We moved our family’s home this past week. I really did think that we would pack, throw it all into the moving truck, drive to the new house, unpack, and that would be it: A seamless and easy transition.

Whew, I realize now that I was living in a dream world! It took two weeks to pack, two days to get it all loaded into the truck, and then a week to get it all unloaded and sort of settled. And it took a week to get my internet rolling again!

While I was a bit overzealous in the itinerary, I did finally get us into the new house. Now we are basically back to business as usual, and I’ll be back on track with new posting once again.

Why Have a Plan?

That’s a lot like our businesses. Nothing ever goes exactly how you plan it out in your head. We need to be prepared for all kinds of unforeseen snafus, everything from the computer not working, to needing more funds than we think, to running behind schedule.

At least if we have a plan, we know how to get back on track when the unforeseen does happen. I was beginning to think to myself, “Why even have a plan?” Without a plan, you have no way to measure whether or not each action is getting you closer to your destination.

What I Learned

The path might sometimes seem to get a bit off-track, but that can be important in what we learn while wandering off the track. I learned that I can keep my cool even when I can’t find a pen or can’t email regularly for a whole week!

My business still kept running, and that’s a great thing to learn. Even while I was seemingly AWOL, the advertising kept running, the phone kept ringing, and clients still sent in their payments.

And isn’t that a good measure of how your business is faring? That you can take a week off from work and still bring in income?

Do You Have a Plan?

Remember, a solid plan and vision of how you want to build your business is one of the most important aspects of building a business. If you don’t have a clear business plan, or you don’t know why you need one, please read this article on business plans:

I Have My Mission Statement, Now What?

You can also call our office to receive help designing your plan!

You have a clear vision of the purpose of your organization. Now it’s time to figure out how you’ll be fulfilling your organization’s mission, and a good business plan* is integral to achieving that.

Not Just for Financing

A lot of people whom I speak with think a business plan is only for finding financing.  Not true.  A business plan is for organizing how you’ll be running your endeavor.  It includes projected costs of what you’re doing. However, it’s also includes personnel positions, the ways that you’ll market, how you’ll pay for expenses, the type of clients you’re going to help, partners in industry, and so forth.

The business plan is also your tool for measuring all of your organization’s activities.  Everything that the organization does should be evaluated vis-à-vis the business plan to make sure that you’re on the right track.  If the activity doesn’t fit into the business plan, the activity can be adapted or dropped.

It’s All in the Details

Just like the mission statement spells out the goals of your organization, your business plan spells out the details of how you’re going to reach those goals.  It can be a great tool for figuring out whether or not your mission can be accomplished the way you think, or whether you will have to change something.  It can help you stay focused as your organization comes together.  It can also help you attain funding.

Some Important Sections to Include in Your Organization’s Plan

Executive Summary

• mission statement
• main objectives of the business
• what the business wants to accomplish
• the current market analysis
• description of business opportunities
• obstacles to overcome
• clients or customers and their needs that the business will serve

Services or Products to be Offered

• detailed description of the services or products to be offered
• what problems do the services  address
• what are the objectives of the services

Organization and Management

• briefly describe the principals involved
• include current and past business accomplishments
• workforce experience and strengths
• why the principals are a good choice to accomplish the goals of the organization

Marketing Plan and Forecast

• describe how you are going to reach your primary client base
• statement of marketing objectives
• marketing research that demonstrates need for your service or product
• analysis of competition to show why clients will come to your organization
• develop marketing strategy
• your 5-year forecast that includes projections on income, costs, and funding requirements

Plan of Action

• detailed and chronological plan of action

Financial Statements

• marketing plan costs
• sales forecasts
• variable and fixed expenses
• profits for 12 months then quarterly and annually
• cash flows and balance sheets
• any available previous tax statements or other relevant financial statements, include valuation of business assets including tangible and intangible assets and any present contracts

Appendices

• statistical analyses, market details, narrative appraisals

*Various templates are available to help start your organization’s business plan. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to call NexStep Innovations LLC.