What’s a business plan, and why do I need one?

A business plan is a written document that describes your business, its objectives and strategies, the market you are targeting and the financial forecast for your business. It will assist in setting realistic and timely goals, help secure external funding, help measure your success, clarify operational requirements and establish reasonable financial forecasts. Preparing your plan will help you focus on how your new or existing business will need to operate to give it the best chance for success.

Getting financial assistance to help get your business up-and-running or to expand its operations, is directly tied to your business plan. To be considered a viable candidate to receive funds from financial institutions and/or investors, you must fully demonstrate your firm grasp of every aspect of your business, and particularly its ability to generate profit.

Beyond creating a business plan for the sake of lenders and investors, it is also a necessary exercise to help you map out the growth and progress of your business. The success of your business depends on your clear vision of the future:

• How will you generate positive cash flow?
• How will you sustain your business in the ‘lean times’?
• Who is your competition, and how will you coexist?
• Who is your target market?
• Who is your management team?
• How much do you need to make your plan work, and when do you need it?

The above are just a few examples of the questions you will answer in your business plan, providing you with the direction in which you will guide your business.

A competent, well written business plan will show that you have done your homework and can be used as a guide or a measuring stick to ensuring you are going in the right direction. Other financials tools can help you monitor you performance, knowing when you are on track and when you’re going off track, such as Cash Flow Projections. We’ll talk about that in another post.

In the meantime, for help getting your business plan completed contact me at anytime, ron@solutionsthatfit.ca or604-644-6618

Limited time offer:  Book with Ron to do your business plan by June 30, 2011 and get 50% off the regular rate for you plan!