How’s your business plan? Have you looked at it lately? Could you find a copy if I asked? Do you even have one?
You benefit two ways when you create your own plan:
- Preparing your plan forces you to actually evaluate your business, and
- having a real-world plan serves as a guide post and reminder of where you are heading.
The problem is that a big, five pound business plan is more of a pain than a benefit. So let’s throw that away, and make a simplified, real world business plan instead.
Section 1: Your Business
Talk about your business. Try answering these questions to a friend. Make note of the questions they ask and the suggestions they make.Try to get all the answers on one page, two at the most.
- Describe your business.
Give a one sentence basic explanation, followed by a one paragraph explanation. - Tell about the market and competition.
List some existing clients, and a one sentence description of your ideal new clients. - What makes your business unique or special?
Here are 8 ways to define your niche. - What are your business goals?
- Why are you the right person to do this?
Section 2: Your Money
You don’t need your accountant for this; I promise.
- Create revenue goals for each line of business or income stream. Start with your available activity, and base your revenue goals on that. In other words, given the amount of time you have to work, how much revenue are you likely to generate? See some examples in How to figure out your revenue goals.
- Review your business goals based on the revenue projections.
Is there enough time in the day or week to get where you want to go? You might need to rethink some goals or plans. When you’re ready to go, the next step is: - Divide your revenue goals into weekly and daily activities. Who would have thought that working toward your goals every day might work?
- Make an activity reminder you’ll see every day.
This could be an index card, a post it, or a note in your calendar that includes all your daily activity goals. Put your daily activities in Joe’s Goals and reward yourself for each day you take action on them. - Make big dream reminders to keep you moving.
Make a mind map, a dream board, or get a physical object that reminds you of your big goals and dreams. You need both the daily actions and the big-picture.
So, this has been a great reminder that I need to update my own plans. How about you? Do you have a plan? Do you use it?
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- About the Author
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Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
Excellent points, Becky! And don’t forget to accommodate your personality with your business plan. Visual elements {or a video/audio plan} to express your focus or vantage point as a part any section, but especially Sections 1 and 3, prove vital to creAtively minded, right-brain thinkers.
Collage, mixed-media notations and.or even a soundtrack {!} make for excellent options of business planning.
Stargardener, you are right: use whatever media works for you. This is especially true for your reminders, because we all respond to different things. The exception is figuring out those revenue goals. There is no substitute for doing the math.
Yeah, about that math thing … That is why God created CPA’s and business partners who are proficient left-brain drivers! ;)
Another tool for creAtive, randomized thinkers: evernote.com [perfect for organizing notes from Web, desktop or mobile!].
Stargardener, I do not recommend you delegate this math. You will benefit from figuring out what your revenue goals are and how you’ll reach them. You don’t have to do it on a spreadsheet, but you will benefit from the understanding that comes with doing the figuring yourself.
Wise words, indeed, Becky! I work “The Money” steps from End {where I want to be} to Start {map directives regarding how I will get there}. Similar to your linked checklist.
And I am in first-person control of my income and related math. {I do appreciate a candid, long-standing trust with my CPA and time-tested relationship of counsel with a collaborating business partner though!}
You and I have tweeted and discussed this before, Becky, but collaborative partnerships are invaluable when assessing and planning for business. These collaborations can be simple chats over coffee, text-chats online, side conversations in the midst of conferences, etc. But managing for strength and longevity requires the business owner — large or micro, corporate or freelance — to know her niche and be willing to discuss and ponder, learn and adapt as needed.
Even a simple dialogue via blog comments can prove to be insightful! ;)
Glad to hear it! Sounds like you do use a very similar approach.
I recently wrote a new business plan. I started out with a “professional template” which was about 40 pages! Ugh! I narrowed it down to the essentials – what would actually help me in creating the business and am down to 4 pages of real content. Thanks for the list, some of these I need to add to the plan to round it out.
Sandra, those 40 pages are rough, especially when you are only doing it for your own benefit. 4 pages sounds much more realistic for a useful tool.
I love simplicity and this nailed it. Thanks for the insight!
Great reminder for all of us to pull out the business plan, dust it off and revisit it. Things change so rapidly that it is important to be able to adjust and adapt.