Writing A Business Plan What Makes A Good One

Writing a business plan can be a lot of hard workthe period your business plan covers. It is said
or it can be great fun. An effective plan can helpthat good objectives are SMART. That is specific,
your company to greatness. A poor one can leadmeasurable, achievable, realistic and targeted.
you out of business. No plan is like asking to failHere's an example of a SMART objective for a
before you even start.hypothetical business.
Not every business needs a 200 page bound"By the end of this year we will have increased
business plan. However every business needs tosales of product X by 7.5% over the previous
have some idea of where they want to go andyear."
how they are going to get there. This articleYou can see how clear this objective is. It is much
covers some key insights into writing a businesseasier to achieve high performance with clear
plan that get your business to where you want toobjectives.
be.Now you need to outline your STRATEGY. How
The first stage of any plan is ANALYSIS. Youare you going to reach you objective(s)? This is
need to take a very objective look at a numberwhere your marketing plan often comes in as it
of factors that may impact your business. Therehelps describe the programs you will run to
are many factors to consider but the two majorachieve your desired objective(s). To continue the
ones are competition and your operatingexample above our strategy may be to gain
environment.distribution for our product in one new major retail
Let's look first at competition. Every business haschain.
competition, even if you think your product orTo make your strategy work you must then
service is unique. How is this? Well it's quite simpleallocate appropriate RESOURCES. Certain things
really, people have choices to make. The mostwill need to be provided to reach your goal. This
fundamental choice they make in most cases iscould be dollars, people, equipment, etc. Your plan
whether to buy what you offer or but somethingmust have included the resources you are
else. For example I could buy a game console or Iallocating and why you believe this is adequate to
could buy groceries instead. Customers only haveget the result.
so much money available so you first task is toEvery business plans also has some
ask yourself what is my competition like and canPROJECTIONS. This is your basic financials that
I beat them? The more you understand youryou plan will deliver. Are you expecting a profit or
competition the more you can develop yourloss? How much?
business strategy of being different andLastly you need to allow for CONTINGENCIES.
outperforming them.Things change all the time and your plan needs to
Now let's look at operating environment. Thisconsider these possibilities in advance. A good way
understands what factors around your area ofto do this is to ask What if?
operation are likely to affect your businessWhat if a new competitor enters our market?
performance. For some companies this includesWhat if a distributor delists our product?
looking around the World in other cases it's justWhat if interest rates rise?
your local neighborhood. You need to askYour analysis should give you some idea of likely
questions such as:contingencies. It saves a lot of stress if you have
How is the economy going?some documented ideas for dealing with them
What is consumer confidence like?before they become a big problem.
Where is technology heading in my industry?Writing a business plan is never perfect, the plan
After answering all the questions you need tois on paper and you're operating in the real world.
decide how these might negatively or positivelyHowever a good plan can really guide you in the
influence your performance.right direction. Take time to put real thought into
Now you know more about your competition andpreparing your plan an above all make sure you
operating environment it's time to set someUSE YOUR PLAN!
OBJECTIVES. This is what you want to achieve in