So what is a business plan?
A wise person once said, “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.” Starting a business is such an important endeavor that you’ve simply got to have a business plan. I encourage the people I work with to start with a 90-Day Action Plan, and I help them formulate one that fits them like a glove. It’s got to be tailored to your specific interests, desires, and objectives. Your 90-Day Action Plan is your roadmap to success.
Tweak your roadmap after 90 days. Add your new business goals. Having a carefully thought-out plan will surely aid you in operating your business and boosting your self-confidence. In business, you usually have to have more than desire. Your business plan can help you form the winning strategy that will see you through the inevitable ups and downs of running a business.
How to create a business plan
A business plan helps you anticipate contingencies. There are predictable setbacks that are a normal part of the business cycle. With a business plan, these setbacks won’t throw you off your game because you have already anticipated the normal cyclical nature of the business world. You’ll be better able to weather these business cycles and come out stronger than ever.
This reminds me of a story I once heard about U.S. sailors during a World War II torpedo attack. Everyone thought that greater numbers and percentages of the younger sailors would survive the attack because they had more strength, energy, and vitality. However, much to everyone’s surprise, huge numbers of older sailors survived days in the water, while the younger sailors died.
Naval investigators later determined that it was the older sailors’ experience that helped them survive. Because of their experience, they knew how to overcome challenges and adversity and ultimately survive. They were also better at anticipating challenges and forming plans to overcome them. A business plan will give you a similar edge; because you are planning your response to setbacks, you will be better able to overcome them.
You wouldn’t go on a cross-country car trip without a roadmap or any driving directions. If you don’t know where you’re going or how to get there you won’t know which turns to take. You’d have no idea where you might end up. You’ll probably never get where you’re going. Starting a business without a marketing plan is just like going on a road trip without a map. If you don’t know how to get where you’re going, chances are you won’t.
Your business plan will help you make a lot more money. There was a study of Harvard MBA graduates in 1979. The interviewers asked the graduates about their goals. The results are astounding. The researchers found that a whopping 84% of the grads had no specific goals. These folks had the lowest income when compared with the rest of their cohort.
Another 13% of the graduates had goals, but they weren’t written goals. Compared to the grads with no goals, these students made almost double the income. The final 3% of grads is most interesting and significant part of this study. These are the grads that had written goals. Their income was ten times as much as the other 97% of the graduates combined. This study clearly demonstrates how important written goals are to your overall success.
Help writing a business plan
As a business coach, I help my clients create a simple, easily implemented marketing plan that is specific to them. Having a business or marketing plan is a lot like having written goals. I’m sure that if there were a study of successful business people, it would find that the majority of them had a business plan and that they followed that plan. No matter how simple your business plan is it’s important to have one. Not creating a plan is like committing financial suicide.
Get your business plan template from the free special report, “The 7 Greatest Mistakes of New Internet Marketers”, which you can download today from Angela Arnold’s blog.