Do I Really Need To Write a Business Plan To Get My Business Started?

Many talented entrepreneurs are often reluctant to go through the rigors of writing a business

plan. With today’s new entrepreneurs, the question of whether to write a business plan often hinges on their potential to, or perceived readiness to formally search and acquire small business start-up capital. Business plans are mostly viewed as a tool for obtaining small business financing only.

However, business plans are much more than a financing tool. The word ” plan” is the significant part of what makes this document essential to the success of today’s entrepreneur.

The “plan” serves as the planning mechanism and blueprint for the operation of your business at least for the first three years of its life.

If a business survives the first three years, it has the capacity to achieve longevity. The longer it

survives after the first three years, the longer it will survive.

According to the Small Business Administration(SBA), about 10 to 12% of businesses with employees die each year. With non-employee businesses, the rates are three times as higher.

SBA data indicate that many of the small businesses that are starting up each year,

utilize owners’ and relatives’ savings as their start-up capital, while one-third of non-employee

start-ups use no capital at all. Because business plans are largely seen as a financing tool, this

would account why many entrepreneurs launching out on their own, by-pass writing a business

plan. This could also be a huge contributing factor to why many fail each year. Failing to

efficiently plan often inadvertently becomes a plan to fail.

Writing your business plan is your personal document that outlines the vision, purpose, structure, goals, and budget for your business. It is your written strategy for your business. It is an outline of the direction that you want your business to go. It is a document that you can go back to, and often review to make sure that you are proceeding according to your vision and plans. It is a tool to keep you focused on your end game. Business owners can easily lose sight during the first three years of operation when facing the many challenges, twists, turns, strategy modifications, and trouble shooting that frequently occurs in the process of running a business. Your business plan becomes your anchor that you refer to, to keep your eyes on the prize of longevity.

For the budding entrepreneur, the business planning process need not be an intimidating,

cumbersome process. It should be used as a tool of enlightenment, to help you work out the

strategy of launching your masterpiece; to help you foresee and resolve upcoming potential pitfalls. The “plan” in business plan does this for you, and could make the difference between death and longevity for your business