business plan
Do I Really Need a Scrapbook Business Plan?
November 2, 2011 | 
Author Many new business owners start a home business and don’t take the time to write out a business plan. By failing to write a business plan, you greatly decrease your chances of success. The following are some reasons why every business needs to put a business plan into writing.
You have probably heard the old saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” That is very true when it comes to your business. The more planning you do in the beginning, the greater success you will see in the future.
If you decide to take your home business to the next level, a business plan can help you secure financing. A financial institution will want to see, in writing, the reasons that they should loan you money. Simply walking in and telling them why you know you’ll be a success isn’t good enough. However, if you can hand your lender a document that states your business idea, your business goals, a list of steps you plan to take in order to reach your goals, as well as your estimated earnings, you will be seen as a professional and the lender will take you more seriously.
Your business plan will also help you determine your action plan. Your action plan consists of the steps you plan on taking in order to achieve your goals. This is another task that people usually sidestep. Instead of “just kind of knowing” or “having the ideas in your head”, you should take the time to put them on paper. The reason this part of the business plan is so important is that it literally walks you from point A to point B. While your business plan, in general, serves as a map, your action plan is the “step-by-step directions.”
Having a business plan to present to your spouse can also help your spouse realize your business idea is more than just a passing amusement or hobby. This can really help you, especially if your spouse is skeptical. Your spouse can see that you are serious and will become more helpful and more encouraging. Having the support of your spouse can really motivate you and help you find success.
A business plan maps out your future. If you have decided you are ready to start a business, your first step should be to write out your plans for what you want to do with the business and where you see the business going in the future.
If you and your family were going to drive to your vacation destination, you wouldn’t just get in the car and start driving without knowing where you were going. Would you? You shouldn’t start a business without a map either. If you are planning to have a simple home business, built around the Internet, you may not think you need a business plan. You may think only high level businesses need them in order to secure corporate funding but that’s not true.
Every business needs a business plan.
When you sit down to write a business plan, you are literally mapping out the path you want to take in your business. Not only will your business plan help you define what you want to accomplish, it can help you streamline your business and create focus.
You may be under the impression that business plans are huge documents that can be difficult to write. On the contrary, you do not have to create a huge document at all. Your business plan can consist of a single page outlining your basic goals. The point is to put your thoughts and ideas down in writing.
When you take the time to think about your business, where you want your business to go, and estimate your costs as well as your profits, you are much more likely to succeed. Rather than working sporadically and blindly, you will be able to look at your business plan and know exactly what you need to be working on. This can serve as a great motivator and help you reach your business goals.
A common myth is that a business plan is rigid. That once you write it, you have to stick to it. As your business grows, you can change your business plan to suit your needs. You may find certain aspects of your business growing at a faster pace than others and decide to focus more on those areas. For instance, you may have started out in your business strictly as a custom scrapbook artist creating completed albums. However, you found yourself creating more and more themed mini albums and may decide to add that stream of income to your portfolio.
Having your business plan by your side can help you evaluate your decisions and decide what is going to add value to your business and what will take away from your business. Before you start a new project, take out your business plan and see if this new project will fit in with the plans you have already made. This can save you a lot of time, energy, and money.
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Business Plan – A Plan is Key If You Want to Succeed
Anyone who wants to start a business and has the intention of succeeding has to come up with a business plan. You have to plan so that you can be able to see where you are going and where you are coming from. A good business plan need not be complicated. If anything the simpler and more direct it is, the better. It will help you put things into perspective.
It is essential that you create a detailed description of what your ultimate goal is, the purpose for your goal and the steps you must take to achieve your objective. This will be the backbone of your business and is used as a tool with the aim of having a sense of direction to as to how you intend to operate your business, sell your product or service and your income strategy.
A business plan should be able to help you attract investors. This will help you get much needed funding and aid in restoration of creditor confidence especially when times are tough or business is low. In addition, you will also be taken seriously and appear to be a professional. Potential lenders will see that you fully comprehend what it takes to start and operate a business.
Ensure that you have done proper research in regards to what you intend to do. The business plan will fill in the gaps as you go along you can use it as a guideline and make the necessary changes as your business continues to grow. Once you have your business plan in hand, be ready to take action and turn your dream into a reality.
Business Plan: The Simplest Business Plan Ever
If you’re a solo professional like I am, you know how tough it is to find any time at all to do any business planning. Doing a full business plan is a must if you’re planning to seek financing or investors, but most solo professionals don’t need anything that complicated.
Don’t get me wrong, business planning is one of the most important things you need to do to succeed in your one man or woman show. Without planning you’ll drift aimlessly from one crisis to the next and one idea to the next, never really getting anything done.
So, what’s a solo pro to do? Here’s what I do in my own business:
My business plan consists of one page with very little on it. It simply lists the three goals that I must achieve this year. Then, I list a statement for each goal: To achieve Goal #1 I need to….This is followed by two to five activities or action items I need to do to make that happen.
That’s it. That’s the whole plan. The beauty is the simplicity. I simply cannot handle more than that. I don’t have a staff. I don’t have “people”. Everything has to be structured so that I can get it done simply and systematically.
So, let’s say one of my goals is to increase sales by a certain number, like $25,000. I then ask myself, “What do you need to do to make that happen?” Maybe I want to develop an ebook or add a new service. How many potential or current customers will I need to reach? How much time will I need to develop the book or service? How will I market it?
From those answers, I develop my schedule. What do I need to do monthly, weekly, daily? I break it up into small pieces that take an hour or less. For example, if I decide I need to send out 100 marketing postcards in a month, I break it into 25 cards a week. Then, I put it on my schedule each week, just as I do my appointments with clients.
To keep myself on track, I place my mini plan in front of my keyboard so every morning it’s the first thing I see. I also include a note to myself. It reminds me that “Nothing Else Matters.” I follow it with my company slogan: Get Knowledge. Get Focus. Get Results.
Complex plans take tons of time to develop and many (if not most) end up gathering dust on a shelf. Using a simple plan improves your focus and helps you to achieve great results.