3 Tips For Writing a Successful Business Plan
Posted by Vicki Donlan on Fri, May 07, 2010 @ 09:11 AM
You've decided your days of being a corporate drone are over - entrepreneurship here you come! You long to be a small business owner making the day to day decisions of who gets hired and who gets fired - whether your strategy is B to B (business to business) or B to C (business to consumer). You believe you have what it takes to bootstrap the business (finance it yourself slowly). But, first you know you must put it all down on paper and write the dreaded business plan.
Whether you want or need a loan you need a roadmap to determine first whether or not the business is even feasible. You've got your executive summary written which describes the business and excites you every time you read it. You know you have what it takes to develop a new niche in your industry. What you need now is evidence that your business idea has merit and has customers just waiting to sign on.
The first tip is to define your competition accurately. Yes, you do have competition even if there currently are no other businesses like the one you plan to start. Your competition consists of every business that is asking for the $$$ you want from your potential customer. For example, a new niche magazine must compete for the advertising dollars for all media resources in the geographic or demographic area. Or a new e-business must compete with no only other web business of a similar nature but the bricks and mortar businesses that may also offer a similar product or service. Think broadly when you define your competition.The more competition you have the greater likelihood of success. (see previous blog - Love the Competition).
The second tip in writing your business plan is pricing. Too often entrepreneurs believe that they can underprice their competition and build clientele in that way. If your competitors have been around for a while I can promise you they know how much it costs to provide the product or service the deliver and what it takes to make a profit. You must price yourelf to make a profit or there is no reason to go into business in the first place. Starting a business is all about making profit. It is also about margins. Not every business makes more because of volume. For example, if you are providing a service at some point volume will require you to hire more people and your margins will go down. All of this information must be built into your plan. This is the reason you are writing a business plan -- so you will be aware ahead of time of the costs of success as well as failure.
Finally, third, don't underestimate your cost of doing business. This is where most entrepreneurs err in their planning. They believe that they can bootstrap every step of their business. You may be able to start that way but often when the business really gets ticking expenses can skyrocket and you better have made accommodations for the spike. For example, you start the business in your home and don't expense any of the costs related to the business. Business is so good you need to expand out of your home and hire staff and rent an office. You now have payroll, rent, utilities, phones, deposit and more. Did you account for these expenses in your business plan when you were pricing your product or service? If not, you'll be out of business before you can say "business plan"!
Write your business plan with success in mind. Yes, you can grow it slowly, but make sure you have accounted for what it will look like when you have the customers you dream of. Only then will your business plan be your roadmap to success.
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