Planning Your Business – Prior Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.
Business Plan. There are a couple of versions of the 7 Ps but you get the point. Careful planning is essential to the success of your business. You should always review your plans, revise them as necessary and don’t be afraid of going back to the drawing board, it is just part of the process. Make revising your plans an ongoing business activity.
When we hear the word plan, the first thing that comes to mind is a business plan. There are actually a couple of plans that you might need to develop; a business plan, a marketing plan, an export plan, a succession plan, an emergency management and recovery plan … etc.
Don’t worry if you have never had to create any of those plans. Maybe you have never even had the chance to see any kind of formal plans before and that’s fine. Lucky you, the internet is full with everything you need, templates, plan guides, business advisors … etc.
Business plan comes on the top and that’s why we are going to talk about it here and then leave you with a few links that I find amazingly useful to develop it along with other plans.
Business Plans:
A business plan is simply putting your ideas about how your business is going to work and what exactly are you going to do to make it happen on paper. Surprisingly, you can actually write your entire business plan on one page. As you will see on the templates provided, it is not that difficult to develop your own business plan if you learn how.
Your business plan consists of a group of sections and one of these sections is your marketing plan which I thought is worth mentioning to clear any confusion.
You should also remember that a business plan is a dynamic document that you maintain and change regularly as the market changes and new opportunities arise. Business plans are not only for starting a new business like yours, they are also very important for running your business later.
As a start-up business, your business plan needs to focus on explaining what your company is going to do, how it is going to accomplish its goals, and—most importantly—why you and other founders are the right people to do the job.
A tip: Start with a plan from a similar industry to your business, don’t look for an exact match because you are probably never going to find one. Use that plan for ideas that you might have not considered for your business but make sure that what you write is the right plan for your specific business.
Here are a couple of places to start with;
Business Plan Template and Business Plan Guide:
Business planning tablet app, MyBizPlan:
Business planning videos:
Marketing plan template & guide:
Marketing plan tablet app, MarketMyBiz:
Succession plan template & guide:
Emergency management & recovery plan template & guide:
“A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” George S. Patton
We wish you the best of luck with your venture.
Australia-Unwrapped Team
Ensure you get the most from our business start-up advice follow the complete series
Part One - Business Startup Australia – Introduction Part Two - Business Startup Australia: Getting Help and Support Part Three - Business Startup Australia: Business Structure Part Five - Business Startup Australia: Obtaining Finance Part Six - Business Startup Australia: Registering Your Business Part Seven - Business Startup Australia: Registering Business Name Part Eight - Business Startup Australia: Understanding Australian Taxes Part Nine - Business Startup Australia: Home-based Business Part Ten - Business Startup Australia: Online Business Part Eleven - Business Startup Australia: Employing People Part Twelve - Business Startup Australia: Workplace Health & Safety Part Thirteen - Business Startup Australia: Online Marketing Part Fourteen - Business Startup Australia: Securing Your Online Business Part Fifteen - Business Startup Australia: Importing Part Sixteen - Business Startup Australia: Exportation
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