| Before the business plan is even started, a little prep | | | | your Competition. What one desired thing isn't being |
| should be done first: | | | | delivered to your target market by the existing |
| Pre-Business Plan | | | | competition? Build your Service Niche around the USP. |
| Business and Personal Feasibility. Without conducting | | | | This will focus your identity on a key thing that |
| Personal Feasibility, you miss out on positioning your | | | | customers can identify with you. |
| business relative to your skills and interests. Without | | | | 5. Marketing Vehicles. You need to pick the right mix of |
| Business Feasibility, you won't have a basic idea of | | | | vehicles to get your name out there. You should look |
| your revenue model. I don't include this as a numbered | | | | at both online and offline vehicles. |
| step, but it is the unspoken requisite for your business | | | | 6. Exit Plan, Vision, and Milestones. This is your |
| plan. | | | | macro-to-micro goal setting. I don't see how you can |
| Business Plan | | | | move forward without a plan of what needs to be |
| 1. Mission. Often perceived as an expendable piece of | | | | done. Exit Plan is how you want your business to end |
| your business plan, your mission is as important as | | | | five, ten, thirty years down the road. Vision is where it |
| anything else. Without a defined mission, you don't | | | | will be in five years when you're still on top. How will it |
| have a good grasp of your personal goal of starting | | | | have grown? Milestones are the steps required to |
| one. | | | | launch your business or make a few initial sales. |
| 2. Target Market. Who will the average customer be? | | | | 7. Financial Projections. The most dreaded section of |
| 3. Competition. After identifying who your Target | | | | the plan shouldn't be reserved until the last section. You |
| Market is, you'll be able to identify who else is | | | | should be working through your financials throughout |
| competing for them. Who are your competitors and | | | | the plan. This will show how, when, and where you will |
| what are they good (and bad) at doing? | | | | make money. |
| 4. Service Niche. Your service description will detail on | | | | This has worked the best for my clients as it's more |
| the scope and specialization of your offerings. What | | | | than a back-of-the-envelope plan while it's not |
| packages do you offer? While it's tempting to just | | | | approaching the complexity of an institutional business |
| start your business with an unclear scope of services | | | | plan. Feasibility and Mission are the forgotten step |
| and Target Market, the "build it and they will come" | | | | children of the business plan process and should not |
| strategy rarely works. You'll flounder and start moving | | | | be seen as trivial. The above can be written between |
| away from a specialized service for a certain kind of | | | | five and ten pages and shouldn't take more than a |
| person in an attempt to get volume. Your Unique | | | | few days. |
| Selling Proposition (USP) will build upon the findings in | | | | |