Key Elements Of A Business Plan
. . . and How to make them Work for you.
from Working Moms only.com 10/10 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz 7/13
“I don’t have one” was her response when I asked to see her business plan for her new company. You may think this is normal for a first time entrepreneurial. But what if I told you that she has started many companies in her 20-year tenure as an entrepreneur? And with all the companies she started none of them have ever exceeded revenues of a $Million dollars. Many of them failed and she was forced to shut them down within the first year of business. Does the mean she is a terrible at business? Not necessarily. What it means is that she did not understand the purpose & the value in creating a Business Plan. And unfortunately, this is pretty typical of many entrepreneurs. They think flying by the seat of their pants and relying on their street smarts & intuition is the spirit behind entrepreneurship. This could not be further from the truth.
If you don’t Plan for Growth . . .Now I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that you and other entrepreneurs you know, have never developed a Business Plan and you are doing “ok” – right? Well here is the big secret – you can always do better. I know for me – “ok” simply is not good enough! And if you don’t plan for growth – you may grow – but chances are good you will not be able to sustain it.
Why you need a Business Plan. Planning for growth is essential. According to one of the big five Accounting firms, two thirds of CEO’s of fast growth organizations develop some type of Business Plan. It is actually the exercise of drafting the Business Plan – with all it’s research & planning – that is important – and sometimes more important than the plan itself. Writing a Business Plan forces you to focus on the important & essential elements of your business. It makes you think through your next steps and specific strategies and tactics. But most importantly is forces you to face the facts of your situation. Because the most important element in success is there:
[ see Facing the Facts, 8 Key Elements of a Business Plan, Executive Summary, Market Analysis, your Organization & Mgt Team, Marketing Strategy and more in Premium Content ]