For a small business entrepreneur, creating a business plan may be the last thing on your mind. However, taking the time to plan appropriately can improve the chances that your business will do better than the national average for small businesses. SCORE places the small business failure rates for 2007 at one third failing within two years and two thirds failing within 7 years. Many of those which failed did not have business plans.
Financial Needs
A business plan presents an opportunity to look at the entire cost of starting up your company, from the equipment you must purchase, to your advance marketing, legal and insurance costs, and rent as you prepare your location. By creating a cash flow statement based on real projections of your cash revenues and payments, you will gain a better understanding of the required cash reserves. This prevents raising too little capital, a situation which can be disastrous for new businesses.
Research
Many small business owners fail to accurately study the competitive landscape they will be entering. Some enter markets without knowing how they will compare with all of their competitors. Some assume too much about the needs of customers. And some ignore key industry costs and revenue drivers which present hurdles for a small business entering the market. For example, many businesses that have traditionally been run on a local level face increasing pressure from internet brands and national chains (Home Depot in hardware, Fedex in mailing, 1-800-Flowers for florists, etc). A local company must have a strategy to compete against local and national competitors for consumer dollars in their area.
Partner Recruitment
Business plans are often seen as a document handed on to a stranger, such as a bank loan officer or investor. However, small business entrepreneurs often have the need to share their plans with people they know, some of whom may be potential partners. A good partner will see your passion and skill in the logic and detail of the plan you've created. They will then be able to bring something to the table beyond dollars, whether it is legal and insurance help, management assistance, marketing expertise, or contacts with potential vendors and customers. The plan will become even stronger after a good partner's contribution is incorporated.
Finish Your Plan Today With Our Business Plan Template!
If you want to create your own business plan quickly and easily, we now offer an
business plan template that allows you to develop a professional
business plan in hours or days, not weeks or months.
Visit this link
to learn more:
http://www.growthink.com/products/business-plan-template
OR, We Can Develop Your Plan For You
Our professional business plan
writers can create your entire business plan for you. We will make sure your
business plan is sound and ready for investors so you can continue to focus on
running your business.
To speak with a Growthink business plan consultant, call 800-506-
5728 or complete the form below.
|
|
Testimonials
Thank you very much for all of your hard work. We are very pleased with the final result of
the business plan and the PowerPoint - say congratulations on a job well done and that you can
use us a reference for any future clients. We will definitely look to utilize Growthink's
services in the future as we build our company.
Bryan Langslet
MediaCompound
Without Growthink’s professional help, we would never have been able to create an effective
business plan. Growthink not only did deep research on our business environment, but its
representatives also listened to us and refined their analysis to include what we had found
out through experience. We would recommend Growthink to any start-up business which does not
have a professional business plan developer on staff!
Howard Brown
Laptop Mini Mart
More Testimonials
|
Important: Growthink will never share or sell your personal information and we will
keep all
business information completely confidential.
