Business Plan

Business Plan is an important step in developing a successful business. Each business needs a unique plan; and a good Business Plan will have similarities in their basic elements. A Business Plan precisely defines your business, identifies your goals, and serves as your firm's resume. A Business Plan details the what, why, where, how, and when of your operation. The Business Plan is the "roadmap" to guide your business toward the goals you want to reach. It describes your business history and objectives, recounting those details that make you an especially attractive investment for a creditor.

The importance of a comprehensive, thoughtful Business Plan cannot be overemphasized. Much hinges on it: outside funding, credit from suppliers, management of your operation and finances, promotion and marketing of your business, and achievement of your goals and objectives. Despite the critical importance of a Business Plan, many entrepreneurs drag their feet when it comes to preparing a written document. They argue that their marketplace changes too fast for a Business Plan to be useful or that they just don't have enough time. But just as a builder won't begin construction without a blueprint, eager business owners shouldn't rush into new ventures without a business plan. 

All business plans must show two things: a winning idea and a clear shot at a profit.

A good Business Plan has two basic goals: It should describe the fundamentals of your business idea and provide financial data to show that you will make good money. Beyond that, the content of your business plan depends on how you intend to use it. Its depending on whether you're trying to attract investors or are creating a blueprint for your own use, a Business Plan can take somewhat different forms.

And, finally Six Steps to create a great Business Plan:
· Start-up entrepreneurs often have difficulty writing out business plans. This discipline is going to help you in many ways so don't skip this planning tool! To make it easier, here are six steps that will get you to a worthwhile plan: 
· Write out your basic business concept. 
· Gather all the data you can on the feasibility and the specifics of your business concept. 
· Focus and refine your concept based on the data you have compiled. 
· Outline the specifics of your business. Using a "What, where, why, how" approach might be useful. 
· Put your plan into a compelling form so that it will not only give you insights and focus but, at the same time, will become a valuable tool in dealing with business relationships that will be very important to you. 
· Review the sample plans we furnish and download the blank format to a MS Word document. Fill this in as you progress though the course.

Why need a Business Plan? Your Business Plan is going to be useful in a number of ways. Here are some of the reasons not to skip this valuable tool. 

· First and foremost, it will define and focus your objective using appropriate information and analysis. 
· You can use it as a selling tool in dealing with important relationships including your lenders, investors and banks. 
· Your business plan can uncover omissions and/or weaknesses in your planning process.

Now, let’s see what to avoid in your Business Plan: Place some reasonable limits on long-term, future projections. (Long-term means over one year.) Better to stick with short-term objectives and modify the plan as your business progresses. Too often, long-range planning becomes meaningless because the reality of your business can be different from your initial concept. 

· Avoid optimism. In fact, to offset optimism, be extremely conservative in predicting capital requirements, timelines, sales and profits. Few business plans correctly anticipate how much money and time will be required. 
· Do not ignore spelling out what your strategies will be in the event of business adversities. 
· Use simple language in explaining the issues. Make it easy to read and understand. 
· Don't depend entirely on the uniqueness of your business or even a patented invention. Success comes to those who start businesses with great economics and not necessarily great inventions.