Small Business Plan Sample

Small Business plan sample?

One of the reasons why many people do not complete a business plan is because they simply do not know where to start and are not willing to work on it. They are convinced they already have all the answers and that drawing up a business plan is only a waste of time.

Most people are more willing to compile a draft copy or business plan sample if they can do it for themselves and do not need to spend too much time formulating an official business plan for a 3rd party such as a bank or other financial institution.

Should it later be necessary to compile an official business plan your small business plan can act as a solid foundation that you can build on.

A business plan can be compared with going on vacation. You do not simply get in your car and decide to go on vacation without any prior planning. You will be surprised how many people try to start a business without a business plan. These businesses are doomed for failure before they even get of the ground.

You need to be confident that you have a viable plan and should be confident enough to convince other people as well, when necessary.

Remember that you are compiling the business plan for yourself. You do not need to show it to anyone if you do not want to, so, please be honest with yourself.

It will help you to put important issues into perspective, brainstorm new ideas and benchmark your business against other successful companies.

This is not the type of business plan you will give to a financial institution to motivate your request for finance. However, it will help you to answer many pertinent questions a financial institution may ask you.

It should be reviewed on a regular basis and updated whenever necessary. Use it as a working document. If you can see a business plan as an important and useful business tool instead of annoying administration you will ready benefit from it.

Children often have an annoying habit of asking Why? Where? When? How? What? Annoying but very constructive. It is amazing how much thought provoking information can be gained by asking simple questions...

Your business plan should be able to answer the following 32 questions:

Spend a couple of minutes on each question. By 100% honest. If you are not sure about the answer then continue to the next question. You can always return to any unanswered questions when you have gone through all the questions. Write your answers down.

When you have gone through the list of questions you will have a very good idea of how viable your business idea is.

1. Why do you want to have your own business?

2. Why do you want to have an online business?

3. What business do you want to start? Why?

As a rule of thumb, start with a business that you know and that you are passionate about.

The more you know about the business you want to start the better your chances are of making a success of it.

4. What are your goals and objectives?

5. What target market do you want to reach? Why?

6. When are you going to start your business? Why?

As already indicated in home base business ideas procrastination is the thief of time.

Make a decision. Most people would love to eventually one day have their own business. However, most people never become business owners because they do not plan and act.

Planning involves being clear in your own mind on why you are going to start a new business at a certain time. It is easy to move out the date if there is no good reason behind the date you chose.

7. Where will the business the situated?

Are you planning on working from home? For how long? Do you have a place to work where you won’t be interrupted? Can you count on your family to support you working from home?

Be honest with yourself. Not everybody has the discipline to work from home, even if it is a great environment. If you have to rent office space and work from a friends place then plan for it in advance. It may have cash flow implications that you should not ignore. Do not tie yourself up in a long lease!

First prize is always to make money online from home and to only rent office space once the business becomes too big to run from a home office. It is the safest and cheapest way to start.

8. What is your mission statement?

For more information, have a look at: How to write a mission statement

Do you have training or qualifications that will help you to make money from your home based business? If not, what are you planning on doing to improve your knowledge? For some helpful information, visit Coaching - Business Training.

10. What experience do you have?

Use your business experience, business degree and life experience to your advantage. It is one of the most valuable tools you have.

11. What does your SWOT Analysis say?

12. What is your strategy?

Having a good marketing strategy is often even more important than having a great product or service to offer your customers. You need to be able to write a marketing strategy.

13. What support do you have?

14. How much time will you spend running the business?

15. Why do you think your business will succeed?

16. Who are your competitors?

17. What makes you different from your competitors?

18. Who will take care of administration?

19. Who will take care of the books?

20. How will you promote the business?

21. How will you market your business?

22. How will you sell your product or service?

23. How are you going to get paid?

24. How often do you need to make changes?

25. How much money do you need to start the business?

26. What will the money be used for?

27. What are your monthly expenses?

28. When do you expect your business to be profitable? Why?

29. How much money will the business generate?

30. When do you need to employ more people? Why?

31. What is your exit strategy?

32. How are you going to give back to society?

Take your time to work on your small business plan. Starting a business knowing that you have a solid business plan that validates the viability of your business will greatly assist you in making money, online or offline.