Business and Investment Center

Writing a business plan can be a lot of hard work or it can be great fun. An effective plan can help your company to greatness. A poor one can lead you out of business. No plan is like asking to fail before you even start.

Not every business needs a 200 page bound business plan. However every business needs to have some idea of where they want to go and how they are going to get there. This article covers some key insights into writing a business plan that get your business to where you want to be.

The first stage of any plan is ANALYSIS. You need to take a very objective look at a number of factors that may impact your business. There are many factors to consider but the two major ones are competition and your operating environment.

Let’s look first at competition. Every business has competition, even if you think your product or service is unique. How is this? Well it’s quite simple really, people have choices to make. The most fundamental choice they make in most cases is whether to buy what you offer or but something else. For example I could buy a game console or I could buy groceries instead. Customers only have so much money available so you first task is to ask yourself what is my competition like and can I beat them? The more you understand your competition the more you can develop your business strategy of being different and outperforming them.

Now let’s look at operating environment. This understands what factors around your area of operation are likely to affect your business performance. For some companies this includes looking around the World in other cases it’s just your local neighborhood. You need to ask questions such as:

How is the economy going?
What is consumer confidence like?
Where is technology heading in my industry?

After answering all the questions you need to decide how these might negatively or positively influence your performance.

Now you know more about your competition and operating environment it’s time to set some OBJECTIVES. This is what you want to achieve in the period your business plan covers. It is said that good objectives are SMART. That is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and targeted. Here’s an example of a SMART objective for a hypothetical business.

“By the end of this year we will have increased sales of product X by 7.5% over the previous year.”

You can see how clear this objective is. It is much easier to achieve high performance with clear objectives.

Now you need to outline your STRATEGY. How are you going to reach you objective(s)? This is where your marketing plan often comes in as it helps describe the programs you will run to achieve your desired objective(s). To continue the example above our strategy may be to gain distribution for our product in one new major retail chain.

To make your strategy work you must then allocate appropriate RESOURCES. Certain things will need to be provided to reach your goal. This could be dollars, people, equipment, etc. Your plan must have included the resources you are allocating and why you believe this is adequate to get the result.

Every business plans also has some PROJECTIONS. This is your basic financials that you plan will deliver. Are you expecting a profit or loss? How much?

Lastly you need to allow for CONTINGENCIES. Things change all the time and your plan needs to consider these possibilities in advance. A good way to do this is to ask What if?

What if a new competitor enters our market?
What if a distributor delists our product?
What if interest rates rise?

Your analysis should give you some idea of likely contingencies. It saves a lot of stress if you have some documented ideas for dealing with them before they become a big problem.

Writing a business plan is never perfect, the plan is on paper and you’re operating in the real world. However a good plan can really guide you in the right direction. Take time to put real thought into preparing your plan an above all make sure you USE YOUR PLAN!

May be you should consider this to evaluate your business. Especially by asking your self about why peoples dont buy from you.

• They do not make people feel safe when you order. Remember, they pay via a secure server. Tell them that you sell your e-mail and all information remains confidential.

• They do not make your ad appealing. Your ad contains the features rather than benefits. The head is not to attract your target audience. You are not guarantees or certificates placed in your ad.

• Do not remind people not to return. Normally, people do not buy the first time to visit. How many times they visit your site, they will buy. The most effective way to give them a free subscription to your e-zine.

• It’s not that people know nothing about your business. They feel more comfortable if they know they are buying. Publish a section “About Us” on their site. Add your company history, profile of employees, coordinates, etc.

• Do not order as many people as possible. Do you accept credit cards, checks, money orders and other forms of electronic payments. To order by phone, e-mail, website, fax, mail, etc.

• Make your website look professional. You want your own domain name. Your website is easy to navigate. The graphics, the theme of your website.

• Let people read your ad before you get your freebie. If you free stuff to attract people to your site the text of the advertisement or on another site said. If the list of freebie above your ad to see what you sell.

• Do not pull the target audience for your product or service to buy. An easy way to do this is to survey your existing customers seeking to attract buy something. This information will help your marketing and advertising.

• You try to copy text and improvement of the announcement. There are many people who write ad copy and never change. You must constantly test and your ad text to get the best answer to improve.

• Do not people buy no pressure now. Many people are interested in your product, but it slipped my side and eventually forgotten. You buy them now with a freebie or discount and encourage a date when the offer expires.