Business-Plans Spell Out Future

Business-plans are technical documents written by businesses to plan their strategies for future growth.

There are normally four sections to the body of a typical one:

1. Description of the business
2. Marketing
3. Finances
4. Management

It also includes an executive summary, supporting documents, and the financial projections.

Just like there are many types of enterprises run by different types of entrepreneurs, there is no single formula for developing business-plans. However, they all have some things in common such as:

1. Cover Sheet
2. Purpose Summary
3. Table of Contents

It fleshes out the details. There are normally three sections to the Table of Contents:

• Business whose elements are the description of the enterprise, marketing, competition, operating procedures, personnel, insurance.

• Financial Data whose elements are the loan applications, capital equipment and supply list, balance sheet, breakeven analysis, projected profit and loss information, three-year summary, first year details by the month, second and third years' details by quarter year, assumptions, and cash-flow projections.

• Supporting Documents whose elements are the principals' tax returns for the last three years personal financial statement, a copy of franchise contract if applicable, copy of lease or purchase agreement for space, copy of licenses and other legal documents, copy of principals' resumes, and copies of intent from suppliers.

Planning should never be taken for granted because statistics clearly show 4 out of 5 businesses in the USA fail. The most likely cause of this is poor planning or no planning at all by the owners of the failed.

When you begin planning for your small business you most likely will follow these steps:

Step One

Begin with your mission statement. It should answer these two very important questions:

1. Why are you going into it?

2. What is your motivation to start your company?

Step Two

This step includes a whole bunch of questions that you should answer depending whether they relate to what your business is all about.

1. What type is it? Are you going to manufacture something to sell, or are you going to provide a service?

2. If you are going to sell what you produce will you do it or have someone do it for you?

3. Are you going to use someone else to manufacture your products?

4. If you are a service what type is it?

5. What are the different types of products or services that you could offer your customers?

6. Will you have complimentary products that can be sold with your service?

7. What types of benefits will your service or product offer?

8. Why are you better than your competition? How are you better?

9. What are your products or services? Describe what you have to offer.

Step Three

Here you decide how you are going to tell the world about your great product or service so everyone will be able to buy it.

1. What are the ways you can market your products or services?

The list could include the stores, catalogues, flyers, direct marketing, newspaper ads, radio ads, television ads, presentations, proposals, trade magazines, Internet ads, blogs and email etc.

Step four

Probably the most important set of questions you need to answer are these because without this information you don't have a business.

1. Who are your ideal clients?

   After you do your research finding out what type of people would be interested in your service or product you should know where to advertise and perhaps how to sell them.

2. What is your business going to look like in 5 years?

   Project yourself into the realm of your future which has already begun today. Put together all the building blocks required to make your enterprise a success and five years down your business will have grown.

3. What is your business going to look like in 10 years?

   Building on the success of your first five-year-plan and doing everything right that you can, you are "taking care of business all the time" as the ever popular song says.

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