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Write a Business Plan

The business plan is a necessity. If the person who wants to start a small business can’t put a business plan together, he or she is in trouble.

-Robert Krummer, Jr., Chairman First Business Bank

Why Do You Need A Business Plan?

A business plan is critical to any start-up business. The plan serves three purposes:
1. Communication: A business plan helps open doors to investment capital, secure loans, and attract strategic business partners.
2. Management: A business plan helps you track, monitor and evaluate your progress on a short-term and long-term basis.
3. Planning: A business plan helps you map out your day to day operations and long-term strategic goals. Thoughtful planning helps identify potential roadblocks, enabling you to avoid these obstacles and establish better alternatives.

Sometimes the thought process that goes in to creating a business plan is more important than the finished product, so don’t be discouraged if you’re not a strong writer. Go through the process and write a plan. You’ll be better off for it!

Writing a business plan is one of the most widely discussed topics for small businesses. For more information, please refer to one of the many fantastic tools on the web, such as the SBA’s business plan builder.

Best of the Web

  1. The Small Business Administration’s Business Plan Guide.
  2. SCORE’s Business Plan Template Guide.
  3. Entrepreneur magazine provides comprehensive online resources for getting started, including this article for perspective.

Stanford University’s e-Corner highlights an excellent and simple way to approach your business plan:

 

Before you begin

A business plan helps you determine whether or not your business has the potential to generate enough cash flow to cover your expenses and keep your business alive. Viability is not a given, so it is your job as the entrepreneur to figure out if your business can survive. Before you begin writing your business plan, consider the following questions:
  1. What product or service does your business provide? What consumer need does it fulfill and how do you differentiate your product from the competition? Will you compete on cost, quality, delivery, flexibility, or some other metric?
  2. Who are the potential customers for your product or service? How will you target them and market to them?
  3. How will you manage the internal operations of your business?
  4. Where will you get the financial resources to start your business? What is the initial investment required to start your business? How much ongoing investment will you require?

Components of a business plan

While there is no standard template for a business plan, the following components are common to most business plans and the relevant content should be represented in your plan. Note that the executive summary is not a trivial component of your plan. Much like your pitch, the executive summary is your opportunity to make your story as compelling as possible. If your executive summary is weak, the rest of your plan might never be read.

Local organizations that can help

SCORE: Use the Ask Score tool to find entrepreneurs near you.
Nashville Capital Network: The NCN provides evaluation of business plans as capacity permits. Submit your plan here.

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