ESSENTIALS OF A BUSINESS PLAN

Once you decide on a particular business, the next step is to create the business—on paper. The reference here is to creation of a business plan. A business plan is a must-have for any successful business. It is the road-map that defines the goals of the business and the path that will be adopted to attain those goals. However, most small business owners don’t have a business plan. Even if they do, it’s ambiguous and doesn’t serve the purpose. The aim of this chapter is to define the essentials of a good business plan.

Mission, Vision, Goals: Your business plan must clearly state the mission, vision and goals of the business. These three elements must be unambiguous and clearly explained. Mention what your business is all about, what does it intend to achieve in twenty years, ten years, and five years from now. Set annual goals that you can compare against actual performance at the end of the year.  Make sure all your goals are measurable.

SWOT analysis: Perform a Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threat analysis for your home business. A good SWOT analysis answers the following questions. What are your core strengths? What sets your business apart from your competitors? Where do you find your business would lack? What opportunities are available for it right now? What are the major threats to your business?

Investment: Analyze and write down how much investment would you require to run your business successfully? This is extremely important as it sets the stage for the future of your business.

Mode of operation: Write down how you plan to operate. Decide if yours will be a typical home business with you playing all the different roles of a marketer, salesperson, accountant and CEO or would you prefer outsourcing certain aspects of your business, such as accounting and taxation planning.

Finance: Write down how you plan to fund your business. Do you have all the capital it’ll take or plan to take a loan? You could also partner with someone in order to be able to invest the amount you want to.

Market: Decide who your prime audiences are. Which market do you plan to target and how. Outline a clear marketing and sales strategy and make it a part of your business plan.
 

A good business plan helps you put things in order. It is not about just putting your ideas on paper, it’s all about creating a road map that will guide you throughout your journey of starting a new business.