Your DIY Business Plan
I’ve written a few business plans in my time.
Business plans, in my opinion, are relics of times past. Back when running a business required external capital from either a loan or investors, these external sources would work their due diligence to make sure their money was safe.
Nowadays, anyone can start their own business and not require external capital. Small is the new big in business, especially online.
So full business plans seem rather pointless – asking for financial information, projections, and repetitive information.
With all that said, I also recognize that in writing my business plans, I was forced to answer questions I would have never asked myself otherwise. So instead of making you write an entire business plan to learn for yourself, here are the best parts of the business plan (with no part being the financial disclosure.)
Business description
You should be able to sum up your business in less than two sentences – what you do, how you make money and who you sell to. If you can’t nail this, you don’t have a business.
Government regulations
It didn’t occur to me until I started the business plan writing process that I ought to look into this stuff. Here in Canada regulations included what hygiene regulations I had to adhere to, as well as municipal zoning and federal and provincial taxation. All this is things that should be considered.
Competitors – Strengths and Weaknesses
I never considered what my competition was doing well and poorly until writing my first business plan. Doing so made my business better, so it’s definately worth considering. Emulate the best and leave the rest.
Competitive advantage
What do you do well that sets you apart in the marketplace? What do you offer that is unique or different? If you don’t have a competitive advantage you can list, you should re-evaluate what your doing and what unique contribution you’re offering.
Customer service policy
How can your customers get ahold of you? What are your return policies? Do you have a plan for when a customer is dissatisfied? This part seems obvious but very few businesses stop to consider it until it’s become an issue.
Normally in business plans, each of these would take no more than a sentence or two, but since you’re not writing all that other extraneous stuff, flesh these out. Be in depth and descriptive and spend the time instead pondering and researching – it’ll definately pay off in the end.
What do you think? Is there anything in terms of business planning that wasn’t covered? Leave a comment and let me know!
Next Thursday: Six things you shouldn’t DIY but instead should pay for