No Fortune 500 company could have ever achieved such a successful level without having done extensive business planning. It had to be done throughout all stages of its growth! From incubation or startup, to grow into a regional or national power certainly took meticulous planning and then precision execution of the plan.
Many entrepreneurs have brilliant plans and ideas for their business and yet fail to put these into a written document. At some point in the growth of any business, the 'brain trust' of the company must be expanded beyond a single founder or charismatic leader.
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Of course, most small companies are started by one or two entrepreneurs who drive the startup enterprise by their vision, charisma, and aggressive leadership. There seems to be a plateau where the organization must necessarily shift gears to break through. It is at this point that the business plan is a catalyst that helps propel the small company to a much higher level.
Much of the need for a business plan is driven by the need for a communications vehicle so that the plans and strategies of the founder can be effectively and clearly understood by a 'core group' of managers in the company. Growth beyond the small business level can only be achieved by a group of motivated people focusing on common strategies and by the group working together to 'make it happen'!
Every business needs a business plan! A sample business plan might be as simple as a few diagrams on the back of a cocktail napkin. (Many great plans have resulted from such a diagram as an effective communication tool!) If you are starting to develop your business plan from such a diagram, it is especially easy to come up with a rudimentary plan simply by understanding the business diagram and answering the 6 Major Questions of Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How and capturing the answers in writing.
The more detailed you can make your answers to the major questions, the more complete the resulting plan will be. After all, it should be your intent to fully explain the vision and mission that was intended in the original business diagram.
If you are lacking such a starting diagram, you may wish to organize your business plan along the more traditional framework by defining your company's Product, MarketPlace, Pricing and Promotion strategies. This method was originally described in the Harvard Business Review in the 1960's and the "4 P's" of marketing has worked for many thousands of small to medium size companies.
By defining your business along these lines, you can flesh out extensive details of the major components of your plan. Such a sample business plan will provide a framework upon which you may constantly update and upgrade your plan as you take your plan to market and experience successes and failures. Based upon actual business experience in the field, each repetition of the planning process will improve your plan and your chances for success.
The actual format and construction of your sample business plan is much less important than the act of taking the first step to put a basic business plan down on paper.
Sample Business Plans to Use For Your Small Business SAMPLE QUESTIONS