5 not so Obvious Business Plan Mistakes to Avoid
Everyone knows they need one. Everyone plans on writing one, eventually. But not everyone does it. Why? Because it’s so easy to put off and it’s such a chore. I’m talking about writing a business plan. Many business owners put more effort into planning their vacations than they put into planning their businesses. This is a shame because an entrepreneur with a business plan is much more likely to succeed than one without a plan.
With just a little effort, you can plan the business of your dreams complete with desired level of income, time off, and emotional satisfaction. The key is the business plan. Let’s take a look at some of the mistakes we tend to make with business plans and what you can do to overcome them.
Mistake #1 – Putting it off
It’s easy to hang up an “Open for Business” shingle and then dive right into the busy-ness of day to day operations of your business. Things are going well and you think “Someday I’ll get around to writing that business plan” or “I don’t need that business plan after all”, or even “Who says you need a business plan to be successful?” Years later when you want to buy a building or expand operations you find out that the bank or investors want a plan, but you don’t have one.
Don’t put it off. Having a business plan helps you to solidify your future, anticipate problems, and plan for success. If you’re always running on adrenaline, putting out fires, and playing catch up, you probably need a business plan. So just do it. Block time on your schedule two to three hours a week and just get it done.
Mistake #2 – Not a big enough vision
Think BIG when creating your long term vision. This is your opportunity to design a business that far exceeds your current situation. I’ve seen far too many boring, limited, and going-no-where visions. Think in terms of the ideal and put yourself in the future. What would you most like to be doing in your business? The grunt work? The annoying stuff you’re doing now? Of course not. You are the face of your business. Your job is to meet the clients, close the big deals, and rake in the dough.
What kind of revenue do you want in your business? Think BIG again. And don’t say 20% better than now. What are the possibilities five to ten years from now?
Mistake #3 – Weak goals
A business plan without detailed goals is like a ship without a rudder. The business becomes directionless without a purpose. You, as the business owner must have goals for every facet of your business. What I often see is a 5 year revenue goal, but no monthly and yearly goals to lead up to the finale. I see very few business plans with client goals, professional goals, and personal goals. How many new clients do you want each month? What are the revenue goals for your products or services? What information products do you want to produce in the future? Having goals in life is what drives successful people. What are your goals?
Mistake #4 – Not focusing on Marketing and Branding
It’s really easy to get into statistics, theory, and hyperbole in a business plan. I say “Show me the money!” What are you going to do to bring in the dough? Any business plan worth the paper it’s printed on should have a significant marketing and branding section. Take a look at your vision and decide what marketing actions you need to take to close the gap between where you are now and where you want to be in five to ten years.
If you want to stand out in the crowded marketplace, you’ll also need to create a strong brand and continue working on it going forward. Invest in yourself and get a professionally designed corporate identity complete with tagline, website, four-color business cards, and the like. No one wants to do business with someone who doesn’t look professional. So get rid of the dull boring business image and kick it up a notch.
Mistake #5 – Not working the plan
Why do you write a business plan if you are going to put it away in a drawer somewhere? You need to keep the plan visible. You need to review the plan on a weekly basis. You need to be asking yourself “What now?” at least weekly. You need to make sure you are getting results. No matter how brilliant the plan, you must take action to get results. You do this by reviewing your plan, checking the marketing activities for results, and asking “What bigger projects do I need to tackle to get closer to the big Vision?” Then you ask yourself if the direction needs to change. If so, it’s time to re-write your plan.
Traditional thirty-page business plans are not always useful for entrepreneurs. They can be overly technical and may not provide the accountability needed. I have created a business plan system for entrepreneurs and independent professionals that may fit the bill: The Two Page Mini Business Plan™. This system incorporates Goal Setting, and heavy Branding and Marketing with My Success Book – a built-in Daily Action Planner to encourage accountability and results. This may be just the system you need to get where you want to go.
©Copyright 2008- Suzanne Muusers – All Rights Reserved
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Question about business plan
Over 60% of small businesses fail due to a lack of planning and execution of a business plan.?Over 60% of small businesses fail due to a lack of planning and execution of a business plan. When businesses are so small it is rare to have an HR manager, because of that training and follow-up is non-existent. Who would be accountable and how could management implement a training routine to make it beneficial and cost effective?
- Business
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18 Responses
well, now that Paulson has his Tight Republican Grip on that 700 Billion i don't think he is gonna let any of it Trickle down to us regular folks, again~!
Sure, I can help. Email me the plan.
thank you very much sir
Take a look at these articles for some inspiration and good luck!
