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The Success of your business depends largely upon the
decisions you make. A business plan allocates resources
and measures the results of your actions, helping you
set realistic goals and make decisions.
You may have asked yourself, Why
should I spend my time and energy drawing up a business
plan? Remember, first and foremost that lack of planning
leaves you poorly equipped to anticipate future
decisions and actions you must make or take to run your
business Successfully. On the other hand, a sound plan
can act as:
- A reality check. The process of putting a
business plan together, including the thought you
put in before you begin to write it, forces you to
take an objective, critical, unemotional look at
your business project in its entirety.
- A performance tool. Your written business plan
is an operating tool which, when properly used, will
help you manage your business and work effectively
towards its Success. Your business plan will allow
you to set realistic goals and objectives for your
company's performance, and, if maintained, will also
provide a basis for evaluating and controlling the
company's performance in the future.
- A message sender. The completed business plan
communicates your company's ideas and message to
employees, outside directors, lenders, and potential
investors. outside your company. A business plan
helps you do that in an organized, credible manner.
Also, the process of planning helps you determine if
your vision is realistic, and tells you what you
need to do in order to achieve it.
- A motivation tool. The development of your
business plan is one of the best ways for you to
communicate how well you understand your business
and describe your vision of your business. Without
proper planning, it becomes impossible for you to
get all of your employees reading off the same page
of the book and generating energy through high
levels of team work. It is impossible to motivate
people when they do not know where they are going or
what they are trying to achieve.
- A management development tool. Putting together
your business plan will help you develop as a
manager because it can give you practice in thinking
and figuring out problems about competitive
conditions, promotional opportunities, and
situations that are or may be beneficial or harmful
to your business.
- A road map. Your business plan, once it's
completed, will give you /and your employees goals
and direction: a roadmap to follow in guiding your
business through good and bad times.
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