As the saying goes, "People don't plan to fail, they just fail to plan." Either way, you get the same result.
How can you accomplish anything if you have no idea of what it is you're trying to accomplish? You can't - You're going to need a plan! You would be amazed how many new business owners either completely skip over or even half ass this step.....and eventually, the lack of planning starts to show!
In my 10 years of owning a roofing company, I seen the lack of planning first hand. Every summer, we would increase our production staff with a mix of experienced guys and then some that weren't. It was funny to see some of the less experienced guys get a little knowledge under their belts and decide that once they bought a pickup truck and a ladder, that they were going to start their own business. Now, I'm not knocking anyone for starting their own thing....in fact, I think it is much wiser to work for yourself than for someone else. But let's be clear on something here - it takes a bit more effort and commitment to be successful with something than just knowing how to do something and having a few of the needed tools. The same will apply here!
Just because I can build a website, write an article and host a podcast does not qualify me as a business owner?.....Me teaching you those same things won't make you a business owner either.....it's going to take more. You can buy all the websites you want and pass out all the business cards you possibly can, but until you sit down with yourself and create an action plan for your business, you don't own a business.....you're just trying to play the part. The good news is, no matter what you have or haven't done already, it isn't too late to start mapping out the journey towards the results you'd like to see.
So with all that said, let's discuss some ways to create a your personal business plan.
Now do not overwhelm yourself with creating a business plan, In a conventional brick-and-mortar style company, a business plan becomes much more in depth because of some of the factors that are involved. Luckily for us, a lot of the things that we do are not similar to a typical business so therefore, the business plan isn't the same either. Chances are you don't have a staff (yet), or an office (yet), or a bunch of other things that come into play when you actually open the doors of a traditional business. When I wrote my first business plan, in which I did a ton of research to figure out, I had to decide things for my business that I didn't even know would apply to what I did. Thankfully, it doesn't have to be that in depth at first, but it will require a few key things to help you get off to a solid start - here's what should be considered and some tips on how to determine your stance.
I've also provided a quick worksheet that you can fill out on your own that will help you create your business plan. This PDF is free as a gift from Passive Profit Planning on the terms that you really put it to use for your business. You can download the business plan worksheet here and as always, feel free to share with others you think it could help. If you haven't yet even figured out what you want to do, my post on 'Turning You Into a Business' will probably help you decide.
Your business plan should help answer these important topics: You might not have all the answers to these right away. Skip over the questions you are unsure of and go to the next topic - sometimes the answers will come to you through the other areas you think about. Just don't forget about them for later on, your success depends on you coming back to it.
Company NameRemember, this is the name that you are going to be known by so make sure it is professional and memorable....hopefully you are stuck with it for years and years to come.
Company Vision What's the end result of your business? What are you striving to achieve? Do not answer this with "become rich" or "be famous" because that is all about you, we will get into that when we talk about goals. The vision should be directed at providing a service, fixing a problem or improving something or someone with the content you provide. If you were in real estate, your vision would not be to sell a bunch of houses - your vision should be providing the best service possible by finding families the home of their dreams.
Goals and Milestones If I were to ask you, "what is businesses next milestone?", how long would it take to come up with an answer? Successful business owners know exactly what they want to accomplish and even put a date or a time that they want to achieve it by. Of course your business plan will not include each daily goal or even each weekly goal....but you should know what it is your aiming for and when you want to hit the mark. I have always incorporated a goal setting technique and you should as well.
Target Market. Who are the people you are looking to reach out to? Who is more likely to want what you have? If your niche is only relevant to a certain demographic, it will be important to know that so your marketing efforts are effective. Nothing could be more of a waste of time than promoting your content to someone who doesn't need it.
What is for Sale? Without a way to make money, your efforts really are not a business - no matter how much planning you've done. Selling things can be direct or indirect, but at some point commerce will need to occur. If you blog, you can sell advertising space or earn money through affiliate marketing. If you build niche sites, you might aim to rank high on Google and then sell the site to a buyer. Maybe you are building a network marketing business and focus on product sales or building teams. Whatever it is that you do, go into it knowing how you can make money. Financial goals are a great way to track how you are doing and provide rewards for our efforts when we are having some success.
Unique Selling Point (USP) What makes your product different from competitors who are in the same field as you? Do your research and look around at what others are doing and not doing and compare it with the vision that you have. I know a great way to get the creative juices flowing is to visit other sites in your industry and ask yourself how it could be better and then figure a way to provide it. If you are a blogger, this is much easier because your uniqueness is you. If you should rely on product sales that others may be offering, you are going to need to find a way to stand out from the crowd.
Marketing Strategy. How are you going to spread the word? This is likely to change and expand as time goes on because face it, you are going to grow and changes will be made. But start off with some sort of idea on how you are going to introduce your business to others at first whether it be online or off - you will see just how much their initial feedback will help in the long term. With tools like social media, pay-per-click ads, networking events and forums.....you have a bunch of ways to let others see you, many of which are totally free?
