If you want to succeed in life or in business, you need to come up with some sort of plan. You may have already done fairly well without a solid plan to look at, but I am willing to bet that any kind of success you have enjoyed is due more to luck in that scenario.
Even if you haven’t written out a business plan on paper, you probably have some ideas in your head about just what direction you would like your business to go.
The advantages to having a solid business plan that is laid out fully is that when your company does start to take off, you always have that foundation to look back on.
This is important, because as your business grows you will likely forget just what it was that made you successful in the first place; you will need the road map a plan can provide so that you can get back to your roots.
This can be very important when it comes to making important decisions for your company as it grows into a larger business.
In this article, we will take a look at some of the key components that you should put in your business plan.
Mission Statement
Your mission statement is the keystone part of your business plan. It needs to be short and to the point, and set out some specific and achievable goals.
A mission statement is not, for example, “we will make two million dollars in one year”. That’s a dream. It’s okay to dream but you need to have the steps in place to help you achieve it, and that is the job of the mission statement.
In just a few sentences, explain to yourself what your small business sells, who you sell it to, where you sell it, and how you will achieve sales. You’ll find that specific statements eliminate a lot of options, and that is just what you want.
It means you can focus on opportunities that fall in the rubric of your statement and reject those that do not fit.
Define Your Company Objectives
Once you have the foundation of your mission statement in place, you can begin to flesh out your plan by setting out some company objectives.
A good mission statement will point you in the right direction as far as objective planning. Again, don’t make business objectives that don’t fit into your statement.
Your objectives are going to be specific – they will set out an exact number of tasks you want to accomplish and the time in which you are going to accomplish them.
Action Plan
Now that you have your objectives based on your mission statement, it’s time to put into effect a plan that will achieve those aims; your action plan.
If you are working with several other individuals, then you need to start assigning tasks based on your objectives and their achievements to your individual team members.
These plans are ultra-specific; they set forth the tasks as well as the times when the individuals will do them.
The good thing about a business plan is that with one in place, you can always check on your progress as a business. If you do have an opportunity that does not fit with your mission statements but you feel it is warranted, you can choose to revamp the business plan after a trial run.
And remember – it’s possible to create a business plan at any point in your business; it is a great tool to help give direction to your business.
