Creating a Business Plan
Ready to start a business? It’s time to start creating a business plan. You don’t have to have a plan to go ito business. There are businesses who started up and evolved into successful businesses. These would be the exception not the rule. “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” -- Sun Tzu Every hour you spend in planning your new business will save you months of heartache down the road. Your home based business plan will take consideration of several key elements. Some of these are: Start up Costs: - You will have to consider total costs to get started which may include: business licensing, printing of materials such as business cards, letterhead, and any needed brochures. Then there’s telephone and internet installation, if needed, any additional computer equipment, office supplies and initial marketing costs. 2. Raising the Capital: - Once you have a real cash number, where will that money come from? I do not think that you’ll need to borrow money for most home based businesses. Your home based business plan should be funded by: savings, 2nd job income or borrowing from family. Not, in most cases, a bank loan. You could however secure a small loan secured by a second on any personal real estate or sell off an old car, golf clubs, boat or whatever it takes. Be aware, borrowing money, always adds extra risk. 3. Your Market & Marketing: - How big is the market for the product or service(s). Will you be marketing locally, across the nation or worldwide? Will your plan be using traditional person to person marketing, internet based or combination of both? How much will your budget be for marketing? How much of your income stream will be going toward marketing?
4. Leverage: - Does this business take advantage of leverage? That is, will you be getting the benefit of others work, without the risk of hiring more employees. If you are starting a network marketing business you’ll definitely have leverage. 5. Experience: - Do you have a friend or mentor who is experienced in the exact business you are starting? Do you have the specialized knowledge you need to be successful? Have you put together your home based business plan? 6. Training: - Fortunately there are tons of people who have been there, done that and written down their experiences in books, on video tape, cd’s or dvds. You can purchase their knowledge, cut out the mistakes, and learning curves that anyone starting from scratch would endure. To me the small price of this knowledge is cheap compared to some of my early business mistakes! One of the major keys, to small business success, is being and remaining teachable, throughout your career. Just because you may have been successful in a job or a previous business, does not mean that you know it all. Be prepared to have a CANI (constant and never ending improvement) attitude. Being a lone ranger business person, can be a lonely and costly road to travel. Learning from others mistakes and successes is preferable as you can take their success patterns and adapt them to your business. Read my perfect business story & how I came to write down what it would look like. It’s not hard to find an Affordable Home Based Business Opportunity in the network marketing or direct sales field. I hope this article on creating a business plan has been helpful to you.
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