Business Planning Creates Positive Results for Success

When you plan to run a business of any kind, you should always create a complete business plan to run your enterprise from, before you ever get started in business. The reason is, that business planning creates positive results for success by giving you a road map to start from. As with all strategic planning, creating a business plan can uncover things that you didn’t know might factor into your business in the beginning. A business plan will change many times as the business operates and other important factors arise. Knowing where you started and where you are projected to end up, can keep you on track to meet your goals.

To complete a business plan, you need to make sure to include the most important aspects of it in order to create a clear picture of the business. You will need to know where the enterprise is aiming to go, how it aims to get there, as well as all of the details in between. Make sure to include the following:-

• Your vision statement, mission statement and operational goals.

• Analysis for your business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

• The short term and long term goals of the business, 3 to 5 years out.

• Who the target market is and what their wants and needs are.

• An analysis of the industry to determine whether it is growing.

• An analysis of the competition, defining who they are, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

• Marketing planning to determine how to attract the target market.

• Financial planning in order to project financial needs for the goals set.

Although it seems like a lot to begin with, when you have it spelled out in front of you, it will leave little room for distraction. This can be important as the business starts to grow in new directions throughout the year.

You should expect to create or revise your business plan annually, in order to make changes to better achieve your goals. During your strategic planning, make sure to spell out your goals very specifically, so that you know what you are working towards. Studies have shown that businesses who had clear goals spelled out, came closer to meeting them than businesses who didn’t bother creating a business plan at all.

Many times a business plan is an internal document that is only going to be seen by the organisation itself. However, in some cases, investors and financiers also need to see the business plan prior to approving additional funding for the business. Either way, the business plan should be complete and detailed in order to increase the chances of positive results and to measure the organisations successes.

By planning out the strategies that your business will utilise, you will be able to recognise what the most important wants and needs are for the target market. By doing this it will allow you to concentrate your efforts on meeting and exceeding those wants and needs for your customers. Once you become experienced in determining your target markets’ changing needs, you can aim to satisfy them before the competition does.

This post was written as part of the Nollett Business Solutions blogging program, which provides businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become dynamic engines in an ever-changing world. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.