Business Plan Balance Sheet: Owner's Equity
Equity is the part of a business that the owner or owners actually own. Think of equity this way: Lots of people who say they own their homes really own just a piece of their homes, and banks or mortgage [more…]
How to Develop a Business Planning Network
When you’re self-employed, business relationships you establish outside your company can be like lifelines. Your one-person company won’t have a business team to bounce ideas off of or to share concerns [more…]
Business Plan Considerations for SOHO or Sole Proprietors
A business plan is important even if you’re going into business for yourself or have a small office/home office (SOHO). It directs your attention to the parts of business planning that matter most to those [more…]
Define Your Business Marketing Position and Brand
It is important to include your brand and positioning statements in the marketing section of your business plan. Your position is the niche that your company — and only your company — fills in your customers’ [more…]
Business Marketing Plan: Distribution, Pricing, and Promotion Strategies
People reading your business plan want to know details about marketing, including your plans for pricing, distribution, promotion, and other elements. Creating a marketing success story is a little like [more…]
Business Plan Balance Sheet: Current Assets
In your business plan, the current assetsreflected on the balance sheet represent all the items your business owns that are liquid enough to be converted into cash within a year. Anything with monetary [more…]
Constructing a Cash-Flow Statement
As part of your business planning and management process, a cash-flow statement is important because it tells you how money flowed in and out of your business over a certain time period and how assets [more…]
Business-Plan Forecasting
To understand how important forecasting is to business planning, all you have to do is look at the long list of companies that have gone belly-up as the latest economic downturn began eating away at their [more…]
Business Financial Planning: Counting Every Penny is Crucial
Knowing where every penny goes — and carefully planning for economic tough times — can be the difference between success and failure in any business. Take the example of a small specialty clothing store [more…]
Business Plan Cash-Flow Statement: Changes in Cash Flow
As you assemble the cash-flow statement for your business plan, you’ll probably notice that many of the entries are based on numbers from your income statement and your balance sheet. That’s because your [more…]
Business Plan Cash-Flow Statement: Total Funds In
An important part of your business plan, the cash-flow statement tracks every single dollar as it comes into your company — and not a second before. You can’t show the revenue on sales, for example, until [more…]
Business Plan Cash-Flow Statement: Total Funds Out
The section of the cash-flow statement in your business plan shows where the money went. You may notice a number of entries that don’t appear as expenses on your income statement — such as buildings and [more…]
Tips for a Successful One-Person or SOHO Business Plan
To succeed as a self-employed person or SOHO business owner, you need to possess certain key strengths — qualities that not everyone has. You need to be able to accomplish several things that are absolutely [more…]
When to Seek Legal Advice for Your Business Plan
Big companies have legal departments. Medium-sized companies have lawyers on retainer. If you’re a sole proprietor, you may never have to deal with lawyers at all. But there are times when it’s important [more…]
How to Price Yourself as a SOHO or Sole Proprietor
How to set completive prices is a dilemma you face when planning a solo business or SOHO (small office/home office). If you charge too much, your customers won’t buy. If you charge too little, customers [more…]
One-Person or SOHO Business: Putting a Price on What You Do
Knowing the value of the product or service you offer as a sole proprietor or self-employed business owner (that is, as a SOHO - small office/home office) is important. As large companies shed jobs during [more…]
Can I Really Work from Home and Make Money?
You definitely can make money working by yourself and from your own home or small office. In fact, according to The Wall Street Journal, independent contractors are typically paid 20 to 40 percent more [more…]
Billing Policies for a SOHO or Single-Person Business
The billing process for your small business or service can be an exercise in frustration. When you’re in business for yourself or have a small office/home office [more…]
Small-Business Collections Policies
The longer a business customer’s account goes unpaid, the more difficult it is to collect. In the field of accounts receivable, time is money. As an independent businessperson, you’re your own collection [more…]
How to Build a Strong Foundation for Your Small Business
Even a sole proprietorship needs a business plan. Being self-employed or running a small business on your own can be very rewarding, but only if you take it seriously. Owning your business isn’t a hobby [more…]
How to Develop a Business-Planning Network
When you’re self-employed, business relationships you establish outside your company can be like lifelines. Your one-person company won’t have a business team to bounce ideas off of or to share concerns [more…]
Scale a Business Plan to Fit Your One-Person Enterprise
You need a solid business plan even if you're self-employed. Lucky for you, though: when you're self-employed, you can skip a few of the parts because they simply don't apply to your business or your business [more…]
Business Forecasting: Planning for a Rainy Day
Without a financial forecast, your business plan is incomplete. The three basic parts of your financial forecast should include your pro forma income statement, estimated balance sheet, and projected cash-flow [more…]
Why is a Business Plan Important for a Small Business?
Business planning is critical to the success of a small business. In fact, according to the Small Business Association (SBA), planning ability is one of the keys to small business success. [more…]
Analyze Your Small-Business Location and Surroundings
The very first section of the plan for your small business summarizes how the location and surrounding environment will affect your company’s success. It examines the industry you’re in, your customers [more…]
