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Where to Get Help with Writing Business Plans
Writing a business plan can be a daunting process. Before you begin to feel overwhelmed and burdened, identify the key people who can help you during the planning process. [more…]
What Kind of Business Plan Do I Need?
The purpose and the process of creating a business plan are different, depending on your starting position. Following are some of the most common questions you should consider to determine the starting [more…]
Frequently Asked Business-Plan Questions
Most people who get into the business-planning process find they have many questions. Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about writing business plans. [more…]
How to Establish a Business-Plan Time Frame
When developing a business plan, your time frame represents how far out into the future you want to plan. You want your business to grow successfully for years and years into the future, but that goal [more…]
Business Planning Resources
You’re certain to have questions as your business planning gets under way. Luckily, you have plenty of business planning resources to turn to for help. For example, you may want to find out about trends [more…]
Business-Plan Target Audiences and Key Messages
Your business plan is the blueprint for how you plan to build a successful enterprise. It’s a comprehensive document that covers a lot of territory and addresses all sorts of issues. To help focus your [more…]
Why is a Business Plan Important?
Most start-up businesses understand the importance of business planning. Without a plan, they usually can’t get funding. But even businesses with plenty of cash can get into big trouble without a well-thought-out [more…]
How to Evaluate Your Business-Planning Situation
To get your business where you want it to go, you need a map to follow. That's what your business plan is all about. It starts with a description of your current situation; describes your future plans; [more…]
How to Put Your Business Plan’s Principles into Practice
Increasingly, companies are realizing that strong values contribute to strong businesses, and they craft their business plans accordingly. Many are creating detailed ethics guidelines that articulate exactly [more…]
How to Generate a Successful Business Idea
Writing a business plan is one of the most important steps in moving a new business venture into reality. But a business plan is equally important for established ventures planning to introduce a new product [more…]
Do-It-Yourself Business Planning Idea Blender
When it comes to business planning, the best thing about creativity is that no one holds a monopoly on great ideas. You may not become a creative genius overnight, but with a little time and effort and [more…]
How to Boost Your Personal Creativity in Business Planning
As far as business planning goes, where do creative ideas originate? As part of an informal survey, innovative individuals named their top idea-generating activities. The most frequently cited answers [more…]
Brainstorm Business Planning Ideas with the LCS System
Brilliant business plans are not created with the snap of a finger. To nurture brand-new ideas and allow them to grow, use the three-part LCS system: [more…]
How to Translate an Idea into a Great Business Plan
A successful business plan doesn’t necessarily require an original idea. Consider this success story:
A few years back, a California chef who was vacationing in Spain discovered the joy of [more…]
How to Find Business Plan Ideas within Your Work Environment
Solutions to business planning challenges for existing companies often come from within. After all, who knows your business better than you and your employees? [more…]
How to Identify Business Plan Opportunities
According to Thomas Edison, “Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” The same goes for business planning. Coming up with the idea is the inspiration part. When you begin to think [more…]
How to Test Your Business Plan Ideas
After some combination of brainstorming, market analysis, and a few random flashes of brilliance, you may accumulate a drawer full of promising business ideas. Following are two guidelines to help you [more…]
Give Your Business Plan a First Reality Check
When writing a business plan, asking questions like “Is this really such a good idea?” and “Who am I kidding, anyway?” doesn’t mean you lack confidence. What it does mean is that the time has come to step [more…]
How to Conduct a Self-Appraisal for Business Planning
If you are planning for a small business or are a sole proprietor of your own business — even if you’re an entrepreneur hoping to create the next Cisco — you still have one very important question to answer [more…]
Identify the Business You’re Planning
Business planning history is littered with the remains of companies whose founders thought they knew what businesses they were in, only to discover that the industries weren’t quite what they seemed. Consider [more…]
Identify Business Plan Profit Sources
A great business idea isn’t enough to ensure its long-term success. You must define and develop a workable business plan and business model, or a method that your company uses to generate revenue, earn [more…]
Create a Business Plan Mission Statement
Your mission statement defines the purpose of your business and the approach you want to take to achieve success with your business plan. Crafting a mission statement forces you to take a long, hard look [more…]
How to Frame and Craft Your Business Plan Mission Statement
Mission statements come in all shapes and sizes, each reflecting the nature of the company and business plan it represents. Some mission statements begin with definitions of company values; others begin [more…]
Set Goals and Objectives in Your Business Plan
Well-chosen goals and objectives point a new business plan in the right direction and keep an established company on the right track. Just think about what football would be without end zones or what the [more…]
Why Values Matter in Business Planning
A company’s strong sense of values can guide its business planning through troubled times and also improve the bottom line. Studies have shown that companies that recover best from man-made catastrophes [more…]