Educational Resources. Where will you continue to learn? If you think that what you know now is going to carry you along the entire way, it won't be long before time proves you wrong. I don't care what field you are in, evolution and innovation is constantly taking place and you will need to be up to date on all that occurs. You should definitely have a resource that provides information and training about whatever it is you do. If your content becomes stale, your content will remain on the shelf.
Outsourcing Contacts. Are you planning on doing everything yourself or will you need a hand with some things? One of my favorite statements from Henry Ford was, "Ford is not a company because of me, but because of my ability to surround myself with others who are better than me". Of course there are people all over who are better at things than us, I'm not saying that you should outsource everything. But the more people you can get behind your effort and apply their talents, the better your brand will become. Keep an open mind to letting others play a part in your success while trying to help them have victories of their own.
Hours of Operation. This is important and Yeah, the advantage of working at home or doing your own thing is that you get a little more flexibility and sometimes it's easier to push things off but do not let this happen to you. The hardest thing about being your own boss is being your own boss - make sure you keep an eye on yourself and moving forward. The slightest bit of easing up can start a trend that you won't want to have. Decide when and how much time you would like to put into your business and discipline yourself to see that commitment through.
Action Plan. I am a big fan of lists. Knowing step by step what needs to be done is a very helpful and a great way for me to get into action and start getting things done. Having an action plan will be a constant in your business, you should always know what it is that needs to be done next. Some people do this daily before they go to bed and list out 10 or 12 of the most important things they need to do the following day. You might like to make a weekly or monthly list, hey whatever works for you. But know what it is that needs done and DO IT.....nobody is remembered for the things they wanted to do, it's what gets done that actually counts.
Wow, I am really deep into this post already so I am going to wrap it up for now. It just goes to show how important actual planning is and how much there is to think about when it comes to having success. This certainly won't be the last post on effective business planning, after all, it is the name of the site. Make sure you check out the free PDF that we made available and start really writing out what you plan to accomplish. "Goals that are not written down are just dreams that are unlikely to ever come true."
Keep up the great work and continue to research this site. Once you have a plan in place, I think you will find a bunch of gems within this website that will help you start reaching the things your business is striving for.
I wish you nothing but the best in all that you do! Now go do it!
How can you accomplish anything if you have no idea of what it is you're trying to accomplish? You can't - You're going to need a plan! You would be amazed how many new business owners either completely skip over or even half ass this step.....and eventually, the lack of planning starts to show!
In my 10 years of owning a roofing company, I seen the lack of planning first hand. Every summer, we would increase our production staff with a mix of experienced guys and then some that weren't. It was funny to see some of the less experienced guys get a little knowledge under their belts and decide that once they bought a pickup truck and a ladder, that they were going to start their own business. Now, I'm not knocking anyone for starting their own thing....in fact, I think it is much wiser to work for yourself than for someone else. But let's be clear on something here - it takes a bit more effort and commitment to be successful with something than just knowing how to do something and having a few of the needed tools. The same will apply here!
Just because I can build a website, write an article and host a podcast does not qualify me as a business owner?.....Me teaching you those same things won't make you a business owner either.....it's going to take more. You can buy all the websites you want and pass out all the business cards you possibly can, but until you sit down with yourself and create an action plan for your business, you don't own a business.....you're just trying to play the part. The good news is, no matter what you have or haven't done already, it isn't too late to start mapping out the journey towards the results you'd like to see.
So with all that said, let's discuss some ways to create a your personal business plan.
Now do not overwhelm yourself with creating a business plan, In a conventional brick-and-mortar style company, a business plan becomes much more in depth because of some of the factors that are involved. Luckily for us, a lot of the things that we do are not similar to a typical business so therefore, the business plan isn't the same either. Chances are you don't have a staff (yet), or an office (yet), or a bunch of other things that come into play when you actually open the doors of a traditional business. When I wrote my first business plan, in which I did a ton of research to figure out, I had to decide things for my business that I didn't even know would apply to what I did. Thankfully, it doesn't have to be that in depth at first, but it will require a few key things to help you get off to a solid start - here's what should be considered and some tips on how to determine your stance.
I've also provided a quick worksheet that you can fill out on your own that will help you create your business plan. This PDF is free as a gift from Passive Profit Planning on the terms that you really put it to use for your business. You can download the business plan worksheet here and as always, feel free to share with others you think it could help. If you haven't yet even figured out what you want to do, my post on 'Turning You Into a Business' will probably help you decide.
Your business plan should help answer these important topics: You might not have all the answers to these right away. Skip over the questions you are unsure of and go to the next topic - sometimes the answers will come to you through the other areas you think about. Just don't forget about them for later on, your success depends on you coming back to it.
