Creating a Business Plan

What exactly is a business plan?

A business plan is a document of anywhere from 10 to 20 pages usually which describes a number of things:

• what your business does
• why your customer should choose your business over all the competition
• how you will accomplish it
• who will help you accomplish it
• what are your plans to finance the business
• how you will market the business
• clearly define your business model and objectives
• list your strengths, weaknesses
• evaluate your competitors
• what are any big hurdles or threats that need to be dealt with or that you need to protect against
• etc.

The business plan is normally written by the founder, and the others within the founding team, if any.

If you are just starting out – putting together a short form Business Plan of just a few pages is a great step (there’s a link below for one). 

It can just be a few pages that answer the big questions such as what will your business do, how, where will the revenue come from, where will you find customers, where will you get the money needed, who is the competition and a few more. Just getting that step done is a big accomplishment because it will tell you if there are any serious holes in your plans thus far.

Short form 2 page Business Plan template: 

Here’s a link to a great Short Form Quick Business Plan >>

Traditional long form Business Plan template: 

Here’s a template for the standard Business Plan from SCORE.org:  Traditional Business Plan >>

Short business plan vs. long (traditional) business plan?

You can write a 1-2 page business plan, or you can choose to create a traditional business plan that is often 20-40 pages in length.

I strongly suggest to build a 1-2 page short form Business plan since it is much easier to accomplish and it will give you a high-level overview you of the business challenges that you may face.

After you have done some research and planning two try to validate your business idea you may decide to create a long form traditional business plan.

The long form business plan will give you more insight into your strengths and weaknesses.

Why is a business plan important?

The process of creating a business plan is really the most important part of it because it forces the founder (you) to commit to paper what exactly your plans are…

..and who the customer is, how you will locate them and sell to them, how you plan to pay for all of this, and who the competition is.

Creating a business plan is a critical step in assessing your risk. Only after you’ve spent hours or days or weeks putting together your business plan, will you be able to objectively evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, competition, abilities and chances for success.

How do I write a business plan? 

It’s nice to start with a template so that you have a framework, and can basically just fill out the template. There are a lot of these available online, and there’s a good Business Plan Template link at the bottom of this article.

What You Can Do: Get to work on it, it may take a few days or a couple weeks even, depending on how much you already know about your business.

Show it to mentors or advisors or others who have entrepreneurial experience to get feedback and don’t be afraid to constantly revise it. This is a good thing!

How long will it take to build a business plan? 

Traditional length business plan will probably a few days to a week or two.  It’s a fairly significant endeavor.

A short form 1-2 page business plan might take you a day or two. You’ll have to do a little research and solidify some things, making some decisions, in order to complete even the short business plan.

What do I do with the business plan after I complete it?

You use it as a guide while you begin planning, researching and executing your business.

If you are seeking partners or employees or investors or loans, you will want to show your business plan to these people to help them understand your vision and to prove that you have really thought things through, deeply and thoroughly.

Do I need to stick to the business plan? Is it set in stone?

Definitely not. Many people think a business plan is an immutable document or roadmap that must be followed at all costs. This is incorrect. It’s your best guess today roadmap. Next month things could change. But again, the most important part is that completing a business plan forces you to get real and commit your ideas, plans, strategies, and financial forecasts to paper, which helps them to become real, and helps you to assess whether you really want to create the business or not.

The process of creating a business plan is really the most important part – maybe more important than the plan itself – because it forces the founder (you) to commit to paper what exactly your plans are, who the customer is, how you will locate them and sell to them, how you plan to pay for all of this, and who the competition is.

Creating a business plan is a critical step in assessing your risk. Only after you’ve spent hours or days or weeks putting together your business plan, will you be able to objectively evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, competition, abilities and chances for success.

Are there any good business plan templates out there I can use?

There are a lot of excellent business plan templates online – try this Business Plan template at SCORE.org.

Also here’s a great quick and easy Business Plan which is a perfect first step if you’re just starting out. At some point you’ll want to complete a more thorough long format Business Plan, but this one is great to get things started:   Short Form Quick Business Plan >>