Writing an effective business plan is easier than you think and is not too much for even a one-person business to handle. And I can show you how to write a business plan and show you an easy business plan template to get started.
There, I’ve said it – that’s the heart of my message today!
But before I go into any detail, I’d like to ask a question: Why would anyone want to write a business plan?
And I’ll let Brian Tracy answer it.
“People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.”
Brian Tracy – Author and Motivational Speaker
Working with many clients over the years, I have found that the two main reason most home based business owners never write a business plan are …
- They believe it is too big of a task
- They believe it is too complex
Or, to repeat how I hear it most often – “It will take too long and I don’t know how to do it”
I thought that was the case myself at the beginning, but I quickly learned that having all my business ideas in one place was a huge benefit. It sure beat having scattered notes and ideas around on hundreds of slips of paper!
The fact is, if you have no business plan now, then almost any written business plan is a step in the right direction. The real goal of a business plan is to clarify thought into a written format that you can refer and use to help focus activities.
Business plans can get extremely complex, but let me start off with a simple idea about four basic sections for a quick starter business plan. Then I’ve got a resource you can use to take the next steps.
The Basic Four:
Market Analysis – this is where your marketing plan resides
Business Analysis – this is where the financial and organization materials will live
Action Plan – break it down to action steps and time frames in this section
Review & Evaluation – commit to a look back / look ahead, regular reality check – that plan goes here
I’ve seen entrepreneurs start with just a few sentences in each section to start out and develop a pretty robust business plan over a fairly short period of time.
The key is to go from “It will take too much time” to “I can write that up in just a few minutes!”
It turns out that getting started really is the most difficult part for most home based business. I’ve got an easy template that I give new entrepreneurs to help them get started. Let’s face it, filling in the blanks is a lot easier than starting with a blank sheet of paper.
Check out www.Best-Marketing-Strategies.com – you will find a template for a Quick Start No-Fail Business Plan for Entrepreneurs.
{ 2 comments }
Richard,
Good question. And you have kind of answered it yourself!
An effective business plan is a living document and that is how successful business owners treat it. Regular, not necessarily frequent, reviews and updates are critical to capturing changing market conditions and opportunities. But it’s not an action item list per se; too much fiddling with it reduces the value. Typically short term goals and lists are tracked separately; business plans are reviewed annually (or slightly more often during startup).
You’ve got lots of ideas spinning around – hard to capture them all!
Michael
I am wondering, Is a business plan set in stone (more or less)? Here is what I am thinking, but I’d be interested in your take. I am thinking that the results of the first two items on your list –the Market and Business Analysis– would probably be fairly solid over time (?). However, the small steps of the Action Plan would be updating –changing– day by day.
At least that seems to be my experience right now; whether that’s best or not, not sure. I find that every few days I get additionally new ideas that build on existing plans, creating new action steps, rounding out the overall vision of a particular business. In some cases, the new ideas diverge slightly from main intent at the moment. I’m not sure if that enlarges the vision of the existing plan or is the germ of a new business plan… but it is fun and exciting!
So many ideas, so little time!
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