Write Your Business Plan

Because writing the Business Plan is the most important part of it all.

Following on last week’s discussion about what investors want to see and why they would give you their money: to pitch an investor you would write a business plan.

If you are not pitching investors … write it anyway.

Write it for yourself.

The act of writing a business plan will force you to take a critical eye to your business idea and expectations.

What is a business plan

It is a plan. For your business.

But digging deeper: it’s an action verb.

Your business plan is the document through which you prove that there is a market opportunity, you prove that you can seize that opportunity, and you prove that you have the ideas and resources to capture the market.

It describes what will happen, why, what the purpose of those actions is, and what the outcome of it all will be.

Yes: I just described a plan. #Literally

Why it matters

… even if you are not presenting it to anybody.

Because it forces you to actually explain all the things mentioned above. It may be that you have all these ideas and proofs in your head, but until you articulate them step by step, they have not been fully considered.

I recommend that you have somebody question you on the material you are putting into your business plan. This will mean you both think it through and can answer questions you may not have anticipated. All this will only make your business stronger.

How to use it

The point we are making here is that writing the plan is more important than the actual plan.

The Action Verb element.

The value is in having to conduct the research and analysis required to create a full business plan.

Once complete you can put it in a drawer forever, or post it on your wall so you see it every day. The work, at that point, is really done.

Use the business plan as your mirror, but one that answers back.