May 30, 2019 | Mason Roberts
You may be a business owner, or potential business owner, who just wants to wing the whole thing. You may not follow a plan well in your normal everyday life, so you think your business will be better without a day-to-day plan, or a big picture plan. This is not true. As a business owner, it is extremely important to have a business plan. In a business plan, you should have all the necessary components. Future goals, as well as minor plans. Everything is important where your success is concerned. As a whole, everything will contribute to how well your business does, not just one thing. There are many factors involved. It can get to be a bit overwhelming, hence making a business plan to help sort out your thoughts and goals.
Here are the top 10 reasons as to why you need a business plan:
1. Seeking Funding
A business plan is much more than just words on paper. This plan will help you and your business much more than you think. For example, if you are in desperate need of funding, a business plan will help you receive it. There are not many lenders, or even outside investors, out there who will hand over capital without a reliable plan to see and review. They will indefinitely want to know where their money is going. It is your job to show them. If you show up to a meeting to discuss the topic of borrowing finances without so much as a plan to show the lender, you can only blame yourself if you do not receive what you are looking for.
2. Grow Your Business
A business plan can really help you grow your business for many reasons. The one that is most important, though, is that you get all of your thoughts out on paper, instead of them being jumbled in your brain. If you have a million little thoughts, big thoughts, medium thoughts, whatever the case may be, running through your brain, you will have a hard time figuring out which is a good idea, and which will hurt your business. Writing down all of your ideas will help your business become the success that you hoped it would be from the start.
3. Selling Your Business
Selling your business is not something you may be thinking of. You may have just started your business and want to see it through. Help it flourish in whatever way possible. That is great. If you are a business owner, though, who can see yourself one day selling your business, you should start a business plan immediately. This is important for prospective buyers to see. They will see what you have, what you are worth, and how you got to where you did. This will help the potential buyer understand why it is they should buy your business and what it will entail.
4. Dealing With Any Specific Professionals
Owning a business is a big feat. You will likely into contact with professionals, such as lawyers or accountants, more than once. Whatever the reason may be, you may have to show them details about your business that you wouldn’t have had otherwise, despite the business plan. You can highlight the parts in which they will care about and make their work for your business that much easier.
5. Finding Potential Business Alliances
In business, many businesses decide to make alliances with each other, rather than enemies. A business plan can help you with building this alliance because you can share your big aspirations, and help the other business decide if they want to be alliances with you and your business, or not.
6. Hiring A Dream Team
When you started your business, you may have wanted to do all the work yourself, not planning on hiring many people. It may have been realistic in the beginning, but as time goes on, it begins simply impossible. The sales begin to stack up, giving you too much responsibility to carry. This is when you will turn to hiring a team to back you up. A business plan can help you with this because you can decide where an employee is needed, and where they are not. Many business owners just hire a bunch of people with no plan, throwing them in the mix with no real direction. This is a waste of your employees' time, and your money. Before hiring a team, look at your day-to-day plans. Where would they fit in? Do you need them in the morning, night, or both? Then, look at the big picture. Do you need extra help in managing? Is there someone you can bring in that will help your business grow? Whatever the case may be, a business plan will help you find a place for all your potential hires.
7. Set Objectives For Employees
Still on the topic of employees, a business plan can help them as well. As the business owner, you have the power to show them your plans, and where you want your business to go. Tell them what you are expecting of them. Show them the plan and highlight where you are talking about. This will help your employees know that you are 100% serious, as well as help them understand better. Setting goals for your employees will help them work towards them.
8. Set Objectives For Upper Management
In order to have good management in your workplace, you need to set the expectations. You cannot expect a manager to know what is required of them if they are not told. Let them know what they should be doing to help your business, and what they should stop doing. Just as you showed the minor employees your day-to-day plans, show your managers the big picture plans. Let them help you grow your business to what you dreamed it would be. As your business brings in more sales and customers, you will need assistance. Let management do what they are there for, to manage.
