For the first milestone within 3 months , what are tasks that need to be done?
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For each task, what is the next action step? Who's responsibile for doing it? When will it be done? The more specific and actionable your answers, the more likely you'll move this project along.
Write down some actionable tasks you can knock out today, this week, and this month. Your expenses will fall into three categories: Fixed expenses are the things you have to pay for every month, whether you make one sale or 10, sales. Hosting, rent, employees are examples of fixed costs. Add up your fixed expenses, and you have the baseline cost of running your business.
Variable expenses are tied to your sales volume. If you're moving product, what is your cost per item? These are the expenses tied to sales. Performance bonuses, sales commissions, pay-per-click advertising are examples. Captial expenses are one time purchases you need to make. Web design, books, a computer are examples. Some of these expenses will come before you even open your doors. That is your startup costs. Using this spreadsheet XLS , plan your startup's first year expenses and income. What month will you break even? That is, when will you make back all the time and money you'll put into the company?
It's okay to guess. No one knows the future, and educated guesses based on the best available information is all we can do. For bloggers, how much does it cost you monthly to run your blog?
- 2. Who are your customers?.
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In addition to the hard costs hosting , don't forget to count the time involved. How much would you like to earn each month? That number plus your expenses is your target sales volume.
Now that you have a hard dollar amount as a target, you might need to go back to your answers in question 3 to tweak your implementation strategy. Now that you've brainstormed these answers, you probably have a jumbled mess of notes, references, and mini-speeches written down. That's certainly not a business plan you can hand to investors, but it is a business plan that you can start executing today. If you don't know the answers to some of the questions, post in the comments or forums , and let the super smart Wise Bread community point you in the right direction.
Check out other great tips from other top personal finance bloggers: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors. Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon. I really like this, because it gives everyone a basic starting point for their business. If done well, it can lead to a larger business plan when the time is needed.
Too many people don't start their business because of the paralysis of analysis, they keep trying to prepare and learn and never get started. I might add to 3 when will things get done the following question: A lot of companies have trouble out of the gate because their 5 year plan doesn't take hiring into account. If you plan for success you have to plan for growth. Or, you just make dye for bears Also, a quick questionnaire to see if you have the right mindset, personality, and business idea to be an entrepreneur right now is "Future Entrepreneurs Test" at http: I so appreciate this post.
I grabbed my notebook and started writing down the answers as I read your post, and I've actually got the basics in place. Thanks for giving me a great starting point. It was a great help. My husband is planning on opening a pet care business, and this is just the kind of advice he needs. One thing I'd add in - be conservative in your estimates for income and clients while over estimating the potential costs wherever possible.
Things can always look great on paper, but it's much harder to make them work in real life. We get burned out after a few months or miss opportunities since we're always in fire fighting mode. If the "group" is responsible for it and we'll get to it "when we have time" You need ONE person in charge of a task or else it's doomed.
This article wasn't meant to be a complete guide to writing a business plan, but I'm glad it has helped some of you to get started. Once we've got the fundamentals of our business down -- what our business does and who we're selling to -- then it makes all the other little decisions easier. If you guys are looking for inspiration, check out this article on 5 reasons why a recession is a good time to start a business.
What about calculating the money needed to sustain the project until there's enough revenue to sustain itself? Thank you for creating this little list. I hope everyone else will do the same. Most small businesses start without a business plan. By using your post they will get a much better start.
Too many entrepreneurs get bogged down in the tiny details when creating a business plan. It naturally helps to look at the larger picture, and to drill down to the fundamentals of your concept before you get started to ensure that you don't lose focus while you're working on your plan.
The only question I think you overlooked although it ties in indirectly with a few of the questions you posed is: It's the simplest, and perhaps most fundamental question every entrepreneur must be able to answer and express clearly in their business plan. We also pontificated on your post at www. Business planning is very much a verb. Let me echo that good business planning trumps a nice business plan any day However, what I like even more is the spirit that you need a sound business model, else your best-researched plan is for naught. Another way to map this is the business model based roughly on Slywotzsky: Can you do this cost-effectively?
