WRITING A BUSINESS PLAN: DO IT YOURSELF OR HIRE SOMEONE?
Preparing a business plan can be an especially complex, nerve-racking, and time consuming process. Whether you are planning to write this yourself or hire someone, there are several things you need to know. Learning what components are involved in a business plan and where to find help will make this process less stressful and quite a bit easier..
WRITING A BUSINESS PLAN YOURSELF
Company Overview Industry Analysis Customer Needs Marketing and Sales Strategy Financial Review
TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
COMPANY OVERVIEW:
This is your mission and the vision you have for your business, company values, the products and/or services you plan to offer, and how the company is organized. Further detail on the company's unique qualifications it has in serving its target audience should be included as well.
INDUSTRY ANALYSIS This is where you evaluate your company's competition; can you compete? How big is the target market? What is the economic situation for your targeted customer's? What are the prospective industry's trends? Is the industry thriving? All of these questions need to be answered which requires a lot of research.
CUSTOMER NEEDS:
What are your targeted customer's needs? This is one of the most important aspects of business success. Meeting customer needs is the only way a business can succeed; making it exceedingly important to entirely understand potential customers lives.
MARKETING AND SALES STRATEGY: A marketing and sales strategy is a particularly important part of this plan. This section should be easier to write after completing the industry analysis. Knowing all about your intended customers should make coming up with a marketing plan easier. This section should include marketing and PR techniques you intend to use, as well as things such as cold calling, website advertising, etc.
FINANCIAL REVIEW:
This should be written at the very end of your plan and is key in determining whether your business idea is feasible. A financial review basically begins with a sales forecast; followed by an expense budget and a cash flow statement.
IF YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN YOURSELF
THERE ARE MANY COMPANIES THAT OFFER FREE RESOURCES TO HELP YOU THROUGH EACH STEP. IN ADDITION, YOU SHOULD BY ALL MEANS CONSULT WITH AN ATTORNEY AND AN ACCOUNTANT WHEN PREPARING TO START A BUSINESS.
IF YOU ARE NOT CONFIDENT THAT YOU CAN WRITE A PLAN YOURSELF
THEN YOU MAY NEED TO HIRE EITHER A CONSULTING FIRM OR A PROFESSIONAL PLAN WRITER. THERE IS A VERY BIG DIFFERENCE IN WHAT EACH WILL DO FOR YOU; MAKING IT OF EXTREME IMPORTANCE TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE.
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