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To
Plan Or Not To Plan
- by Denise Fields (DCW
Member)
Of course we are talking about the
dreaded business plan. You can buy programs that help
you, will almost do it for you. They can be quite
extensive and take months to prepare or be fairly
simple. Yes, you need a plan. How extensive it should be
will depend on what venture you are entering, and why
you feel you need it.
We don’t do business plans for people. We Brainstorm
ideas on how to promote your idea, service or product.
That is not to say we don’t have a thought or two
about the process, and that we have a secret ingredient.
Perhaps your first move should be to put some of your
thoughts on paper. Don’t worry about the format, and
use whatever medium is best for your thought process.
Long hand on scraps of paper? The latest in word
processing software? Don’t spend a lot of time
deciding how, but more on the what. Just get it down.
Use the ‘old’ reporter guidelines: Who, What, Where,
When, Why and How. From this, you can fine tune,
develop, put your information into a specific format.
Once you have the basics, you may want to read some
sample business plans, check out some information
through the Small Business Administration, SCORE or your
local college. Do not feel you need to follow another
plan exactly, but adjust to suit your needs.
Again, you need to remember why are you doing this? Is
it as a guide to keep yourself on track, are there other
people involved in your business, are you looking for
investors? A one-person no-investors business may be
able to function well with a very simple outline. An
emerging business looking for investors will need to
prepare very detailed plans, particularly in the
financial area. [start up funds and projected first year
budgetary needs, as well as expected revenues].
Another item to remember: there is no rule that says you
can’t change and improve your business plan as you go.
You are not carving this in stone, you can make changes.
[If you have used your plan to ‘raise funds’, any
changes of course would need to be shared with and
approved by your investors depending on the agreement
you have with them.] Don’t let the thought of
preparing a plan put you off from trying your dream.
Start out with the KISS - keep it short and simple.
Develop your plan as fits the situation. If your needs
are complex, then review examples, ask for advice,
perhaps even professional help. Do not let preparing the
plan become so important that nothing is left for the
business.
There are many great articles out there about ‘the
plan’. We enjoyed reading them all. If you have the
opportunity, check some out. Keep a copy of the ones you
like. Resources are always handy. At this moment in time
you may only need a simple plan to keep yourself on
track. Next month, or next year, you may want to enlarge
on the current project or you may have something new in
the works. Go back over what you did the first time. Is
it still adequate? Needs upgrading? Check some of your
reference materials, work out a new one. If you have an
idea for a business, you can prepare a business plan.
The secret ingredient we mentioned?
Find someone to bounce your ideas off of. Someone to
read over what you have written, or the plan you
prepared. Sure you can keep it all to yourself, be
independent...but if you can find a friend or family
member to listen, use them for a sounding board. This is
perhaps the very best advice we can give! This person
may not even make any suggestions - just laying out your
plan or idea to them will help you focus on where you
are. You will ‘see’ things you did not when it was
in your mind only.
Ready? Great!
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Author: Denise Fields
Brainstorms Extraordinaire
http://www.homesteadline.com/Brainstorms/
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