Whether you're just starting out or have decided it's time to revitalize your business (or change paths and create a new one), it's important to have a plan of attack. While I fully realize some of you are much more spontaneous than me (and probably less obsessed with organization and planning *blush*), it's worth your while to sit down and at least sketch something out on a napkin so you can figure out what you have to do to build your business and have the amount of growth you expect over the next year, five years and hopefully ten years.
There are, frankly, probably a dozen good reasons to take the time to write a business plan. But the main two everyone I meet seems to mention are 1) being able to create the successful venture you envision and 2) convincing folks to help you fund it (or fund it for you).
If you would really rather just "wing it" but recently realized that you're going to need some pretty serious capital to get started, I suggest you check out the following articles to give you food for thought.
- So You Wanna Write a Business Plan? will walk you through the reasons for a plan and the steps of writing one (and give ya a chuckle in the process).
- The Business Plan Archive lets you read business plans from both successful and unsuccessful Dot Com businesses...nothing like an example to learn from!
- American Express has an online workshop for creating a business plan (and of course they tell you how they can service your business too).
- Lastly, don't forget good old Uncle Sam. The US Small Business Association has plenty to offer for planning your, well, plan.
- Ready for someone to walk right through the process with you? Pop over and visit my colleague Cathi Kent. Start here so you can learn about both mission statements and the creation of your business plan.
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