Resourcse

Building a Plan

Process of Building a Plan

What is a business plan?

• A written representation of where your you want your company to go, how it will get there and what it will look like when it arrives
• An outcome of a great deal of thought & investigation
• A road map to your destination
• An action plan with accountabilities and timelines
• A benchmark for measuring progress
• An ongoing, dynamic process
• A disciplined approach to business
• Hard work, frustrating, exciting, worthwhile

Building a business plan is:

• Simple but not easy
• Done over many days and weeks initially and then on an ongoing basis
• Easier if loads of research is interspersed with pondering and writing
• Dependent on who and what the plan is for- getting financing, hiring
• Is not just to produce a plan but to produce results
• Often easier with a carefully chosen mentor on which to test ideas

Business is not rocket science.  It is the application of knowledge, skill and common sense in the pursuit of a profitable goal.

What should the plan look like?

• Whatever format will ensure that you use it – always needs to be handy
• Short, concise, manageable, easily referenced
• Action oriented, dynamic
• Real for you and your situation

Benefits of Planning

• Committing ideas to paper makes them real
• Provides an honest reflection of strengths, weaknesses, threats, opportunities
• Allocates scarce resources
• Ensures that everyone pulls in the same direction
• Forces you to be disciplined
• Incrementally increases the likelihood you will accomplishing your objectives
• A reference point for measuring your progress
• A confidence builder
• An energy saver so you don’t have to keep everything in your head

Needs create businesses, businesses do not create needs.  Just because you know how to do something doesn't mean that the world will care.