Business Tip: Business Planning
BUSINESS PLANNING: MAIN INGREDIENT TO SUCCESS
As a business owner, I want to pass on a few tips that I've learned both from personal experiences, and from other entrepreneurs as well. Whenever a freshman enrolls for his or her first semester in college, most institutions require that individual to sit down with a career counselor to establish a degree plan. This degree plan is designed to provide the student with a clear outline of the required steps to take in order to successfully obtain a degree.
Without a degree plan in place, students would have no direction to guide them when deciding which classes to enroll in, which could possibly delay graduation. On the other hand, a student who possesses a developed degree plan will be able to make informed decisions during open enrollment, and enabling them to graduate within 4 years.
With this in mind, a business plan is similar to a degree plan for a new student in that it performs the same function for an entrepreneur. A realistic and thoroughly developed business plan will provide the small business owner with a clear outline that will enable them to achieve their business goals. The time spent conducting research to obtain a comprehensive understanding of your target market, target customer, competition, and industry trends will supply you with the ammunition to identify an edge or a niche that will make it possible for you to be profitable for the years to come.
There is popular quote that states; "if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail." Sadly, I would estimate that the majority of small businesses do not have a business plan in place, despite being in business for over a number of years. Statistics identify that approximately 80% of small business fail within the first five years, with over 40% of these failures occurring within the first year. The number one cause listed as the main contributor to the failure of these businesses is listed as "inadequate planning."
I encourage you not to allow your business to become one of these statistics by neglecting to establish a business plan. The return on your investment to develop a business plan will be well worth the time and the resources you expended in the long run. If colleges and universities recognize the importance of putting a plan into place for new freshman, you should also recognize the importance of putting together a plan into place for your new business.
As always, you don't have to tackle this somewhat daunting task alone, allow the VASP program to provide you with the assistance that you need to develop a clear and concise business plan. This will provide you with a roadmap that will enable you to achieve your business-related goals.
