[partypimp]

Is Business Plans needed?

I am just wondering on your views. I always use well thought out plans but some people I have met, find them restrictive and a pain in the a****

Have Fun!!
Ash

[mjohns]

Business Plans are

Originally Posted by partypimp

restrictive and a pain in the a****

but unfortunatly investors want to see if you know what your talking about and see if you have the primary skills needed to make your business suceed.

Remeber Failing to plan is planning to fail.

[JaytheCreative]

Business Plans are a requirement for investors and financial institutions (banks, and other credited lenders), as well as government grants.

When it comes to execution however, it is not end-all-be-all. It is a very awesome resource to keep you focused and organized in the beginning of the startup however.

The two projects I assisted with over the last year or so, the BP was used more as a blueprint of the business which we scribbled all over for changes, and looking at how to resolve problems or better an operation (similar to how an engineer, architect, or designer uses CAD, SolidWorks, or ProE digital 3D drawings....something goes out of wake..they can look at it in visual layout and erase, change wjhatever).

[Sam Barona]

Business plans are very useful, not just to begin with, but to move forward with.

We regularly have meetings to review our business plans to reflect changes in the market place and these provide us with valuable insights and a means to communicate the board's vision with the managers and employees.

BPs are a necessary tool in my view, and once you start to understand their value by using them, then you cant live without them.

They help you plan ahead and stop your company from becoming reactive to the market, whilst allowing you to keep a step ahead of your competition.

Business planning is not just for start ups, but is part of every CEO's remit. In fact, many large organisations have each department create a business plan, with the direct benefit of allowing the department heads to hone in their plan with the organisation's overall strategy. Many other businesses adopt tools like Balanced Scorecards, which help them implement different strategies in a cohesive way. Dont dismiss Business Plans, just learn their value.

We have even developed plans with a 5 - 10 year horizon, which allow us to analyse scenarios that see possible disruptive technologies entering our market place, as well as potential changes in demand driven by economic downturns, with triggers that let us know when these strategies should be implemented. This way we already have strategies in place that tackle such problems, whilst our competitors just react to the problems as they arise.

By that time, we have already partnered with the new technology companies, or introduced our own competing products, or adapted our pricing, or squeezed our suppliers, etc; giving us a distinct competitive advantage.

Failing to plan is the equivalent of planing to fail, as the old addage says.

Sam

PS. BPs are breathing, living things. They require your imput to keep them fresh, but will deliver in ways you cant imagine.

[rmapes]

In certain situations, business plans can have value---but, overall, your time is better spent working on building your actual business. I hear this question all the time from entrepreneurs. I was recently contacted by a blogger who wanted my thoughts on this topic and I actually just wrote a post about it earlier today. It points out when you should or shouldn't use a business plan.

-Ryan

[Sam Barona]

It goes without saying that you want to give your business the best possible chance of success - and that is one of the main reasons why you need a business plan.

Your business plan is all about your business and how you plan to create a successful business. You use your business plan to help you succeed in the long term and while you don't want your business plan to read like someone else's business, it is always helpful to see how others have done it - you might even identify areas you may otherwise have missed.

Finding a perfect pre-written plan for your business just doesn't happen, and it shouldn't happen - it just doesn't make good business sense. The process you go through when you are developing your own plan is far more valuable and you will learn more about your business and have a significantly greater chance of success if you write your own plan. However, at the very least, sample plans are useful as examples, from which you can build an effective business plan for your business. You don't even need to find a sample plan that exactly matches - for example, a bed and breakfast can be a good example for a hotel, because both sell rooms for the night(s), and both have traveling guests as a target market.

Business plans are exceptionally useful in situations where the business owner wants to succeed. Doing a business without one (unless you want to run a very small business) is running before you can walk. VCs, banks, potential partners, angels, etc all ask to see a business plan for a reason; this is to make sure that they are involved with a professional company/individual.

If you dont have one, you're simply shouting to the world "Amateur here".

Sam