Does a business plan exist? If so, is it used? Is it updated?
Probably the third most common question I asked an entrepreneur is: Do you have a business plan and how do you use?
(Fyi, the other two questions are: what are you doing, and what is your goal?)
At least two thirds of the answers are that they have a business plan. I usually get blank stares when it comes to how they use it. What do I mean? Should it not be obvious? You fill out some package software, shove the printout in the bottom of your desk/file cabinet/waste basket and then go on your merry way making money.
Not exactly.
Think of a business plan as a set of blueprints. You refer to it often. You check to see if you are on track. If there are differences then you either correct yourself or correct the plan. It is a way to keep yourself vigilant to the goals of your endeavors.
A business plan should be accessible to the strategic partners and elements of it accessible to everyone else in the company. For example, you plan out the budget for renting an office: $4,000 per month. What if they cannot find an office for that low and the best one comes in at $5,000 per month? How does that affect the plan? For some people seeing the company making $100,000 per month that may mean nothing and they can easily afford it. However, the planner might see that at the end of the year they have spent an extra $12,000 which means that another item may not be achievable.
How do you make the business plan accessible to update? Is it all in Word and Excel available on a common hard drive for people to review and comment? Which people? Not everyone, but how about the heads of the company?
Is it in one big document or split up by chapter and subchapter into usable sections that can be updated and modified as the business grows?
How do you use your business plan?
