Business Plan Hints
For those of you who are contemplating entering b5’s “Jump Start Your Business” contest BusinessWeek’s Business Tools and Advice section has;
Top 10 Tips for Writing Your Business Plan
- Create A Vision - “Once you have a clear road map for your business, you can plan your journey with more confidence.”
- A Budget Isn’t The Same Thing As A Plan - “A budget should be the product of all the other elements in your plan.”
- Don’t Ignore Your Customers - “Take the time to learn about your customers, and build your business plan around their needs and desires.”
- Don’t Shortchange The Competition - “If you assume your firm will be the only game in town or if you fail to take existing competitors seriously, you’re asking for trouble.”
- Be Prepared To Take Risks - “Creating a business plan isn’t about avoiding risk; it’s about understanding and managing risk.”
- Get A Second Or Third Opinion - “The most experienced entrepreneur can still benefit from a different point of view.”
- Expect The Unexpected - “Every business plan needs some wiggle room to allow for unexpected changes.”
- Don’t Forget What Makes You Unique - “A cookie-cutter business plan might help you get started, but it won’t help you succeed.”
- What’s The Point? - “When you set goals in your business plan, include some concrete motivation that goes beyond the satisfaction of a job well done.”
- Don’t Skip The Plan! - “The biggest mistake of all is failing to create a business plan in the first place.”
There’s a good deal more at the BusinessWeek site so click through and check it out.
Hope this helps…
Tags: advice_section, business_contest, business_tools, creating_a_business_planRelated Stories
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4 opinions for Business Plan Hints
Darlene
Sep 9, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Hi Mark, This is good stuff. I like the simplicity of it and I think it will help people at least get out of the gate and attempt to write a business plan!!
Standard Business Plan Format
Sep 9, 2007 at 9:59 pm
[…] a follow up to the Top Ten Tips for Writing Your Business Plan, here are excerpts explaining a Standard Business Plan Format from Business Week “Business […]
mark
Sep 10, 2007 at 7:09 am
Thanks Darlene… that was my hope also :)
Starting A Small Business
Feb 26, 2008 at 5:13 pm
[…] is an editor at SmartMoney.com. Check out our Business Plan Hints while you’re […]
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