Andrew Miller’s video on Business plan layout and writing tips
Helpful video. Inpiring and informative. Does anyone know any good business plan competitions to enter? Has anyone heard about the launch together business plan comp? Is this the first year they are doing it? I love the video they have on the website. Someone should post it on here. Comments appreciated
Glad you liked it, shortly there will be more being added to help start-ups and early stage businesses..
A business plan does not guarantee a businesses success. However, if it is a well written business plan then it will provide a good platform for the success of your business.
You wouldn’t build a house without a plan right? Well, with business its the same thing, planning provides the foundations that you can then build your business upon.
According to the book “The ABC's of Writing Winning Business Plans: How to Prepare a Business Plan That Others Will Want to Read — and Invest In” http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446694150/powerhomebizguid by Garrett Sutton, below are some tips to make a winning business plan that can get funding:
- Money follows management. Investors look first at the people involved in the company. If you are just starting out and don’t have relevant experience, investors expect to see that you have an experienced team of advisors and employees helping you in the business.
- Make sure you “sell” the one reason your business will become profitable.
- State clearly the strategies you will employ to get the word out about your business. Your business plan must show how you will leverage the Internet, public relations, viral marketing, and other strategies to attract customers.
- Present realistic estimates of the time, energy and costs of building a successful business. Do not underestimate or overestimate revenues. While investors know your numbers are simply guesses, they want to see that your numbers are within the “range of reality.” Be careful of your financial statements: this is one area where you can easily lose credibility if presented poorly.
- Benchmark similar companies to show that you’ve done your homework and researched the market.
- Your Executive Summary is your calling card. If it is not a winner, investors may not even read your entire plan. Emphasize your own as well as your team’s track record in the Executive Summary.
- Before sending your business plan to lenders and investors, send it out first to a few in order to get feedback. You’d want to correct your plan if someone tells you that you’re way off mark, rather than have a potential investor tell it to you and lose the chance to get the funding you need.
Here are some resources that can help you write your business plan:
- SBA Business Plan Basics http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
- PowerHomeBiz.com Creating a Business Plan section http://www.powerhomebiz.com/startup/businessplan.htm
- Entrepreneur.com Writing a Business Plan section http://www.entrepreneur.com/bizplan/0,7253,,00.html
You may also want to review some sample business plans to see how it actually looks like:
- Bplans.com http://www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.cfm
- MOOT Corp Business Plan competition winners
http://www.businessplans.org/businessplans.html
- VFinance – View hundreds of real business plans in pdf format. http://www.vfinance.com/home.asp?bps=1&ToolPage=bps_main.asp
- Business Owners Toolkit Sample business plans and information on how to create a plan. http://www.toolkit.cch.com/tools/buspln_m.asp
- PlanWare Planning software and information. http://www.planware.org/
- Virtual Business Plan Walk through the design of a business plan. http://www.bizplanit.com/vplan.html
-SBA Business Planning Guide http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
- Small Business Advancement Center http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/business_plan/businessPlan.pdf
- Sample Business Plan General planning guide created by the Canadian Business Service Center. http://www.cbsc.org/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=CBSC_FE/display&c=GuideFactSheet&cid
- Business Plans Index – A subject guide to sample business plans and profiles for specific business types from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. http://216.183.184.20/subject/business/bplansindex.html
Some recommended books are :
- Business Plans Kit for Dummies
- The Complete Book of Business Plans : Simple Steps to Writing a Powerful Business Plan
- Writing Business Plans That Get Results : A Step-By-Step Guide
- Business Plans For Dummies®
- Your First Business Plan : A Simple Question and Answer Format Designed to Help You Write Your Own Plan
Hope that the above resources help
Here are some resources that can help you write your business plan:
- SBA Business Plan Basics http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
- PowerHomeBiz.com Creating a Business Plan section http://www.powerhomebiz.com/startup/businessplan.htm
- Entrepreneur.com Writing a Business Plan section http://www.entrepreneur.com/bizplan/0,7253,,00.html
You may also want to review some sample business plans to see how it actually looks like:
- Bplans.com http://www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.cfm
- MOOT Corp Business Plan competition winners
http://www.businessplans.org/businessplans.html
- VFinance – View hundreds of real business plans in pdf format. http://www.vfinance.com/home.asp?bps=1&ToolPage=bps_main.asp
- Business Owners Toolkit Sample business plans and information on how to create a plan. http://www.toolkit.cch.com/tools/buspln_m.asp
- PlanWare Planning software and information. http://www.planware.org/
- Virtual Business Plan Walk through the design of a business plan. http://www.bizplanit.com/vplan.html
-SBA Business Planning Guide http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
- Small Business Advancement Center http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/business_plan/businessPlan.pdf
- Sample Business Plan General planning guide created by the Canadian Business Service Center. http://www.cbsc.org/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=CBSC_FE/display&c=GuideFactSheet&cid
- Business Plans Index – A subject guide to sample business plans and profiles for specific business types from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. http://216.183.184.20/subject/business/bplansindex.html
Some recommended books are :
- Business Plans Kit for Dummies
- The Complete Book of Business Plans : Simple Steps to Writing a Powerful Business Plan
- Writing Business Plans That Get Results : A Step-By-Step Guide
- Business Plans For Dummies®
- Your First Business Plan : A Simple Question and Answer Format Designed to Help You Write Your Own Plan
The best thing you can do is speak with your accountant or a business consultant and they will help you write this part of your business plan.
