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 plan:
You can ditch the executive summary completely. Your plan is probably concise enough to read quickly and won't require a summary version.
You won't have much to say about your company's organization. It's hardly necessary to explain the chain of command when you're running a company with a staff of one.
Your company description can be short, so long as it's clear. Yours will probably describe your abilities, the advantages you offer, and the market potential you will tap into.
The financial review can be basic, as long as it provides thorough explanations of your projected revenues and expenses and how cash will flow in and out of your business.
Together these five sections cover the nuts and bolts of self-employment planning:
An overview of your company
An analysis of your business environment
Your business strategy
Your financial review
A copy of your action plan
When writing your business plan, don't worry about polishing your prose until it's perfect. The important thing is to get the key points down on paper.
