Business Plan
 Robert L. Tackabury, CPA is a Tax, Bookkeeping, Investment and Insurance practice located at 2556 Rt. 12B, Hamilton, NY 13346 (next to Nilles Ford). He has a unique blend of experience and expertise allows him to take a more complete approach to helping his clients with their financial needs.
Check out his site at: www.tackcpa.com
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Online Tax Preparation: Many people have simple tax returns
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Business Plans - The Basics Every Business Owner Should Know
I'd like to discuss an area that all business should address; the business plan.
Whether you are starting a new business or continuing on with an existing business, having a good business plan in place just makes sense. This week, I'll go over the basics of a business plan for both start-up and existing businesses. Next week, I'll discuss the key components of a Business Plan.
What is a business plan? - A business plan is a “breathing” document, created by the owner that explains very important business concepts about your particular business. It discusses how you intend to run your business and how you intend to make it profitable. Concepts discussed in any good business plan should be things like your mission statement, marketing efforts, competition, goals, and projections.
Why is a business plan important? - Like anything else in life, without a plan, it's hard to know where you're going. Taking the time to create (an initial) business plan and maintaining it on a regular basis can really pay off! It's particularly important for anyone who is starting up a business to devise a well-thought out plan. Why? Because it could very well make the difference between success and failure. Simply put, many businesses fail because there was no concrete plan in place. When starting up a business, the owner needs all the help he/she can get to ensure a successful venture. Not having a well-thought out, WRITTEN plan puts you at an automatic disadvantage before you even open your doors. Even if you have “made it” through the initial stages of business ownership, it's just as important to update your plan on a regular basis so you can continue to run your business efficiently and effectively.
It has been proven that psychologically, it's MUCH more effective to have your plan WRITTEN. There's just something about having the words in front of you that makes your plan more effective. Having your overall plan “in your head” does NOT produce the results necessary for most people to effectively carry out their plans.
Once you do some research on business plan writing, you will quickly discover that there are several things you need to get down on paper. Things that you might not have given much thought to. I'll go over some of these items next week.
Another thing to keep in mind is to write for your audience. For example an important goal for most start-up businesses is to obtain initial financing. Therefore when writing your plan, it would be wise to expand on areas of importance from a financer's standpoint. Later on, when you've obtained financing, you can tweak your plan for your new audience (yourself).
Having a well-thought out and written business plan will help get your new business off to a positive start and can be a very useful tool for existing businesses to continue to grow.
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| Business Plans - Key Components of a Plan Back to Top Key components of a Business Plan that a potential business owner might use. (someone starting a new business for the first time).
Mission Statement - A mission statement should briefly describe what your business stands for. Many people define their goal(s) for the business and how they might accomplish that goal. This is like a BRIEF summary of your business plan and is generally a couple sentences long.
Goals and Action Plan - It's important to define your Goals (both long and short-term). Along with your goals should be an Action Plan as to how those goals will be accomplished. It does no good to define goals if you have no active plan on how those goals will be carried out. This requires much thought and effort but this area in my opinion is the most important part of the plan. Unlike the mission statement, you should be as detailed as possible. In theory, all goals should center around your Mission Statement.
Financial - This area of your business plan should detail what your expected inflows and outflows are (i.e. a budget). You need to know the required cash flow to get the business up and running (in the first place) and also how and when the business will begin to sustain itself. Obviously you will need enough capital to not only start the business but to “baby it along” until it can sustain itself. Be REALISTIC about your advertising budget! Budget enough money and the time it will take for people to know who you are, where you are, and what you do! The actual amount of time and money it takes to get a business up and running is longer than most potential business owners would like. Many people do not give themselves enough breathing room and can get themselves into some serious trouble if anything unexpected pops up. If enough time and effort is spent in this area you can hopefully avoid some big pitfalls that could get you into trouble (i.e. not enough cash).
Market Analysis/Competition - Documenting a detailed market analysis of the area where you plan to operate your business is another important area. After all, if you don't know and understand your market and competition, you're basically running on hope. Knowing who your customers will be (age range, economic status, etc.) and how many potential customers there are in your area will go a long way in helping you determine who you should market to. Knowing your competition is also very important in determining success. If for example, your geographic area is saturated with others who provide the same product or service that you provide, it will be much more difficult to be successful no matter how hard you try.
Writing a business plan helps the potential business owner identify if his/her business is viable in the first place and is a great tool for any potential business owner.
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(Bob Tackabury is owner of Robert L. Tackabury, CPA 2556 Rt. 12B, Hamilton, NY 315-825-0255 and is an Investment Registered Representative. Securities offered through IBN Financial Services, Inc. Member NASD & SIPC 7924 Oswego Rd. PO Box 2364, Liverpool, NY 13089 315-652-4426)
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