Business Planning

It All Begins with an Idea...The overriding reason for anyone to think of establishing a business is - opportunity. An opportunity to be your own boss, to provide a product or service, to implement your ideas, which can generate sufficient surplus.To be successful - to stay in business - you need a combination of hard work, skill and perseverance. Generally, people who start their own businesses can be grouped into two broad categories. The first group consists of people who know exactly what they want to do and are merely looking for the opportunity or resources to do it. These people may have already developed many of the skills necessary to succeed in their chosen field and are also likely to be familiar with industry customs and practices, which can help during the startup phase of a new business. The second group consists of people who want to start their own business, but don\'t have any real definite ideas about what they\'d like to do. They may have developed skills in the course of their employment or education, but may not be interested in opening a business in the same field of endeavour. To start any business big or small, one needs to start with developing a Business Plan.Keep Target Audience in Your Mind While writing your business plan, keep in mind the intended audience and why you are writing the plan. For example, if you are trying to get debt financing, emphasis should not be on the huge profit potential - but on the certainty that the debt can be repaid. If you are writing a plan to help you run the business better you may start with general background information on the company and the industry, and focus on the areas of your plan that are currently most important to you. Think Competitively Throughout Your Business Plan In the present competitive market, you would probably be facing some serious competition sooner or later no matter how unique your business idea is. You need to think competitively throughout your business plan. As an entrepreneur, you need to identify where you will do things in similar manner as your competitors, where you will do things differently, what will be your real strengths and real weaknesses, where will you create your niche. Focus your plan on being different than your competitors and compete with existing players less directly. Find a particular market niche to focus on. Think over the points, can you find a unique strategy? Can you position your products differently? Can you use different sales or marketing vehicles? Your business plan should be able to answer these questions. Tips on Creating Business PlansPeopleIn seeking fund from banks, venture capitalists or other outside investors, you will increase your chances of success if you get someone committed to your management team who at least has a recognizable name. Alternately, you can include as exhibits to your plan any positive media clippings you can find, such as items from trade publications, about members of your management team. If you don\'t have any clippings, try contacting relevant publications to get media coverage-perhaps about your start-up business proposal. Keep Your Business Plan Factual and SuccinctTry to keep the plan factual, don\'t use generalisations to describe the potential of your business. Don\'t put too much detail when creating plans. If a business plan is too long, the focus on what is really important might be lost. Involve EveryoneUse expert opinion or key employees to create a business plan. Then work with them until you are satisfied. Have key people get together to get the plan in a synchronised fashion. The more input people have in creating the plan, the more responsibility they will feel towards it.