The Birth Of A Business - A Business Plan

Hello Folks

After yesterday's little piece of research I have formulated an idea as to the approach I want to take so I decided to get it all down on a business plan today.

Does Every Business Need A Business Plan?

According to The Balance Small Business website: "But if you don't need a business loan, you probably don't need to spend the time creating a formal business plan."

According to the Small Business Development Center in Duquesne University, Pennsylvania: "A good business plan not only helps entrepreneurs focus on the specific steps necessary for them to make business ideas succeed, but it also helps them to achieve short-term and long-term objectives."

Personally, I prefer the SBDC's approach, especially when it's a business area I have no experience in.

The Cons And Pros Of A Business Plan

Cons

It can be inaccurate

Too much time spent on analysis

Lack of accountability

It needs implementation to work

It restricts freedom

It creates false certainty
Pros
It forecasts an idea for profit potential
It will reveal resource allocation
It puts everyone on the same page
It's an easy way to identify demographics
It shows others you're taking it seriously
It has elements of a marketing plan

I agree with all the pros, lets see if I can break down the cons.
It can be inaccurate - Yes, it probably will be but I need one to, at least, show me 'a' way forward. After all, if you don't have a plan, do you have a journey?

Too much time spent on analysis: Yes, this could well be a problem and something I will have to keep an eye on. Perhaps some sort of timing structure per plan section may be useful here.

Lack of accountability: I can't see this being a problem right now because there is only me here. It may be a problem for a larger company however. I also intend to show this plan to 3 other people who are in a position to whump me good if I stray.

It needs implementation to work: D'oh! Really? Not really a 'con' in my opinion, at least not for me

It restricts freedom: I guess that if you see an opportunity that you need to jump on it straight away then a business plan could certainly restrict and/or change the way you approach it but I need to remember that it's only a plan and not set in stone.

It creates false certainty: I guess if it is too rigid a structure then it might prevent me from seeing opportunities off to the left or right of where I want to go; however, I have a pretty specific destination in mind for myself but I must bear in mind that the world is currently in a state of flux so things are fairly certain to NOT turn out the way one originally looks at them.

How Complicated Does A Business Plan Need To Be?

The plan can be as complicated or as simple as you need yours to be. There are templates for one page plans or 100 page plans. Personally I think a 1-page plan is too short for me and 100 pages is just way too much, I found a free template on a site that has 6 pages and I think this will be enough, at least for now.

What About Other Plans?

There are 2 other plans I want to get together: a website design plan and a marketing plan and those 2, I think, will go hand-in-hand as I'm going to need landing pages, blog posts, payment pages, different programs etc.

I won't be sharing my business plan online anywhere as it relates specifically to me but I may well share the headlines of each section just so you get to see what information my plan needs.

It's going to take me a couple of days to fill out this template so I'll be back later.
Do you have a written plan for your business? I'd love to hear your opinions below