Why am I doing this Business Plan?
Just before we get too far, please note that Greg Buckley Business Advisor can offer Business Planning services through -
- Business Advisor Sydney,
- CFO Sydney
- CFO Online (if your interstate)
- … so after having a look at this Blog feel free to give me a call just to get started, or to talk about what we can offer you.
Why am I doing this Business Plan? Perhaps more importantly it’s not why, but for who. So, you’re going to do a business plan …
- Because my bank (or similar) wants one
- Everybody says I should do one
- I want to have this for myself
If for the bank then go for a download from the internet (see following for a source). You’ll get the structure, layout, presentation, content and more.
Yes, everybody tells you to have one, and they are correct. But doing one just because it seems to be the thing to do is probably not going to get you want you want – and need.
Definitely you should do one for yourself. It’s not that hard and by doing it yourself you’ll learn the skill of making one, the useability of it, and it will serve you the best in the log term.
Where can I get a Business Plan?
Do an internet search to see what you can find and pick one that you think will suit you. I’d look at the state government business help sites. Many of the business plans are very good, free, and you can download one quite easily.
But, in my opinion you’re going to miss out on the real benefits of doing a business plan if you simply follow what is out there online. Why? Because building your own plan triggers the constructive, and even creative, parts of you. By doing your own you’re not just filling in a form, and trying to come up with content and answers. Business Plans do work and should be of real benefit. Let’s use your time and energy to get something that is of real value.
Business Plan and a Budget
I recently did a blog on doing a budget. It’s not a long read and you may find it very useful – and it also ties into doing a Business Plan very nicely. In fact, do one (a business plan), and you will have also done a great deal of the other (a budget). Don’t overlook this, it’s a really great idea and not that much more work.
If you sit back and ask yourself what are the things that are going to affect my business you’ll start to come up with a list of ideas. Also do some research online and perhaps look at some of those online business plans. You’ll get some ideas, and you can make sure you don’t miss anything. But in the end, you will need to manage and gauge what are the market forces, business environment, and say economic conditions that affect your business.
Building your Business Plan
You’ll find an infinite number of opinions and content for a Business Plan. But as stated above, you can, and should, build one for your business, and equally for yourself.
Have a sit back and ask yourself what are the things that effect my business – sounds simple? Not so. Actually, taking the time to really sit back and ask yourself what it is that effects your business – in your own words – is perhaps a lot harder than it may seem. This is far more valuable to you than simply filling in an online business plan – invest in yourself and your business. Once learnt the skill in doing this will be yours now and into the future. And this is the point of this Blog. Doing a business plan that gets you looking at, and understanding your business, is the key. This part may be a little difficult, but once you have it, you’ll use it regularly over the life of your business.
Yes, you certainly should take in what other sources may be telling you, but in the end your business will have varying and unique circumstances. You need to find these. And don’t be too quick to put this into the too hard to do basket. You know far more about your business than you may give yourself credit for. And in contrast, you may actually find that there are areas you hadn’t thought of.
I mentioned before about doing a budget with the Business Plan. I’d definitely do this. Marrying these two things together will help you create both. If the numbers (budget) are telling you something, and they will, you can use this for your business plan. And of course vice versa. Here’s are some examples …
Sales figures are not high enough and profit is lagging – this is the Budget. Why is this happening, and how can I change this? That’s the Business Plan. I might look at this and put in my Business Plan that I believe the competition is too high and sale prices cannot be increased – I am therefore going to diversify my sales.
The cost of my stock is too high, and I also can’t increase my sale price as the market will not pay for it. I therefore intend to increase my purchasing to get better volume discounts and so increase my profit - this is in the Business Plan. I now go and see what the numbers look like for this scenario – and this is in the budget.
The above are only examples but I’m sure you get the picture.
Do you start with the Budget or the Business Plan? Personally, I like doing a rough budget first and then using those hard numbers to give me direction in the Business Plan. That said, I’m sure many may disagree and that’s fine. Choose the sequence you prefer.
If when reading this it seems a bit complex and clouded, I’d say it really isn’t. Take your time and give this the space and energy it deserves. You don’t have to achieve this in all one day. As you go forward, you’ll start to find the picture unfolds and your skill in this will increase quite quickly. Stay with it and build things as you go.
How many pages do I need?
If the business plan is for your own use, then I would say 2 pages max. Yes, I know the ones online are much more than this and you can certainly do that if you wish. A 2-page max business Plan is not a voluminous document that will take hours to do. Having a more succinct business plan in my opinion is a bit harder than having loads of space. And your budget, if you follow my recommendation, is also readily available to use with your new business plan. I think reducing your business plan makes it something you will readily go back to as and when you need. And that is a moving and dynamic business tool that I think will serve you now, and into the future.
Summing Up
I hope the content in this blog will help you. If you have some areas you would like to discuss then by all means get in contact with me for a chat … we can also setup an online meeting if that suits you.
I also have a number of other blogs you might find interesting. Have a quick read of those and again if you need reach out and give me a call.
