Why Creating a Business Plan is Important for a Small Business

Do you need a business plan if you only are a small business owner? Yes, is the simple answer. A business plan gives you clarity, a clear action plan and is your roadmap to success.

If you are starting a small business, and don’t have to go for outside funding, you’ll still need a business plan. It should cover the essentials such as what your business is about, how you are going to run it, the services you are going to offer, who you are aiming to reach, your target market, and helps you outline the long-term goals and fulfill the big vision for your business.

This is something you need to take time with because it’s the foundation of your business. When you put your thoughts on paper, you give it shape and direction.

Deciding on a niche and ideal customer

What industry is your business going to be operating in? What niche do you want to be in?

Who are your target customers? Why would they need your service? Get a clear vision of who they are, where they come from, and what they are all about. This is important part of your business plan because unless you know who your ideal customer is inside out, you’ll find it difficult to make your offers irresistible to them, let alone market to them successfully.

Related reading: 5 Ways to Define Your Ideal Customer

A marketing plan

Define your marketing goals first, such as how you are going to grow your audience, so you have more people to promote to, how you can create engagement with your leads to generate more enquiries. You can include specific goals around your sales revenue and profit targets.

You’ll need to understand where your clients are, where they “hang out”, and to figure out which marketing platforms are right for you to decide where you should be focusing your efforts.

You’ll also need to figure out what you are comfortable with doing yourself, and where you could outsource, if you can afford it.

An operational plan

An operational plan is about the processes you need to achieve your goals and will help you define the day-to-day actions and processes of your business. So, it includes marketing, everything you do daily to deliver your products and services to your customers, where you house your digital products, the payment methods for your service, delivery, and so on.

Summing it up

These are the main sections your business plan should have. It will help you set your long-term goals, identify your strengths, where your weaknesses are, and how to use and address those.

Another thing to remember is that it’s important to update and adjust it as your business grows and changes. It’s not a ‘done for good’ kind of thing. Your business is going to grow and change and you will need to make adjustments. In the beginning, you probably do pretty much everything yourself, but when your revenue grows, you may need to develop a team, and then an hiring plan should be included in your business plan.

I hope you found value in this. The goal is to give you a better idea of how to create a business plan. Use it as a starting point to make your own and include what you feel is relevant and important for your business. It can be a simple one-page-business plan that follow these key points.  

Hopefully this will inspire you to take the next step to start creating the business you are dream of having. 

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