Writing A Business Plan

The writing of a business plans forces you to think through all the aspects of starting, and running a business. Lenders will expect a business plan to be included with a loan request. A well-written business plan will increase the odds of your business succeeding. I will discuss here the topics covered in a business plan so that you get an idea of what is involved. Writing a business plan is a frustrating, and time-consuming process. The business plan software available today has greatly simplified the writing of business plans.

There is no standard business plan; each plan that I have reviewed has been as different as the authors who wrote them. My first business plan took me a week to write after spending two weeks gathering the necessary information. That was thirty years ago, when all you had was a typewriter and a calculator to work with. I still do not like writing business plans, but I force my self to write a new, complete business plan every two years for each of my businesses and I do the financial part every year. I use software from www.madee-z.com, (available at office supply stores), to simplify the process. With experience, I can now write a revised, or updated, business plan in one day. Originally I wrote business plans in order to get bank loans. I now write them because it is good business to do so.

No one will expect you to follow the plan to the letter. Most of my plans are only reviewed every six months or so. You should review your financial projections, and budgets against actual results every month. Writing the business plan with the people who will be involved in implementing the plan will help assure that all team members are working on the same goals.

Let me tell you a little story to illustrate the point. Three families are going on camping trips, The Jones, The Smiths and The Glasgow's. Mr. Jones asks his family if they would like to go camping this weekend, everyone agrees, so Mr. Jones tells everyone to pack what they need and they will leave Friday at 4:00. Mr. Smith asks his family if they want to go camping this weekend and they all agree it would be a great idea. Mr. Smith makes a list of every thing he thinks is needed and packs for the trip. Mrs. Smith calls and reserves the camping space. Mr. Glasgow asks his family if they would like to go camping this weekend, and they all agree.

The Glasgow's sit down and make a list , together, of everything they will need to take on the trip to do what everyone wants to do. They also make a list of the pre-arrangement requirements. The preparation workload is divided among the family members.

At the campground Mr. Jones, who did not reserve a space, has to take the camping spot the furthest from the rest rooms and hiking trails. He remembered the tent, but not the Coleman lantern, and one of the kids forgot to pack swimming trunks. The kids run off to explore as soon as they arrived and leave mom and dad to pitch camp. As you can imagine the Jones's trip was less than successful.

The Smiths arrive at the camp ground and found that the reserved space has no electricity, and the kids brought a radio. Other than that, they have most everything they need except Mr. Smith thought Mrs. Smith was bringing extra money and she thought he went to the bank, as he had arranged everything else, so they are running low on cash. They had a good trip, but it could have been a little better.

The Glasgow's arrived at the campground and everything went smoothly. Everyone pitched in and got the camp set up upon arrival based on their assigned duties. The pre-planning, with everyone involved, avoided the potential problems and disagreements. The checklist assured everyone packed what was needed for the pre-planned activities. With fewer avoidable problems to deal with, everyone had a good time and fewer unexpected events to deal with.

There are enough surprises in daily business without having to deal with the ones you could have planned for, or avoided. Plan your business and work your business plan.

Books about writing business plans: The Service Business Planing Guide by Warren G. Purdy 199P ISBN: 1-880394-27-8. The Ernst & Young Business Plan Guide John Wiley & Sons ISBN 0-471-51006-08

Software & Web Sites Madee-z.comc Business plan software SBA.gov Good business information site with information that will help you write your plan.

"Ideas have no value without action" Jim Glasgow