Write Your Small Business Plan

By Bill Darken

A small business plan is vital to the success of starting a small business, Faced with writing a small business plan; the panic sets in. Confusion clouds your mind. You wonder where to start.

This is important. It is the outline to how your idea will become reality. Actually, it proves you are serious and you need it if you need finance.

Writing the Feared Business Plan

The screen is blank. Your mind is blank. Really, this is an important part of setting up your business. If you can not put it on paper, how do you make a living from it? Try thinking along these lines and start by mapping out your small business plan. The basic elements all small business plans have are:

- Summary - a one-page overview of your business plan. When your business plan is complete, go through it and summarize it into one page.

- Introduction - Briefly talk about your vision and goals for the business. Write yourself a vision, but avoid the old clichés. Remember to have a beginning, middle and an end.

- Marketing Brief - Analyse the market your business fits into. Who is you target audience? Why target them?

- Marketing Strategy - Talk about how you will attract clients in your demographic. What tools you are going to use to achieve this? Does the internet play a part in this? Do you need a website? Newspaper, television and radio advertising?

- Plan of Operation - This is how you will operate and set-up the business; where it will operate from; business name; legal requirements; and anything else you need to operate your new small business.

- Management Plan - Talk about how you intend to manage your business. Will it operate from home; or rental premises? How will you manage this? What tools and equipment do you need to support your business?

- Financial Plan - How do you intend to finance your dream? Work out your budget and work out the financial projections for the future. This is vital to show potential lenders and investors you have a plan. It gives them a basis to judge whether they should back or lend you money to finance the dream. Be realistic about you projections

Instead of fearing the old business plan, think of it as your friend. The skeleton or backbone to build on. And, remember, this is only one element of starting a small business from scratch.

Copyright Bill Darken - who has a history of consulting to both small and large business over three decades and has provided a more in-depth piece at this link on starting a small business from scratch for your interest.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_Darken

Startup Business Plan

The Importance of Writing a Startup Business Plan

small-business-plan-graph2 A startup business plan’s importance cannot be overemphasized. If you want your business to be successful and profitable, you’ll need to have a clear understanding of your strengths, customers, and competition. These elements are fundamental to developing a winning business strategy. Writing a startup business plan will force you to address these issues early.

A common misconception is that you only need a startup business plan if you need a loan or investors—this is not the case! Writing a business plan will help you organize, strengthen, and refine you initial ideas and strategies. If you choose to write a startup business plan, the biggest beneficiary will be you, the business owner.

Most anyone who is a current business owner or entrepreneur will tell you, writing a business plan will be the best business decision you can make.

Free Business Plan Templates are a Great Place to Start When Writing Your Business Plan

Generally, the most common question about business plans is "where do I start?" Many people have great ideas, but are unsure of the next steps they need to take in order to grow that idea into a business. Fortunately, there are free business plan templates available online that answer that question for you. Using a business plan outline will not only help you strategize and organize your ideas, but it will end up saving you quite a bit of time and money in the long run.

Not all Free Business Plan Templates are Created Equal

It's important to get quality information when writing your business plan - make sure the resources you use are legitimate. For instance, all the information found on the Great Business Plans website and within our business plan outline was created by an industry professional. With abundant resources on the internet, it may be hard to cut through the clutter – make sure you’re using information from someone who has practiced and succeeded as an entrepreneur.

There are several things to look for when choosing a business plan template to work from: