picture
of everything you need to be one of the few new businesses that succeed
or established businesses that grow and prosper!

What I hear a lot is, "I'm just a small business with a few employees ...
I don't need a business plan." Think again!

If you want to grow your business into a big-time venture,
you desperately need a plan! A plan is one of the best motivators
to grow your business to a thriving enterprise.

The practical value of having a business plan is not in just having a detailed roadmap.
The real value is in doing the research and objectively analyzing your business.
The act of planning helps you thoroughly think things through,
get the necessary facts, and evaluate your ideas critically.
Yes, it takes time but it sure eliminates
a lot of costly mistakes that almost always lead to failure!

Here are just a few of the items a good business plan should cover:

What are your company's strengths and core competencies? What factors will make
the company succeed? What do you think your major competitive strengths will be?
What experience, skills, and strengths do you personally bring to your business?

What form of ownership is best for you (Sole proprietor, corporation, etc.)? Why?
What changes do you foresee in your industry, short term and long term?
How will your company adjust to these changes?

What is important to you in terms of how you operate your business?
Things like customer relations, business ethics, company image, reputation, etc.
Planning now for situations in these areas will avoid future crises!

What do you expect your company to be like in 3 years? 5 years?
How do you plan to get there? How do you plan to measure
 your progress? Be specific and be realistic.

Your product or service won’t be suitable for everyone.
 You only need to appeal to your target market, not the whole world.
What are the best ways to reach your target market?
Are you marketing directly to consumer or through a distributor?
 What specific benefits do your products or services
 provide to your target market?
How do your products or services differ from your competition?
How do you devise the most effective, productive marketing plan?

* Who, what, where is your competition?

Explain, in detail, the strengths and weaknesses of your main competitors.
Make sure you properly select who your competitors really are.
You only count those who compete in your target market dealing in similar
products or services. This will allow you to realistically determine how
you can position your business in the market in relation to your competition.

*Business Operational Strategy

Explain how you plan to operate the business on a daily basis.
Do you have the best location?
Evaluate current and future need for equipment, people, finances, processes
(credit system, inventory control, return or rebate policy, expansion plan,
contingency plans for emergencies, etc), and surrounding environment.

Who will run the day to day operation? Is the experience level sufficient?
If you have employees, what kind of training do they need?
Is there a plan for future needs?

Another important item we haven’t discussed but is obviously critical to
your business is the matter of pricing your product or service.
This is difficult to discuss in this format because it varies
dramatically depending on the type of enterprise.

In the simplest terms, you price your product or service to cover all of the costs of doing business plus a reserve for contingencies plus your profit. We will be discussing this topic and many others in future articles on this website or
you may e-mail us about your specific situation on that or any other topic.

* Finances

If you've seen business plans before, you've noticed that these documents are filled with balance sheets, earnings projections, capital requirements, depreciation estimates and dozens of other detailed financial statements.
Don't let all of that stuff scare you!

If you aren't going to be using your business plan to borrow money from outside sources, you won't need 90 percent of that stuff. Instead, focus on your monthly income and monthly expenses. The best way to do this is to put together
a simple 12-month cash flow forecast.

Here's a suggestion: First, estimate how much your business will earn on a monthly basis. Include all your sales, money you'll be borrowing from your savings or money your business has been loaned from other sources. This is your "Total Cash Income."

Next, what will your actual monthly expenses be? This should include advertising;
office expenses like salaries, phone bills, cleaning service, business cards and
stationery; inventory costs; equipment; loan payments; utilities and whatever
you'll be paying yourself for your personal living expenses.
This will be your "Total Cash Expenses."

Just subtract your "Total Cash Expenses" from your "Total Cash Income"
to get your monthly "Net Cash Flow."

If your Net Cash Flow is a negative number, obviously you're losing money!
If that number stays negative for the entire 12 months, you'll have to re-assess
your business plan...and find a way to increase sales or decrease expenses!
(Call us for help!)

That’s why it is so important to be honest with yourself when writing your business plan! If you exaggerate the sales you think you'll bring in, your whole business model will be damaged when those sales don't materialize.

So much for that hefty advertising budget you planned, as well as
the generous salary you hoped to pay yourself!

Some final thoughts

You can easily see from this short explanation that the business plan is very important
and needs to be comprehensive if you are to insure the success of your enterprise.

As previously stated, the business plan is like the road map on your journey to business success. As such, it has to cover everything you’ll encounter from the beginning to the end of your trip.

Once you've written your business plan, you'll be amazed how often you’ll use it.
It will become your "battle plan," as well as the tool you'll use to measure how close
you are to meeting your goals--or by how much you're surpassing them!

To show your business plan to prospective joint venture partners, potential employees or advertisers, you can bet a professional-looking
business plan will project an image of credibility simply because
most businesses never take the time to prepare one!

If you're thinking about starting a business but you're not quite sure how, writing out a business plan  can be a great way to get things moving. It's also an excellent way to evaluate how good your idea really is. For many people, the process of writing a business plan shows them that their business can make even
more money than they originally thought. Now that's motivation!

If you're already running a business, the process of writing a business plan can help
you decide exactly what aspects of your business are succeeding and which areas
could be improved upon. When you do an in-depth analysis of your market, your customers and your competitors, you'll be amazed by how much you can learn!

From time to time we’ll have articles on various aspects of effective business planning as well as many other topics that will help you make
your business a success.

So visit this website often to see what’s new and exciting in the field of successful
business operation. And please feel free to e-mail us with your questions.
Most of the time, we can give you an answer within 24 hours.

We’re here to help you succeed!

P.S. If you want some help with your business plan or any phase of your marketing,
Just call or e-mail us and let’s discuss how we can improve your situation!
There’s no need to be behind any of your competitors!

Contact us now and let’s leave your competitors behind!

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