Planning Tools
While not every business must have a formal written business
plan, every business should do ongoing planning to make sure the
idea is feasible and to provide a roadmap for achieving
business objectives. Note that the exact content and depth of a
written business plan depends on the audience and purpose for the
plan.
Below are some general questions to consider along with some
associated resources to help you answer them or learn more about
the topic.
Questions to answer in planning out your business:
Your Market:
- Who is your customer? If your customer is a consumer, think of
gender, age, income level and interests. If it is a business,
think industry, size, risk tolerance, geography, etc.
- What is the problem you're solving or need you're meeting? How
is the customer meeting that demand today (alternatives /
competition)?
- What are you providing (your product / service)? How is what
you're providing different or better than competitors (your value
proposition and competitive advantange)?
- How are you going to reach your target market? What specific
tactics will you employ?
Your Business /
Operations Model:
- How will you make money? What are all the revenue streams you
have or envision?
- What is your staffing plan? Will you hire or use
sub-contractors?
- How will you support your customers before, during and after
the delivery of your product and / or service?
- Where will the business be located?
Your Finanical Plan:
- What are your projected revenues (include number of customers,
pricing, frequency of purchase, etc.)?
- What are your projected expenses (include start-up capital and
on-going expense items)?
- Do you need any money to get started?
- What are your expected cash flows?
- What assumptions did you use in making projections?
- How are you going to finance the operations of your business?
Where will you get needed cash to sustain you until you you hit
break-even?
Additional Resources on business
planning:
Please also check out the MCE events listing for specific topics to
help with your business!