Don’t get me wrong, business plans and other business related template documents have helped loads of people put their business ideas together. It is probably a great start! But the good old template with generalised statements about the business and unrealistic financial projections has come under the radar as an unreliable source of information. Even Australian governmental departments have become skeptical about such documents, giving little weight to the content provided in template based documents, deliberately asking business owners not to use them.
Whether you are writing a Business Plan to give some direction to your start up, document your existing business or get hold of your finances, there has to be a more efficient way to do it rather than writing a paragraph under headings and subheadings.
A Business Plan needs to be something executable. That only means it needs to be feasible, achievable and structured. The problem is, that will vary enormously depending on where the business is located, the industry it is inserted in and the vision upon which it was created.
On the plus side, standard business plan templates will give you some guidance on all the areas of your business you need to consider when planning for the future, so again it could be a good start for your own draft plan. Yet, we all agree that does not mean a business owner will have the expertise to develop all the areas of the business.
Business owners are obviously good at something, normally something related to what their core business is, their main products or services. However, are all business owners organised and good at planning? Are all of them excellent finance administrators, know how to best utilise their resources and on top of it, are they all excellent marketers and outstanding salespeople? The answer is probably not.
So how can a Business Plan be a fit-all model?
A Business Plan needs a lot of input from business owners and founders and with a little push from business consultants with fresh new ideas who know about the latest business and marketing trends and specialise in finance planning this could be the perfect kick start for a very successful enterprise.
I know what you are thinking… you know plenty of people who have never put a business plan together and are extremely successful in what they do. I know them too. Are they the majority of business owners? Probably not. And… the time always comes when you need to document your business for a particular purpose. It could be to give directions to new employees, make your business more scalable, apply for a loan, sponsor a much needed overseas employee or pitch your business to investors. Please, please, please don’t do any of this with a template Business Plan you downloaded from the first link on your Google search. Your business has to be worth a lot more than that. Show you care. People will care about your business too.
If you need a hand preparing a Business Plan or any other document for your business, let’s chat! This is for business owners who need a little hand to take their business to the next level or put their business ideas into practice.
Remember
“A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.” – Greg Reid