6 Easy Steps to Create Your Business Plan

Image courtesy of [Stuart Miles] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Your business plan is the first crucial document you need if you want to increase your success rate.  Sadly, most beginners forego of the need for this document.  Some think that a plan is immaterial, as online requirements for start-ups are not as rigid as those for brick and mortar.  Others fail to create it as they have no idea how to write the document.

Here are six (6) simple steps to make it easy for you to create your business plan.  It is one necessary document that you should create whether for start-ups and expansions.  You will get the direction you need to ensure that you are headed to your destination of achieving your goals.  You will also realize how it can serve as your time and money saver.

1. Vision and Mission –  Your vision is about how you see your business to be in the future, say for instance, in five year\’s time.  You may have several small goals to achieve, but ultimately your vision is that one big goal that should motivate you to achieve the smaller goals.  Your mission statement on the other hand is about why you are putting up your online business.    While the vision focuses on what you want or your future, the mission focuses on the now or what you are doing to achieve your vision.
2. Objectives and Goals – These are the things that you target to accomplish in line with your mission and towards the direction of your vision.  Your objectives and goals should be specific, measurable, achievable/attainable, realistic, and time bounded or what is known as SMART. Your objectives and goals will enable you to track the progress of your business plan.  It will tell you if you are on course, or if you need to do some adjustments and modifications.
3. Analysis of the Market and Resources.  You need to analyze and evaluate the market and your resources to take advantage of your strengths and opportunities, and work around your weaknesses and limitations.  This way, you can maximize your resources to increase your profit margins. Opportunities and threats are external analysis of the factors that can affect your profitability.
4. Course of Action – This is where you input your strategies, techniques and tactics to achieve your objectives and goals, based from your SWOT market analysis.  It shall incorporate your online marketing plan where you specify how you are going to reach your target audience. Your plan of action is the main body of your document.  It depends heavily on your study and     analysis of your target market.  From this, you shall be able to come up with the right strategy             on how to make your target market become aware of and understand you have the solution to     their needs and wants.
5. Budget Analysis – In this section, you will specify your financial resources, and how you are going to allocate your resources to the different aspects in running your business. This is also where you are going to assess your return of investment or ROI.
6. Monitoring and Evaluating of Your Business Plan –  This is the part where you keep track of your progress and determine if you are achieving your objectives and goals.  You will be able to find out and continue your best practices, improve those that need modifications, and discard practices that do not work towards the achievement of your goals.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-ideas-articles/6-easy-steps-to-create-your-business-plan-5841088.html

About the Author

Warren Knight is a featured and syndicated expert columnist on the topic of business & finance for the Secret Enquirer. For more Business & financial tips and articles, visit http://www.SecretEnquirer.com now.