It's doubtful that no two words in an entrepreneur's vocabulary raise as many concerns as these two: Business Planning.
A business plan is often described as a document outlining a set of business goals, the reasons they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It can also be understood as an outline of your business idea, your objectives (or what you want to achieve with the business) and how you plan to achieve these objectives.
A good business plan is one that will serve as a guide or reference point throughout the life of your business. It can and should evolve or perhaps change completely, and it is essential to the success of your business. If you really want to succeed in business, planning should be part of everything you do, and it never stops.
Business Plan Template - Keep it Simple
Whether you are an independent contractor, a home-based business, or have your sights set on Main Street, you want to ensure your plan meets the needs of your business. This includes understanding your market, having a clear view of your capital needs, your budget and cash flow, and lists some basic assumptions about where your business is now and where you want it to go, and of course, what is it going to take to get you there. This might be as simple as having a goal to expand you client base from two to six by the end of the year, and having a plan to do so. The plan might include networking, building up a referral base, creating a professional web site and starting a blog. And as your business grows, your plans and benchmarks will grow accordingly.
Example of a traditional business plan:
Luminex Sample Business Plan
There are now an amazing range of online support tools to help you write your business plan. One of the most exciting and easiest to use of these is Canvaniser. This resource helps you to arrive at a much easier-to-understand and communicate business plan.
One of the most important things you will do is develop your business plan and Mayo Local Enterprise Office has a number of supports that can help in this regard. These include Business planning training and Mentoring support.
Please contact us for further information.
