Do You Really Need a business Plan to Start a Business?

The Answer is YES! and If you’re not trying to raise capital write a plan anyway.

A business plan is developed to make sure you’ve thought through your ideas and can communicate them in a clear, compelling way. It’s a very important “living document” which allows you to share ideas, receive feedback and pitch your business to investors of all kinds—your friends, family members, friends, and financial institutions. Whether you write the plan yourself, or hire someone to write it for you, you can refer to it to take an objective look at what you are doing and why you are doing it when challenges or roadblocks to growth arise. Here, you should have a sense of your strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities and threats that exist.

The economics of your business is an important part of your business plan. Understanding this information will show you how your business fits into the bigger picture of your industry. For example, if you don’t know how much your product or service is worth and the cost of that product or service to your customer, you don’t have a business. You should have answers to the questions that will be asked by potential investors - How much capital is needed and when you’ll need it? How many customers will you need to break-even? When will you make a profit? When will you make a return on investments?

Whether you’re seeking a line of credit line from a bank, a loan or an angel investment, a business plan that answers questions about revenue generation can make a big difference in whether or not someone decides if and how much to invest in your business. A business plan will guide and help you set the goals needed for when that will happen.

Gibson Consulting views business planning as a very serious process. While we provide complete business services, your business plan is an integral first step and we want to work with you to create a plan that will serve as a guide for the life of your business, and one that will put you in the driver's seat when it’s time to go to a lender or investor.

Register today for one of our upcoming Business Planning seminars. We do not promise any quick fixes … taking the shortcut in business planning now will keep you from reaching your goals later on. These hands-on workshops will provide you with the tools, ideas, and systems you need to ensure your business plan has the content it needs.