Getting a business up and going is not easy. There are many things you have to do to prepare for launch. One of which is writing a business plan. Unless you intend on borrowing money or pitching to a venture capital firm, you might not need the full monty. However, there are a few things you must have mapped out before you get started, lest you get lost on your journey. The questions you need to first answer are:
- Why are you in business and how will you grow?
- What will you offer and how will you make money from it?
- How will you let people know about it?
Sound familiar? It should. In business plan terms, those items translate to:
- Executive Summary
- Services and/or Products
- Marketing and Sales Strategy
With this basic outline, as you move forward, you can check back with your plan to see if you are staying on track. Moving too far from core has gotten a lot of companies in trouble. Just read “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t” by Jim Collins to learn more about that. Keep in mind, however, that along with processes, the business plan is a living document and will change over time. Stay flexible, but don’t stretch so far you break.
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