Far too many aspiring entrepreneurs jump-start
their businesses without taking the time to plan properly. Just as a builder
uses a blueprint to ensure a new construction project will be structurally
sound, a carefully researched and crafted business plan allows you to determine
whether or not your business concept will succeed and make money.
A solid business plan can not only serve as a
roadmap to guide your company’s progress, but it can also allow you to test the
validity of your business model, research the market, understand your
competition, and avoid potential pitfalls. And if you are applying for a loan or
seeking investors, a business plan is a must-have to demonstrate that you’ve
thoroughly vetted your business’ financial feasibility.
In the end, developing a solid business plan
can be the difference between the success or failure of your business. While
you should consult with a business attorney before you open your doors to
ensure your company has the needed legal, insurance, financial, and tax (LIFT)
foundation needed to survive and thrive, here are seven tips for creating a
winning business plan.
01 - Communicate Your Company’s
Purpose And Vision
Developing a plan to make money is essential,
but it’s not the only—nor most crucial—factor. In identifying how you will
generate revenue; you must also clarify and communicate the purpose of your
company and the vision you have for your brand.
Your company’s purpose and vision will serve
as your organization’s compass for making future decisions at all levels and
provide a framework for hiring a team, marketing and selling your services or
products, and running your operations. Once you’ve come up with your business’
purpose and vision, you can easily define what makes your business unique from
competitors and how you plan to deliver your product or service to the public.
02 - Identify Your Competition
When creating your plan, it’s vital to
understand others who serve the market you plan to serve. While these people
are often considered competitors, you may be able to turn them into
collaborators. The best part of clarifying your “competition” is that if there is
a healthy market for the services or products you want, you’ll likely know that
there is a need and desire for your services or products.
Document your research on the competition,
identifying the market size, the market share you need, and what will make your
product or service better and different from the others.
03 - Outline Your Business Model
While your business plan narrative is a broad
overview of your company’s purpose and how you plan to fulfill your goals, your
“business model” focuses on the specific ways in which you plan to generate
revenue. In other words, what are you going to sell, how much are you going to
sell it for, and who is going to buy it? This is a critical part of your
business plan if you seek financing or investors.
That said, outlining your business model is
necessary even if you are funding the business yourself, as you want to ensure
that you’re clear on how your investment of time, energy, attention, and money
(TEAM resources) will result in returns for you. Indeed, developing financial
projections, including an estimate of start-up costs, a break-even analysis, a
profit-and-loss forecast, and a cash-flow projection, will help you decide if
your business is worth starting or if you need to rethink your concept. We call
this process the development a “Money Map” that doesn’t just take into account
your financial outlays and objectives, but your time outlays and objectives.
04 - Set Specific, Time-Based
Goals For Your Business
Be specific with your goals for yourself and
your company, including time-based benchmarks you feel confident you can meet. Setting
defined goals sharpens your focus and allows you to track your company’s
progress as you grow your operation. Look out three years into the future,
document the vision -- both big picture and micro down to the numbers -- and
then walk that back to 1-year goals that will assure your 3-year success. Finally,
walk that one-year vision back to quarterly actions that will get you to your
one-year goals.
05 - Get Help From Outside
Professionals
While you may be a whiz at delivering your
core product or service, you are likely too close to all of it to create your
plans on your own. We can help you use a 3-year strategic vision planning
process and a Money Map to create a business plan that will give you the
confidence to know what you need to do, when you need to do it, how you need to
fund it, and the next steps you need to take from quarter to quarter to achieve
your big vision.
Then, we can help you design your legal,
insurance, financial, and tax (LIFT) structures to match and support your
vision.
Don’t Neglect Your Foundation
From setting up your financials and creating
solid agreements to managing taxes and buying insurance, we can ensure you have
the foundational legal, insurance, tax, and financial (LIFT) systems in place,
so you can focus your time and energy on growing your new business. Schedule a Business
Strategy Session with us before launching your new company, and then, as your
operation grows, continue to meet with us for additional Business Strategy
Sessions.
Contact
us today to get started.
This
article is a service of Ganvir Law, Personal Family Lawyer™. We offer a
complete spectrum of legal services for businesses and can help you make the
wisest choices on how to deal with your business throughout life and in the
event of your death. We also offer a Business Strategy Session for an ongoing
business, which includes a review of all the legal, financial, and tax systems
you need for your business. Call us today to schedule.
The
content is sourced from Personal Family Lawyer® for use by Personal Family
Lawyer firms, a source believed to be providing accurate information. This
material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not
intended as ERISA, tax, legal, or investment advice. If you are seeking legal
advice specific to your needs, such ad