• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

PlanningShop

Plan. Start. Grow.

  • Our Products
  • Instructors
  • Entrepreneurs
  • BizGear
  • Rhonda’s Blog
  • Book Rhonda
  • About PlanningShop
  • Search
  • Our Products
  • Instructors
  • Entrepreneurs
  • BizGear
  • Rhonda’s Blog
  • Book Rhonda
  • About PlanningShop
  • Search
Person typing a business plan

Write Your Business Plan This New Year

January 10, 2023 //  by Rhonda Abrams

Hey entrepreneur and small business owner: you may not have noticed but December was National Write a Business Plan Month.

Actually, December is a terrible month for this observance, as most small business owners are concentrating on other issues (holiday customers, end-of-year deadlines, family obligations). But since someone somewhere declared the twelfth month of the year to be the time to step back and think about the future of your business, I decided to save and share my column to read in January, so you could develop a plan when we have fewer things pulling us in different directions.

The first question you may have is: in this day and age, do you really need a business plan? In a world of 30-second videos and 280-character posts, can you really expect anyone to read a 20-page written business plan?  Even if you’re courting investors, couldn’t you just send them a few slides and financial projections?

I’ve heard successful entrepreneurs boast that they’ve raised millions for a venture without a business plan. What they fail to mention is that they’ve previously started or run other, highly successful companies. So sure, if you’ve been on the founding team of a billion-dollar company, you may be able to raise millions just by sketching your idea out on a napkin.

But for the 99.99% of the rest of us, we’re going to need a business plan if we want to raise money – even if our funding sources say all they want is a few slides. Why? Because when you finally get that all-important meeting with them, they’re going to grill you on every aspect of your business. If you haven’t developed a thorough business plan, you won’t have good, polished answers to give them.

I know this from my own experience when I approached a bank for a loan for my company. We were never asked to produce a business plan. But the loan officer grilled us on every aspect of our business – our industry, competitors, operations, management, marketing. We could answer their questions because we’d already gone through a business planning process. We got our funding.

Even if you’re not looking for outside financing, developing a business plan is a critical factor for successfully starting a company. And I’m not just saying this because I’m the author of the best-selling business plan guide in the United States Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies. https://planningshop.com/product/successful-business-plan-7th-edition/ 

Here’s why: entrepreneurs who go through a business planning process are more likely to succeed. “Writing a business plan is the sole business planning activity correlated with performance,” was the conclusion of a 2021 study in the New England Journal of Entrepreneurship. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/NEJE-08-2020-0031/full/html In a rigorous Harvard Business Review study, startups were 16% more likely to be viable if they developed a business plan. https://hbr.org/2017/07/research-writing-a-business-plan-makes-your-startup-more-likely-to-succeed And a raft of other studies show that developing a business plan means you’re more likely to thrive and survive.

Most importantly, developing a business plan helps you make the most of your precious time. As my dear friend Eugene Kleiner, the famed venture capitalist once told me, “An investor in a failed business can make their money back. The entrepreneur can never get their time back.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Kleiner

 

Creating a business plan helps you:

  • Think through your entire business
  • Develop a strategic position
  • Identify and understand your target customers
  • Consider key strategic partners
  • See what management roles you need filled
  • Figure out your financial needs
  • Develop marketing messages and tactics
  • Recognize operational challenges

 

Now, just because you need a business plan doesn’t mean you have to spend a huge amount of time writing, editing, and polishing a long-written document. In fact, when I talk about developing a business plan, I always avoid the term “writing a business plan.”

That’s because it’s the PLANNING and not the PLAN that’s really important. It’s the process that’s the biggest benefit – examining the critical aspects of your business, researching factors and trends affecting your success, asking yourself the tough questions.

So, sure, if you just want to sit around the coffee house, shooting the breeze about your can’t-lose business concept, you don’t need a plan. But if you want to start making money and succeed in the long run, you’re a heck of a lot better off by actually getting to work on your business plan.

————————–

Copyright, Rhonda Abrams 2022

Rhonda Abrams is widely recognized as one of America’s leading small business experts. A “Top 30 Global Guru” for Startups, her book Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies was named one of the 100 best business strategy books of all time. Connect with Rhonda at www.facebook.com/MeetRhonda, Instagram and Twitter @RhondaAbrams. Register for Rhonda’s free small business newsletter at www.PlanningShop.com

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Category: Business Plan, Rhonda's Blog, Uncategorized

Previous Post: «Holiday shopping at small businesses SHOPPING SMALL THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Rhonda's Blog via Email

Instagram @rhondaabrams

Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tip Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tips and the latest info. sent straight to your inbox! Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #newsletter #smallbizguru
What’s old is new again! How to stay in front of What’s old is new again! How to stay in front of your smallbiz customers, in my latest @usatoday column. Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #customer #digitalmarketing #smallbizguru
National Doughnut Day on Friday?? Great way to sta National Doughnut Day on Friday?? Great way to start the weekend!! Enjoy, and go find yourself some doughnuts 😋 🍩 
.
.
#smallbusiness #fridayfeeling #nationaldoughnutday
#smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #entrepreneur #ins #smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #entrepreneur #inspirationalquotes
“And I’m proud to be an American, where at lea “And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.” - Lee Greenwood -
.
.
#memorialday #neverforget
We're heading into a long weekend! Here's to some We're heading into a long weekend! Here's to some R&R, productivity . . . whatever your small business needs~
.
.
#smallbusiness #weekend #entrepreneur #fridayfeeling
Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tip Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tips and the latest info. sent straight to your inbox! Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #tips #entrepreneur #newsletter #smallbizguru
#smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #inspirationalquot #smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #inspirationalquotes
Here's to a great week, small business owners! . . Here's to a great week, small business owners!
.
.
#smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner #mondaymotivation
My Tweets
  • Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tip Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tips and the latest info. sent straight to your inbox! Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #newsletter #smallbizguru
    What’s old is new again! How to stay in front of What’s old is new again! How to stay in front of your smallbiz customers, in my latest @usatoday column. Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #customer #digitalmarketing #smallbizguru
    National Doughnut Day on Friday?? Great way to sta National Doughnut Day on Friday?? Great way to start the weekend!! Enjoy, and go find yourself some doughnuts 😋 🍩 
.
.
#smallbusiness #fridayfeeling #nationaldoughnutday
    #smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #entrepreneur #ins #smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #entrepreneur #inspirationalquotes
    “And I’m proud to be an American, where at lea “And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.” - Lee Greenwood -
.
.
#memorialday #neverforget
    We're heading into a long weekend! Here's to some We're heading into a long weekend! Here's to some R&R, productivity . . . whatever your small business needs~
.
.
#smallbusiness #weekend #entrepreneur #fridayfeeling
    Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tip Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tips and the latest info. sent straight to your inbox! Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #tips #entrepreneur #newsletter #smallbizguru
  • Footer

    Our Products
    Instructor Central

    Privacy Policy
    Contact Us

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter

    Copyright © 2023 PlanningShop · All Rights Reserved · Site design by paulinaart

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. ACCEPT Read More
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT