Do you need to re-think your business plan?

If you’re this guy, you definitely do:

Scary thing? There are more people than I can count that are  just like this guy. They are taking the business plunge with zero idea about how to actually do what they are offering. Need an example? Just browse through twitter to see the thousands of “social media gurus”…without quality followers, no conversations, and no experience to back them up.

Starting a business is not liking buying a new shirt, you can’t just return it if you decide you don’t want it. You must take the time to determine the risks, rewards and what it will take before starting your business.

So, how do you do this?

Develop a solid business plan! Quite simply, a business plan tells you (and whomever you share it with) what your business will do, what the goals will be and what measures you will use for success. It includes everything from how you will find clients to how you will manage payroll (should you need employees). A business plan is traditionally designed to be used to help you gain investors or financing. These business plans need to be detailed, drawn out and cover all the basis. But, even if you don’t need capital to get you started, you should still put together a business plan for yourself.Having a solid business plan will also help save you from sending emails begging random people for money.

Before you write your plan, ask yourself a few questions:

1. What are your top skills that you can offer?
2. Which of these skills is actually worth turning into a business?
3. Who would use your services/buy your product?
4. How will you get in touch with these people?
5. How many services/products do you need to sell to be profitable?
6. Do you need money to get yourself started?
7. How are you going to promote yourself?
8. How can others promote/refer you?
9. Where will your business be next year/5 years/ 10 years?
10. What is your goal with this business (0ther than making money)?

Want some more help? I recommend the Business Plan archives through Entrepreneur.com. The documents were extremely helpful when I was starting this company.

Do you have a business plan or tools you can share?

Related posts:

1. Do you plan for downtime?
2. How to plan an awesome tweetup event
3. You’ve got to be more than a little crazy to start a business.