Company NameRemember, this is the name that you are going to be known by so make sure it is professional and memorable....hopefully you are stuck with it for years and years to come.
Company Vision What's the end result of your business? What are you striving to achieve? Do not answer this with "become rich" or "be famous" because that is all about you, we will get into that when we talk about goals. The vision should be directed at providing a service, fixing a problem or improving something or someone with the content you provide. If you were in real estate, your vision would not be to sell a bunch of houses - your vision should be providing the best service possible by finding families the home of their dreams.
Goals and Milestones If I were to ask you, "what is businesses next milestone?", how long would it take to come up with an answer? Successful business owners know exactly what they want to accomplish and even put a date or a time that they want to achieve it by. Of course your business plan will not include each daily goal or even each weekly goal....but you should know what it is your aiming for and when you want to hit the mark. I have always incorporated a goal setting technique and you should as well.
Target Market. Who are the people you are looking to reach out to? Who is more likely to want what you have? If your niche is only relevant to a certain demographic, it will be important to know that so your marketing efforts are effective. Nothing could be more of a waste of time than promoting your content to someone who doesn't need it.
What is for Sale? Without a way to make money, your efforts really are not a business - no matter how much planning you've done. Selling things can be direct or indirect, but at some point commerce will need to occur. If you blog, you can sell advertising space or earn money through affiliate marketing. If you build niche sites, you might aim to rank high on Google and then sell the site to a buyer. Maybe you are building a network marketing business and focus on product sales or building teams. Whatever it is that you do, go into it knowing how you can make money. Financial goals are a great way to track how you are doing and provide rewards for our efforts when we are having some success.
Unique Selling Point (USP) What makes your product different from competitors who are in the same field as you? Do your research and look around at what others are doing and not doing and compare it with the vision that you have. I know a great way to get the creative juices flowing is to visit other sites in your industry and ask yourself how it could be better and then figure a way to provide it. If you are a blogger, this is much easier because your uniqueness is you. If you should rely on product sales that others may be offering, you are going to need to find a way to stand out from the crowd.
Marketing Strategy. How are you going to spread the word? This is likely to change and expand as time goes on because face it, you are going to grow and changes will be made. But start off with some sort of idea on how you are going to introduce your business to others at first whether it be online or off - you will see just how much their initial feedback will help in the long term. With tools like social media, pay-per-click ads, networking events and forums.....you have a bunch of ways to let others see you, many of which are totally free?
Educational Resources. Where will you continue to learn? If you think that what you know now is going to carry you along the entire way, it won't be long before time proves you wrong. I don't care what field you are in, evolution and innovation is constantly taking place and you will need to be up to date on all that occurs. You should definitely have a resource that provides information and training about whatever it is you do. If your content becomes stale, your content will remain on the shelf.
Outsourcing Contacts. Are you planning on doing everything yourself or will you need a hand with some things? One of my favorite statements from Henry Ford was, "Ford is not a company because of me, but because of my ability to surround myself with others who are better than me". Of course there are people all over who are better at things than us, I'm not saying that you should outsource everything. But the more people you can get behind your effort and apply their talents, the better your brand will become. Keep an open mind to letting others play a part in your success while trying to help them have victories of their own.
Hours of Operation. This is important and Yeah, the advantage of working at home or doing your own thing is that you get a little more flexibility and sometimes it's easier to push things off but do not let this happen to you. The hardest thing about being your own boss is being your own boss - make sure you keep an eye on yourself and moving forward. The slightest bit of easing up can start a trend that you won't want to have. Decide when and how much time you would like to put into your business and discipline yourself to see that commitment through.
Action Plan. I am a big fan of lists. Knowing step by step what needs to be done is a very helpful and a great way for me to get into action and start getting things done. Having an action plan will be a constant in your business, you should always know what it is that needs to be done next. Some people do this daily before they go to bed and list out 10 or 12 of the most important things they need to do the following day. You might like to make a weekly or monthly list, hey whatever works for you. But know what it is that needs done and DO IT.....nobody is remembered for the things they wanted to do, it's what gets done that actually counts.
Wow, I am really deep into this post already so I am going to wrap it up for now. It just goes to show how important actual planning is and how much there is to think about when it comes to having success. This certainly won't be the last post on effective business planning, after all, it is the name of the site. Make sure you check out the free PDF that we made available and start really writing out what you plan to accomplish. "Goals that are not written down are just dreams that are unlikely to ever come true."
Keep up the great work and continue to research this site. Once you have a plan in place, I think you will find a bunch of gems within this website that will help you start reaching the things your business is striving for.
I wish you nothing but the best in all that you do! Now go do it!
About the Author:
Find Excellent Advice and Tips about Online Incomeat Passive Profit Planning.com, where you can also find out all about How to Make a Good Business Plan and how it will benefit your future.
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