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Before You Start Working On Your Business Plan
by Ninive Badilescu

Editor's Summary: The better prepared you are when you sit down to work on your business plan, the less frustrating the process will be and the better the business plan will be. Learn how to get ready to write that business plan.

I have yet to meet someone who would say: "Can't wait to work on my business plan." Most of us tend to postpone it for as long as we can. For some is the feeling that while working on something that seems less than "productive" they could be doing something more "real", for others is the fear of getting it wrong or of having their hopes crushed under the real facts that such a plan would reveal. Some of us are not sure where to start from and others are not sure where to take it from there. The truth is that we all are experts of finding excuses.

However, the reality is much brighter. As you work on your business plan your business becomes more and more real, your actions and strategies take shape and they seem much more easy to achieve, you understand more about yourself and your business and the bond becomes stronger. But how to get there? How do you get to the point where all this starts happening to you too? The answer is preparation. The answer is in gathering information and make sure you know a few things before you start:

1. Know your values, strengths and goals

As the most important part of your business YOU are the subject of your first steps. Learn as much as you can about yourself. Be objective, truthful, put any judgement aside, trust yourself and trust others to give you thir insight in what your values and strengths are. They might not be the same as the ones you come up with but they will show you how you come across in your relationships with people around you.

2. Know your business

It goes without saying how important it is to find out as much as possible about your business. Start your information gathering with where your business is at, what growth chances are there, what are the strengths of your business, what are its weaknesses, how does your business match who you are and what you stand for, how do those around you perceive it. As they say: "Don't let any stone unturned." The more you know about your business the better equipped you are to take it to new levels.

3. Know your market

While we all have a good idea of who our clients are and the target market they represent we would be at a loss to come up with more in-depth information about it. Knowing your market is as important as knowing yourself and your business. Its dynamics, its trends, its size, its strengths, its needs, its problems, its demographics, etc can be the key information you need to tailor your services better. Take your time and go in as much detail as you can to come up with the best description of your market.

4. Know your competitors

As much as we would like to be the only ones providing a type of service chances are that we have competitors out there and we should know as much as possible about them. By determining what is the services/products matrix that your competitors offer you have more chances to, again, find that little niche and tailor your services better.

5. Know the trends in the industry

Whatever industry you are in you should be ready for and aware of any changes within the industry and be amongst the first to implement it. Don't let it to chance to find out long after things happen and miss the chance to come up with a new or revised service or product. Be a leader not a follower. Know your industry and in time you will be known within it.

6.Know your finances

Unfortunately even the best ideas need money to be brought to life. It is particularly important to know your finances when you have responsibilities other than yourself. A business that will financially affect negatively the family life will have the added stress of resentment and resistance. Avoid this situation by knowing your finances now, your business expenses for the next 6 - 12 months, know where the funds will come from, know how much is needed to keep your family standard of living while you build your business, know how are you going to achieve that, etc. Like before the rule has to do with the stone that shouldn't be left unturned.

7. Know your short-term future

Make sure you know where you want to be in the next 6-12 months and how will you get there. This time you are in charge! Go beyond dreaming and into visualising the next 12 months. You will need all the information you get here to be able to move to the next point. Think of all the hardship, all the successes, all the excitement and all the fears that you can foresee coming your way.

8. Know your long-term future

They say that the first year is the toughest when building a business. I tend to disagree. I see it as bringing up a child. You are never done and the older the child gets the bigger the worries. It is the same with the business. The more your business grows and the more people become involved in and dependent on it the harder the work for the person in charge. Like with the kids it is worth it and it is filled with great moments along the way. Knowing and acknowledging what's ahead for you will make it easier to keep on going.

9. Know your commitment

Once you know so much about your business, yourself, the market, the competitors, your finances, your future, etc you will know how great a journey ahead. But you will also know how big a commitment it is and it is now that you should look deep inside you and make sure you know how committed you are to achieving all this. How much you are ready to put in to make the future and wonderful present. Be truthful, be objective, be honest with yourself and those around you. You wouldn't want to be faced with this question six month down the track.

10. Know your support

Acknowledge the fact that you cannot doit alone. You need a supportive environment, a supportive network of people you can turn to for advice, encouragement and praise. Know who those people are and respect and cherish their support. Make sure you never underestimate the value of such an environment.

Business planning is like learning the letters before you start writing your first sentence. It is time consuming but it can not be skipped, ignored or not taken seriously. But just like learning to write having a business plan gives you the strength and discipline to write those wonderful stories in the book of your future. And, like any successful writer you will come back and make changes, adjust settings, bring in new characters. Don't be afraid to change it whenever there is a need for change because this is the rule that makes prizewinners.

Ninive creates opportunities for her clients to design winning marketing and business building strategies and recognise the growth ensuring approach to managing a small business. Ninive offers workshops, teleclasses and one-on-one coaching packages.  Author Profile