Friday, December 3, 2010

Why You Need A Business Plan

"Great ideas need landing gear as well as wings.” – CD Jackson – American publisher

Anyone who wants to build or run a successful business needs a business plan. Building a business is no different then building anything, there are many pieces to put together and many details to cover. If you were building a building (whether a tool shed or a skyscraper) you would need a plan!

The sad truth is that most people plan trips and vacations better than they plan their business ventures. Frequently, it doesn't occur to them that a business plan can help - tremendously.

The process of creating a business plan forces you to take a realistic, more or less detached look at your business in its entirety.

Most people who have business ideas deal with them in a disorganized manner. Putting a business plan together and writing down specifics provides you with the opportunity to evaluate your business in its entirety so that you can proceed to implement it.

A finished business plan becomes a tool that will help you manage your business and work toward its success.

The business plan allows you to take nebulous thoughts and put them in concrete form. It is the difference between those who merely have an idea and those who make money on one.

The importance of planning cannot be overemphasized. It is the key to unlocking the door to success. And once you open that door, what do you find? About a thousand more doors with all kinds of variables, problems, and situations. The only way you can effectively handle those variables in a business venture is to have a logical, well-organized business plan.

By taking an objective look at your business, you can identify areas of strength and weakness. You can pinpoint your needs or details you might normally overlook. A business plan will give you enough information to help you spot problems before they arise. Planning will help you determine how you can best achieve your business goals.

A business plan does several things for you:
• Helps you identify your objectives.
• Helps you develop strategies to meet those objectives.
• Helps you earmark problems and suggests ways to solve them.
• Helps you avoid problems altogether.
• Helps create a structure to your business by defining activities and responsibilities

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