Business Plans For Small Business Are Not Always Simple, But You Do Need One
Business plans for small business are very important to achieving success and there is quite a lot of material out there to help you including some free business plan downloads. Read on and I will give you some tips and links to resources to help you get started in writing your business plan and in developing your growth strategies in business.
All growth strategies in business, whether for start-ups or for established businesses, really do need a plan. If you are running a small business without a business plan it is like walking around in the dark without a touch. You may eventually get where you want to go but you will probably stumble around and take longer to get there, you may even get hurt along the way and you could end up somewhere you didn’t want to go.
The good news is that business plans for small business are not rocket science and the sooner you start looking at yours the sooner you will be able to shed light on the things that might be bothering you right now. Plus there are some free business plan download templates that can help you write your plan.
All growth strategies in business need to be built on firm foundations – I have distilled the foundations of a good management plan into four pillars:
- Mission and Profile
- Products and Markets
- People and Operations
- Finances and Profits
Then there is a final category - Your Dashboard - the high level set of information you need to look at to make sure you are on track.
This is what I call The Five Page Business Plan.
Free Business Plan Downloads
If you are starting up in business, or already running a small business that is not living up to your expectations you will definitely benefit from our free Business Success Pack which includes a business planning workbook and special financial planning spreadsheet.
For some businesses a five page plan is enough, for others you may want to do a lot more – here is a link to Business Link’s Free Business Plan Download pages.
Growth strategies in business sometimes need to be backed up by a more comprehensive business plan, especially if you want to raise additional equity funding for your business (i.e. raise funding by selling shares in your business) - fund raising business plans are usually on a completely different scale and have a different focus from the kind of plan you need to manage your business. There is a range of good software programs for doing business plans for a small business, usually available for a modest price. The market leader is arguably Business Plan Pro, which has recently been updated.
When you are doing your first plan, or if planning does not come naturally to you, you may well benefit from joining a course or attending a free seminar about writing business plans for a small business.
I wish you every success with developing your growth strategies in business and in planning and delivering your business success.
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