There is an important element to business that many new business owners overlook:

Making your business plan.

If you are like me, you find the task of making a business plan one of those things that can be put aside and worked on some other time, maybe when things are slow or you are caught up with all your other tasks.

Well let me tell you this: Having a well laid out business plan will save you hours and hours of valuable time in the future.

We ignored our business plan for the longest time. I knew we needed one, but figured when I had the time, I would sit down and compile it, and really, I didn't need to borrow any money, so why did I need it today?

The business plan works like your calendar.

It will guide you through the stages of your business as you go about your daily tasks and it will be a valuable reference as the months and years pass.

The business plan can be as detailed as you choose but however much preparation and information you put into it, will prove it's usefulness to you in the future.

The beautiful part is we are all internet and computer knowledgeable and there are many resources available online for us to determine the structure of a good plan and software to build our plans.

In the US, the Bank of America has published an article that is worth reading about putting together your business plan.

They write: "With an annual business plan, you can:

• plan and assess your business' performance over time;
• implement new marketing, sales or operational strategies; and
• focus employees on your business objectives."

Have a look at the business plan outline they provide: http://www.bofa.com/b-banking/bbank_bizplan.html

Douglas Gray, LL.B., is a Vancouver-based speaker, retired lawyer, columnist and author and he has posted an article online that will help you prepare your business plan: http://www.tcp.ca/April95.rtfhtml/Dontfailplan.html

Of special interest is the key questions Douglas tells us a business plan should answer:

• Where am I now?
• What are my personal and business goals and objectives?
• Is this business concept a good personal fit?
• Is this a viable business initiative?
• Where am I going?
• How am I going to get there?
• Who will I use to help me get there?
• Who is my target market?
• Who is my competition?
• Where am I going to get the money for my ongoing needs?
• What contingencies should I plan for?
• How often should I monitor and revise my plan?
• What is my action, implementation and time schedule?

Once you have made the decision to create your business plan, there are many software programs available to assist you. What is good about these programs is they take you through the process and you do not need to worry about the structure of the plan.

The software falls into two categories: Free and Fee!

Free business plan software:

Toronto Dominion FREE business planner software

FEE based software:

Business Plan Pro
PlanMaker
(Both under $100.00)

You can find many more software packages and articles about business planning by doing a search at your favorite search engine.

And please remember: "If you fail to plan, You plan to fail"

Kevin Needham, Active Internet Marketing

Resources:

Quicken software: An Article

BizPlan.Com - Virtual business plan

The Napkin Plan

Kevin Needham is the publisher of Active Internet Marketing. Business Intelligence for Successful On-line Marketers! Subscribe today to the free A.I.M Ezine. Email subscribe-Inet-Mailer@send.memail.com

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