Why A Business Plan?
What is a Business Plan? Think of it as your road map. If you were to take a trip without a road map, how would you know when you get there if you don’t even know where you’re going? The same could be said for a Business Plan: How will you know if you and your business idea are going where you want it to go if you don’t even know where that is?
Whether or not you realize it, your life is filled with “plans”, road maps, etc. These few examples illustrate that point:
-1- Your Budget = a “plan” for using your income to meet your obligations and goals.
-2- Grocery List = a “plan” to buy what you need and to keep you from those impulse buys.
-3- Recipe = a “plan” that tells you what you’ll need in order to produce what you want; what it will take to end up with a successful dish/product.
-4- To Do List = a “plan” to get things done.
Looking at even these few examples – and I’m sure you can think of many more – should demonstrate to you how logical – and essential – a properly thought out, researched and organized Business Plan really is and how important it can be to your new business. Actually, those examples are very similar to the makeup of a Business Plan.
Usually, a Business Plan is used when applying for a business loan or when recruiting investors. The style and content of your Plan may vary somewhat for each of these endeavors, but what they all basically do is “tell your story”. Even if you do not need a loan or an investor, you do still need to plan (see paragraph one!)
A Business Plan is filled with confidential information – money matters, research, information on your market and competitors and, yes, your idea as well. For that reason, you won’t want to show it to anyone who doesn’t have a specific need to know. In another issue, we’ll discuss how to protect that information, but for now just remember to keep it to yourself.
And remember: When you fail to plan – you plan to fail!
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