Creating a Simple Business Plan

The first mistake that many new business owners make when starting out is to build a business plan that is complicated. To write a well-done business plan is to make sure it is just an outline of what you want to happen in your new business. Outlining insures that your business plans have flexibility for those times when it does not stay the course. These tips will help you build that simple business plan:

1. Learn to Scale Down Your Business Plan

Unless your next business ends up the next Yahoo or Google, you need to keep your business plan simple. Learn to approach building that business plan realistically. In most cases, having a business plan over a hundred pages is not needed. If you are a start up company, you will find that an outline with about ten to 15 pages in your business plan is sufficient. A long complicated business plan will only bog your business down.

2. Make Sure the Important Stuff is in Your Business Plan

Even though a well thought out business plan will help you expand your business, you need to make sure that it has all the necessary requirements in it. Make sure that your company’s capitalization and resource needs are included in the business plan. Have your market clearly defined along with a marketing analysis. Make some assumptions and define some goals in your business plan. Important basics should also include financials, sales, expenses, and forecasts.

3. Make Sure Your Business Plan Has a Contingency

Almost every business plan started needs to have a contingency plan in it. Most startup businesses are going to run into problems and you need to make sure you have a backup plan. Make sure your business plan states that you will make certain decisions if you don’t make sales, or not hit quotas as planned. This might entail changing focus or offering a different marketing plan.

4. There is Help for Those Writing a Business Plan

Almost every business out there has started out by writing a business plan, so there is help for you when you begin to write yours. There are many online resources with sites such as the Small Business Administrations (sba.gov) that can give you advice and guidelines. After you have written a business plan, have your friends and other business people you trust to look it over and give you suggestions. Many of them have done been through writing a business plan and can give you advice. A good business plan could attract the right investor for your business, so make sure you write it well.

5. Your Business Plan is a Living Document

Business plans are meant to be reviewed and updated frequently. Take the time every few months to review your business plan and figure out what is and isn’t working. A well-written and executed business plan will help a business owner verify that their business is still a viable.

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