3 Things Your Business Plan Must Have

A business plan can be one of the most intimidating parts of starting up your own business, but it’s also one of the most important. A good business plan helps you focus on your goals and gives you an actionable list of tasks to complete in order to start and grow your company. Many entrepreneurs underestimate the importance of their business plan and write one off hastily, without doing any research or following any sort of framework. Writing a good business plan takes time, but it doesn’t have to be painful.

1 – Focus – Understand Why You’re Doing It.

When you create a business plan you need to focus on the reasons for the business: Who do you want to serve? What do you want to provide? When do you want to start? Where will you set up shop? A physical storefront or on-line? Why do you want to start such an endeavor? How will you meld all these things together to create a prosperous business?

These are the primary reasons why you’re going into business and they should always be at the forefront of your mind when making decisions.

Something else to focus on is your big dream. How much money do you want to make over the next 5 years? Do you want to sell multiple products or have several locations? Everyone’s big dream will be different but you should write it down as part of the plan.

2 – A Plan – Outline What You’re Going To Do.

Think of your business plan as a mountain. Your mission statement is at the base of the mountain while your big dream is at the peak. Everything in between is what you need to plan and these steps should also be incorporated into a business plan.

What products do you want to create?

How often do you want to produce a product?

How can you implement some passive income or affiliate income into your business?

I started creating stock photos to create some passive income and be creative. I also share links of others to create affiliate income. Learn more about my affiliate program and making money.

Are there any speaking engagements or online summit opportunities that will expand your reach and your followers?

What can you add to your sales funnel for those not yet ready to commit to coaching?

3 – Action Steps – Map Out How To Achieve It.

This is where your planning steps are broken down into smaller, actionable steps. Instead of just saying I want to write a book, break the process down further. How much time can you dedicate each day to writing? Do you want to self-publish or find a publisher? Will you need to hire an editor, someone to design the cover, and a photographer to take your author photo? These are actionable steps that can easily be crossed off your to do list once completed.

Don’t be thrown off here. You don’t need to plan 5 years’ worth of action steps at one time. The idea is to plan a year at a time, keeping your focus in mind, so that the action steps become a pathway or a blueprint to your big dreams.

Your business plan should include specific goals for your business, broken into short-, medium- and long-term goals. That’s just common sense. What’s also true, however, is that you should be flexible in your planning—because nothing in business ever goes as planned. Keep a close eye on your targets and don’t get discouraged if you fall behind here or there—just try to keep moving forward.

Do you want more Inspirational Cloud Photos with Quotes?