Biz Plans Demystified

We all know business plans are "good things", in general. But I'm willing to bet that most of us don't have one. They seem so daunting and that's before we actually look at them! Once we look at what a standard business plan includes, most of us just want to lie down and take a nap. A long nap.

Executive summaries. Sales plans. Supply chains. Competitive analysis. Communication plans. Exit strategies. Inventory management. Accounts receivable. Accounts payable. Break even analyses. Sales projections.

And that's just a sampling!

It's worth it to get a general idea of each section of a standard business plan, even if you're not going to write a standard business plan. If you understand the purpose of each section and get a general idea of what all those terms mean, you can start to customize a standard business plan to suit your own purposes.

This book does a pretty good job of explaining the different parts of a standard business plans: Business Plan In A Day. I know there are others, though there are a lot a lot of references that assume you understand all these terms and references.

Using a reference like that, you can scale down a standard business plan to something you will actually understand.

If you want to go a step further, you can abandon the standard business plan completely! (This only works if you're writing a biz plan for your own purposes and not because you're trying to get financing. If you want financing, you've got to work with some form of a standard business plan.) If you are using a business plan mostly to clear up your own thinking and set some goals for yourself, I recommend you look at alternative business plans.

The one that I use (and I've even customized that) is the One Page Business Plan, explained by Jim Horan in his book of the same name. The first time I wrote a business plan, I used this book. It took me three solid days of work the first time. Since then, I update it every January. It takes me one day now to review the last year, plan for the coming year, and update the biz plan.

Because it is literally one page, I'm not overwhelmed by the process. It's so much more manageable. I can also tack it to the wall above my laptop so I've got a visual reminder of my goals and objectives for the year every day.

One-page may not be the answer for you but don't be afraid to create what you need. The most important aspect of a business plan, like the most important aspect of a business card, is that it exists. The brilliant plan that you're going to write....one of these days.....is worth far less than a goofy irregular plan that you've actually written.

I've got a business plan that I've customized for massage therapists. I intend to start offering a workshop next year walking people through this business plan. If you're interested, keep an eye on my website to see when it's next going to be offered.