Small Business Tools Pro

A critical component to conceptualising a serious business idea is, oddly enough, a business plan. That may sound obvious and it is but an alarmingly high percentage of start-ups fail to take this initial step – much to their detriment. It only takes a few hours to put together and it’s certainly time well spent. WARNING: failure to adhere to this first step could most likely result in failure.

A business plan lays out exactly what it is you’re trying to achieve with your business and provides a road map of sorts for how you go about achieving that.

If you’re looking to approach a financial institution in order to secure funding it is imperative that you have a viable business plan to hand – with realistic financial and sales projections and evidence to support these claims. Even if you’re starting out small (bootstrapping) your business and don’t need to convince anyone else of the merits, your business plan will still provide much needed clarity and focus towards your entrepreneurial vision.

There are plenty of good resources around that can give you ideas on the basic structure a business plan should take but bear in mind that not all business plans are “cut of the same cloth” and therefore it is not correct to assume any or all templates will suite your needs. Each plan is unique and should be treated as such.

Here are some of the basic points to include and elaborate on:

1. Description of business including goals and vision
2. Start-up requirements (capital, labour)
3. Target market
4. Potential problems (and solutions)
5. Competition analysis
6. Marketing and advertising
7. Managing growth

There are a couple of options available for coming up with a business plan:

1. Pay someone else (who you trust) to do it
2. Write your own basic plan in any word processing application
3. Write it using a task-specific software product such as Business Plan Pro

While you could put together something fairly basic in any office or word processing application if you are looking to get things done professionally from the start bplan has a fantastic product that will provide you with all the templates and structures you’d ever need. Heck with this package you could even offer to help with your friends’ business plans (for a fee of course!)

Bplan features a free business plan template you can use as a guide to getting started. It also offers snippets to a vast collection of small business plans.

Remember to be realistic and honest with your business plan. Rather be aware of any or all the potential obstacles before you embark on the serious and possibly game-changing task of running your own business.

All the best!