According to the book “The ABC's of Writing Winning Business Plans: How to Prepare a Business Plan That Others Will Want to Read — and Invest In” http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446694150/powerhomebizguid by Garrett Sutton, below are some tips to make a winning business plan that can get funding:
- Money follows management. Investors look first at the people involved in the company. If you are just starting out and don’t have relevant experience, investors expect to see that you have an experienced team of advisors and employees helping you in the business.
- Make sure you “sell” the one reason your business will become profitable.
- State clearly the strategies you will employ to get the word out about your business. Your business plan must show how you will leverage the Internet, public relations, viral marketing, and other strategies to attract customers.
- Present realistic estimates of the time, energy and costs of building a successful business. Do not underestimate or overestimate revenues. While investors know your numbers are simply guesses, they want to see that your numbers are within the “range of reality.” Be careful of your financial statements: this is one area where you can easily lose credibility if presented poorly.
- Benchmark similar companies to show that you’ve done your homework and researched the market.
- Your Executive Summary is your calling card. If it is not a winner, investors may not even read your entire plan. Emphasize your own as well as your team’s track record in the Executive Summary.
- Before sending your business plan to lenders and investors, send it out first to a few in order to get feedback. You’d want to correct your plan if someone tells you that you’re way off mark, rather than have a potential investor tell it to you and lose the chance to get the funding you need.
Here are some resources that can help you write your business plan:
- SBA Business Plan Basics http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
- PowerHomeBiz.com Creating a Business Plan section http://www.powerhomebiz.com/startup/businessplan.htm
- Entrepreneur.com Writing a Business Plan section http://www.entrepreneur.com/bizplan/0,7253,,00.html
You may also want to review some sample business plans to see how it actually looks like:
- Bplans.com http://www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.cfm
- MOOT Corp Business Plan competition winners
http://www.businessplans.org/businessplans.html
- VFinance – View hundreds of real business plans in pdf format. http://www.vfinance.com/home.asp?bps=1&ToolPage=bps_main.asp
- Business Owners Toolkit Sample business plans and information on how to create a plan. http://www.toolkit.cch.com/tools/buspln_m.asp
- PlanWare Planning software and information. http://www.planware.org/
- Virtual Business Plan Walk through the design of a business plan. http://www.bizplanit.com/vplan.html
-SBA Business Planning Guide http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
- Small Business Advancement Center http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/business_plan/businessPlan.pdf
- Sample Business Plan General planning guide created by the Canadian Business Service Center. http://www.cbsc.org/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=CBSC_FE/display&c=GuideFactSheet&cid
- Business Plans Index – A subject guide to sample business plans and profiles for specific business types from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. http://216.183.184.20/subject/business/bplansindex.html
Some recommended books are :
- Business Plans Kit for Dummies
- The Complete Book of Business Plans : Simple Steps to Writing a Powerful Business Plan
- Writing Business Plans That Get Results : A Step-By-Step Guide
- Business Plans For Dummies®
- Your First Business Plan : A Simple Question and Answer Format Designed to Help You Write Your Own Plan
Good and to the point video Matt. Definitly will use it again for reference towards build my buisness plan outline. Thanks!
Hi Adam, more videos are on the way shortly to help demystify the process..
Purchase a "Business Communications" textbook at the second-hand bookstore in your town. They will most definitely have reports and business plans which you can use as a guide.
If you're only really asking about training, then it would depend on the size of the business. If there's only about 1 – 10 people, then it would usually be the duty of the owner to train new staff, as he or she would be the person with the most interest in ensuring that everyone knows what they are doing. If you go into 10 – 30 or so staff, you'd probably have an operational or production manager who should take care of training.
Most businesses don't fail because of inadequate training though. As you pointed out, it's more about lack of planning. I ran my own small businesses for a few years, and I made sure to only hire people that didn't need any training!
Is your concern that businesses fail because of no proper training programs?
Nice & Helpful video.
I don't recommend anything other then a good word processor. There is no need to purchase software specifically to write the plan.
Resources showing what a plan should look like are avaiable at the SBA and Score as you mention, after that using a good word processor should be all you need.