Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! Evan Signature
Evan Carmichael Top Header
Share for a Cause









Business Plan Basics

Written by: Plan Your Business

Article Overview: A business plan precisely defines your business, identifies your goals, and serves as your firm's resume. The basic components include a current and pro forma balance sheet, an income statement, and a cash flow analysis. It helps you allocate resources properly, handle unforeseen complications, and make good business decisions. As it provides specific and organized information about your company and how you will repay borrowed money, a good business plan is a crucial part of any loan application. Additionally, it informs sales personnel, suppliers, and others about your operations and goals.

Free Download - Business Plan Basics By Plan Your Business
Name: Email:

Business Plan Basics

Business Plan Basics

A business plan precisely defines your business, identifies your goals, and serves as your firm's resume. The basic components include a current and pro forma balance sheet, an income statement, and a cash flow analysis. It helps you allocate resources properly, handle unforeseen complications, and make good business decisions. As it provides specific and organized information about your company and how you will repay borrowed money, a good business plan is a crucial part of any loan application. Additionally, it informs sales personnel, suppliers, and others about your operations and goals.

Plan Your Work

The importance of a comprehensive, thoughtful business plan cannot be overemphasized. Much hinges on it: outside funding, credit from suppliers, management of your operation and finances, promotion and marketing of your business, and achievement of your goals and objectives.

"The business plan is a necessity. If the person who wants to start a small business can't put a business plan together, he or she is in trouble," says Robert Krummer, Jr., chairman of First Business Bank in Los Angeles.

Despite the critical importance of a business plan, many entrepreneurs drag their feet when it comes to preparing a written document. They argue that their marketplace changes too fast for a business plan to be useful or that they just don't have enough time, but just as a builder won't begin construction without a blueprint, eager business owners shouldn't rush into new ventures without a plan.

Before you begin writing your business plan, consider four core questions:

* What service or product does your business provide and what needs does it fill?
* Who are the potential customers for your product or service and why will they purchase it from you?
* How will you reach your potential customers?
* Where will you get the financial resources to start your business.

Related Articles
  3 Key Reasons A Business Needs To Keep Books
  Millionaire Internet Marketing Basics! ~SUCCESS SECRETS EXPOSED
  How Do You Read Profit And Loss
  Top Three Bookkeeping Basics
  Business Plan Writing - The Basics

Home > SBA > Plan Your Business > Business Plan Basics
Article Tags:

About the Author: Plan Your Business
RSS for Plan Your's articles - Visit Plan Your's website

Planning is critical to successfully starting and building a business. That’s why we’ve dedicated a section for it. Here you’ll find guidance on the tools and resources necessary to write a winning business plan. From sample plans to a business plan primer, we’ll get you started on this very important activity. Once your business is up and running, you’ll need to regularly review and update your plan to manage growth.

Click here to visit Plan Your's website
Dashed Line

More from Plan Your Business
Essential Elements of a Good Business Plan for Growing Companies
Part 1 The Executive Summary
Part 2 Market Analysis
Do You Have What It Takes
Part 6 Service or Product Line


Related Forum Posts
Business Innovation Business Innovation - Hi Simon If you can finish off the Business Plan and think about your strategic direction or how you are going to use your product to convince people it's a great idea, it will set the foundation for your programming project. You see, when you are looking for funding you will need a Business Plan and Strategic Plan that will convince companies to invest into your new idea. Has anyone achieved this idea before using another industry besides health and fitness that you know of? You should also design some mockups as a "preview" for your programming project. This will also help reduce your programming costs as everyone will know exactly what you want if you have detailed mockups already completed including any functionality you require. Starting mockups for websites and software applications on paper is the best way if you're not a guru in graphic editing software.
New Small Business Topic New Small Business Topic - Hello everyone, I'm on the lookout for new topics to add to my site. We just launched a Franchising section and are planning Human Resources section. Do you have any thoughts for a new section? Here's a list of what we currently have: Angel Investors Branding Bank Loans Business Coaching Business Plan Franchises (New) Insurance Legal Marketing Public Relations Sales Small Biz Loans Venture Capital
2007 Goals 2007 Goals - 1. Web site complete, fully operational 2. Revenue stream from both individual and corporate 3. Business Plan complete 4. Full marketing strategy complete and implemented
My entry My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Re: Is A Business Plan A Waste Of Time? Re: Is A Business Plan A Waste Of Time? - Business Plan or generally work plan (to do list) improves the quality of my work at least 4 times. I have seen the positive results of planning and focus in my online business. And I know from my past experience how uneficient your business can be when you are not doing planning. So I agree that there is a relationship between entrepreneur success and planning.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.



Featured Article


Bottom Footer
Share for a Cause












Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Popular Articles

B2B PR – Planning for Success

Work at Home Moms and Their Bad Rap?

Google Panda and Your Search Engine Rankings

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.