writing business plan for family business; how to

Family business is one form of business that stands the test of time. It survives from generation to generation and creates employment and peace of mind for as many as those that are willing to go by the rule of small and family business. Family businesses survives the test of time because, its business secrets are properly guided from external forces and competitors. All these can only be possible if the family business is properly managed. And to properly manage a family business, you need to have a well articulated and written business plan that help stir the affairs of the family business. A business plan is the blue print that acts as the compass that helps the family business finds its way in the wilderness of business world and its challenges.

Writing of business plan for family business is not what anybody can do for you. You need to do it yourself so as to preserve the privacy of the family business. And that is why this hub is written to let you know the basic ingredients of a bankable and operational business plan that is needed to successfully run a family business.

I have written a hub on bankable and operational business plan and will therefore go straight into the intricacies of writing a business plan for family business plan.

Carryout the SWOT analysis of your family business; every entity be it big or small has their own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The mere fact that small family businesses operates in an environment, they interact with these businesses on a daily basis and care needs to be taken to factor these variables into the business plan of a small family business. Stakeholders in a family business need to know their strength and opportunities and work hard to get the best out of them while at the same time taking steps to reduce the negative effects of weaknesses and threats. Family business plans must embed strategies to handle the variables of SWOT. Some people call this ‘self knowledge analyses.

Carryout market analysis; market research and marketing research are two ingredients that cannot be found wanting in any business plan of family business. Good market analysis will help the writer/ developer of the business plan add appropriate strategies that will help surmount the perceived mountains and obstacles that needs to be crossed before achieving a target marketing landmark.

Recognize the reason for writing the business plan for the family business; family business is not one of those professional paths that people follow just to make sure that there is food on the table. Family business is a way of life and must be viewed that way. Questions about the mission of the initiator of the family business must be asked. From these questions, a mission statement will be drawn, and thereafter, business plan written with the sole aim of meeting the objectives of the family business.

Align your family business’s need with your findings; aligning your family business’s need with the reality on ground will help you identify resources that will be needed to meet your objective(s) in your small family business. Whatever that is revealed from this exercise should be included in your business plan.

Effort should be put into identifying what motivates every member of the management team of a small business and attempt made to factor them into the business plan of the family business. Make the business plan challenging enough to motivate all and sundry.

Now that you know the basics of writing business plan for family business, the next thing that is left is for you to take action that will bring all that you have learnt to fruition. And don’t forget to invite me to your success party.