Business plan ?

[Lisa]

Do you have a business plan? How important do you think it is to have one?

Thanks

[BrySC]

This is a good question. I keep reading all these "you MUST have a business plan" posts. Well, I started by making a few candles...then gave a few away as gifts...now have a few for sale in my sister-in-law's furniture store. Not sure what kind of plan I need to have. Just improve my candles, and sell as many as possible. I don't plan on this ever being a sole source of income. I'm sure more experienced candle makers will respond here.

[RobinInOR]

Depends on your goals. Do you have a goal? Besides just having the "biz" pay for the supplies?

If you want your own business to support your family, I don't think it can be done without a business plan. Not for long, anyway.

And yes, I've got a business plan. It lays out where I want to be financially each year, who my target market it, and how I plan to market to that target.

If I had done that my first 2 years I would have been more profitable, sooner, and wouldn't have gotten sidetracked with other things/products...

But if you want to keep it at hobby level, just paying for supplies, then no, I don't think you need a business plan.

[smiley_miley]

To me, a business plan is important because it keeps me on track. If you write your goals and what you want to achieve down on paper, it makes it easier to follow. Also, a business plan is important if you ever want to grow larger. It makes you look more professional, and if you have a good business plan, anyone who reads it will know that you have your act together. They aren't very hard to make, but they are definitely an asset to have in your portfolio.

JMO, hope that helps!

Katie

[barncat]

#1 reason for having a business plan is gaining financing. if you are jsut doing this as a hobby, I see no need to. A real business plan has very complex and detail oriented and averages around 30-50 pages. If you are serous abou this being your 'job' Contact your local SBDC or SBA office, there are free or low cost business plan classes offered through major universities.

[candlebean]

I don't have a huge drawn out business plan, but I do make a plan for myself each year with very specific goals. For example, I don't say, I want to make more money than last year,I will say, " I want to earn X% more than last year". I still have a full time job until I am able to do this full time, but I also have a specific date in mind as to when I want to be able to devote 100% of my time to my business. For me, it is just easier to keep myself on track and to challenge myself to improve. Once I started doing it for my business, I started to do in in other parts of my life too - it really helps make the most of my time.

[xverion]

Just to stir the pot a little here, what categories/headings would/did you put in your business plan? I'm getting set to write mine(found a word template for bus. plans on microsoft website for free)and basically the categories I have listed are:

-Executive Summary

-General Company Description

-Products/Services

-Marketing Plan

-Operational Plan

-Management and Organization

-Personal Financial Statement

-Startup Expense and Capitilization

-Financial Plan

The above can also be modified for retail businesses to include the following categories:

-Company Image

-Pricing

-Inventory

-Customer Service Policies

-Location

-Promotion

-Credit

If you have Word, check out microsoft.com under the office header and go to the business template section. The template is Business Plan for Startup Businesses. Hope this helps a little.

[Grumpy Girl]

I forecast a business plan every year for a 5.2 million dollar business and you can bet I started out doing the same for myself. Personally, I need to be able to set realistic goals for myself and measure my growth in the first year to have a stable foundation to build on. I have a 1, 3, and 5 year forecasted business plan and I adjust the 3 and 5 year accordingly each month based on my current sales trend. I also run a quarterly sales forecast and I've started to finally manage the middle of my P&L. (supplies, fees, etc.) My goal in the first year is to be over my projectioned plan by 7% and carry a blue number to the bottom line at the end of the first year. The second year I want to exceed my net OI by 10-12%. Small steps, but I think these goals are highly obtainable.

I also suggest doing a monthly inventory of your supplies. If you're in this to make money, you have to be able to account for every single penny, nickel and dime.

It broke my heart to finally add up all my start up invoices. GADS!

If you're in this for hobby, have fun!

[LaVida]

GRUMPY! What re you talking about?!! GAAAAAAAAA! *s*....

I do get the monthly inventory thing... I so screwed up my taxes and couldn't account for things from last years inventory.... NOW I have to go back and create a spreadsheet of all the sh*t I have in inventory... it's my own fault though.

Now the prjection of blue lines and red profits... I don't get it. I'm still doing research. What is a forecasted BP?