Business Planning – The 10 Steps
submitted by: Adam Moskow, Entrepreneurial Consulting
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Starting a business during a recession, or even continuing the growth of an existing business, requires a good, written, strategic plan. It’s not enough to know how to put a business plan together. The key to success is to actually create a plan and then execute on it. Here are 10 pointers to help start the process:
- Market: Research the market for your product or service. Perform 1st-hand research of customers (or potential customers), employees, vendors and competitors.
- Value: Determine your value proposition. What can you offer to meet the need of the market? How will you meet the need better than the alternatives? Will you have a superior product, will you market it better, do you have first to market advantage, will you price more aggressively or will you have better customer service?
- Delivery: Determine your means of producing or delivering your product or service in a superior way. Include development, fulfillment, customer service and administration.
- Customer: Analyze your target customer. What is the universe for your product or service? Who is the ready, willing and able buyer within that market? How can you define them geographically, demographically and from a marketing perspective?
- Mission: Craft a mission statement addressing desired size of business, type of entity, growth or income goal, industry in, industry position, company advantages, sought revenue and other overall goals.
- Management: Assess management and staffing needs. What strengths does the management team currently have and what do they lack? What new positions will you need to hire on in the next year? Who needs to be replaced? What staff skills and growth training can occur to invest in your team to better them?
- Finance: Look back three years (if available) at financial statements. Do monthly projections for the next year and annual ones for 2010 and 2011. What expenses need to be cut, what revenue areas need to be pushed, where is investment needed for the best long term growth?
- Milestones: By department, lay out short and long term quantitative and qualitative goals and the action plan to achieve each.
- Risks: To show investors, a board or yourself, that you have thought through challenges you may face and how you will face each head on, clearly articulate key possible challenges you may face. They may relate to the economy, funding, limitations of the team, development risks, market risks or others. Be honest; what do you worry about regarding this business?
- Learning: Continue to gather more skills and knowledge. Read books, take classes, participate in webinars, attend tradeshows, etc. which address business and strategy generally and your market specifically.
Research, strategize, plan, take action, persist. Repeat.
Entrepreneurial Consulting has prepared a PowerPoint that outlines the basic components and the process needed to create a successful business plan.
Adam Moskow, President of Entrepreneurial Consulting, can be reached at 610-457-9563 or email amoskow@entrepreneurialconsulting.com