Gotta keep asking the hard questions - and tha usually requires a framework. I like the 3-part biz model above, but the 4-step list presented here is great too- thanks for sharing!
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I've found it very plainspoken and easy to use. The included CD has forms and spreadsheets related to book content. I also recommend checking with your local Chamber of Commerce and Small Business Development organizations. We work hard to make sure and provide helpful information, articles, samples, suggestions and calculators for people starting or growing their business.
I couldn't agree more. This is advice that our president, Tim Berry , preaches a lot. Stop letting the "plan" keep you from planning. For the past month, on a volunteer basis, I have been organizing information on business formation that can be shared during Global Entrepreneurship Week. This is the effort by more than 60 nations, occurring the week before Thanksgiving, to encourage young people to select entrepreneurship as their career path in life and to tackle some of the hardest challenges of life.
You have distilled the essence of the business plan. I think it will be a wonderful resource for young entrepreneurs. My plan is to post a link on my free directory that points readers here.
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By reading your post they can learn that the business plan is more than a tool to raise money. It is the tool to determine how they will really get things done and if they are sold on committing themselves to the plan. This is a good start to a business plan. I like the idea of using this to jump start the business idea. I would use this as a first pass to getting started. You will, however, want to go through a more detailed planning process. Both the planning process and the plan are important.
Further,planning is important, execution is important and being flexible is important. You must have all three of these at work in your business to be successful. Thank you so much for creating this list! I can't tell how useful a business model is like this for anyone considering starting a business. Weaknesses are the factors that reduce your company's ability to achieve its objectives independently.
Examples include unreliable delivery, outdated production tools, insufficient marketing efforts and a lack of planning. Opportunities are ways for your business to grow and be more profitable.
These can include seeking new markets, managing technological change or addressing new consumer trends. You need to look at how your company's main skills can be used to take advantage of these opportunities. Threats are barriers to entry in your primary markets, such as a labour shortage, legislative hurdles or detrimental economic or political developments. Here you want to demonstrate that you know your customers inside and out, including their expectations and their whims. Your profile should include basic demographic portraits that paint a clear profile of your clients.
Look at characteristics such as age, sex, profession or career, income level, level of educational attainment and geographic location. You'll want to provide research that shows the estimated demand for your product or service as well as the rate at which that demand is expected to grow. This builds confidence within financial institutions that your business has growth potential.
It's also important to understand exactly what motivates customers to buy. Are your clients looking for savings or a way to simplify their lives, for example, or are they just shopping for pleasure? Ask yourself why they would buy your product or service. Are they too costly? Do they lack something unique? These insights will help you develop a product or service that outshines the competition. Here you describe the desired outcome of your marketing plan with attainable and realistic objectives, targets and a clear time frame.
The most common approach is to use marketing metrics. For example, your market objectives could include:. Your choice of marketing vehicles will be governed by the profile of your target market, so you need to understand how different vehicles reach different audiences. If you have a niche audience, for example, you can take advantage of low-cost marketing strategies such as e-mail. The costliest options are usually advertising, sales promotions and public relations campaigns.
Referrals and networking are lower cost ways to reach customers. Digital marketing is a powerful strategy because it is inexpensive and effective in reaching target markets. A marketing plan without financials has little clout. Financials can also be included in a general business plan. It may help to start with the following questions:.
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A break-even analysis is another important step in developing your marketing plan. This analysis shows exactly how much you need to sell to cover your costs of doing business. If you can surpass your break-even point and easily bring in more than the amount of sales revenue needed to meet your expenses, you stand a good chance of making a profit. Subscribe to receive, via email, tips, articles and tools for entrepreneurs and more information about our solutions and events. You can withdraw your consent at any time.