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Making a plan for your home business

Written by: Emma Jones

Article Overview: Writing a business plan is a bit like going to the gym. You put it off, finally summon up the energy and confidence, don’t particularly enjoy living through the experience but boy, do you feel a sense of achievement once you are done!

Making a plan for your home business

Writing a business plan might seem like an onerous task but, if you put your mind to it, you can write a plan within the day and it certainly does help to clarify and confirm objectives.
Here are my top tips for creating a brief but purposeful plan!

Try to find a day when you will have the least amount of distractions – maybe a Bank holiday or weekend as you can work on the plan, uninterrupted by emails and phone calls.

Keep the plan brief. This applies whether you are sending it to friends/family for them to consider investing or if it is just for your own sense of clarification. The best ideas can be expressed in the shortest amount of time but be sure to include some key headings, being:

The product: What is the service or product you are offering?

The market: Who will you be selling to and who else is currently selling to the same market?

Operations: How will you develop, promote and sell the product and retain customers?

Financials: Does it all add up? Will you earn more than you spend?

It is well worth dedicating a good day to this exercise. A well-written business plan will remind you of your key business objectives and you can return to it every six months or so to ensure you are meeting targets and to update the contents.

Emma Jones is Managing Director of Redbrick Enterprises Ltd and Editor of Enterprise Nation, the home business website.

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