Exquisite Minds Business Plan

Anthony Wilkinson-Denny

If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail. This is borne out by the fact that only 44% of businesses survive at least four years. Six common mistakes that can sink a business are:

1.     Overexpansion.  

2.     Poor capital structure. 

3.     Overspending. 

4.     Lack of reserve funds.  

5.     Bad business location.  

6.     Poor execution and internal controls.  

Thorough planning avoids all these mistakes and your business will be in the top 56% that survive for more than four years. Planning is a chore but if you’re in business for the long haul, it’s a chore worth doing! Richard Branson has his planning in his back pocket all the time, in his notebook – he’s constantly updating his business plan ... and look where it got him! 

What is a business plan? 

A business plan is any plan that works for a business to look ahead, allocate resources, focus on key points and prepare for problems and opportunities. It is vital for starting a new business, for applying for business loans and for running an existing business.

Business plans vary but generally include descriptions of the company, product or service, market, forecasts, management team, and financial analysis.

Your plan will depend on who you are writing it for. For example, a description of the management team is very important for investors while financial history is most important for banks. Make your plan match its purpose.

The five steps in creating a plan are: 

1.  Vision - Your destination. 

2.  Mission - Why are you going there?  

3.  Goals - What has to be achieved in 2010 to get you there?  

4.  Strategies and Tactics - How are you going to do it?  

5.  Action Plans - Who is going to do it and by when? 

Why do you need a business plan? 

There are several ways your business plan will help you: 

1. By creating your plan, you will be forced to consider every aspect of your business, not just the things that scream for your attention each day. 

2. By giving your WHOLE business your attention, your plan will ensure you’re prepared for almost every possible eventuality and will have you prepared for issues before they come up. You won’t be fighting fires after they started – you’ll be preventing them before they start. 

3. Your plan puts your goals into a tangible form, along with strategies for achieving those things. This helps you meet your goals easier. Knowing how your goals will be met, you’ll feel more comfortable and less stressed. 

4. Having set your goals down on paper, the little, everyday things will not stress you so much – they’ll seem much smaller than they did before.  

5. With the big things (your goals) in the back of your mind all the time, you’ll make decisions that take you towards them – you won’t be distracted by the little things. 

Benefits of having a business plan 

As well as benefiting you in running your business, it will also help with outside lenders: 

With a business plan, your bank manager and any potential lenders, will be impressed that you’ve planned all aspects of your business properly. With that preparation done, you’re a lower risk borrower and this means: 

• You’ll have less trouble getting a loan, 
• You may be offered lower interest rates and better terms. 
• It will also be easier to attract investors into your business or if you are trying to sell it... the business plan is the best advertising you can do to attract money into your business
  

It takes time and energy to get a business plan together but, in the end, it will be worth taking the time to get it done right. 

Now take the time and download ourFREE Business Plan template.