By Sule Yesufu
According to management experts, a business plan usually represents and places clearly on paper the vision of any business. It shows the business owner, staff, partners and financiers the direction the business is expected to go and how it is expected to get there within a known time frame. Many smart entrepreneurs know that starting a business without a known and workable business plan is akin to flying an airplane without a flight plan.
When a business plan is good, it helps the business owner to meet set targets, make meaningful progress, and avoid wastes and loss of precious time and money. To be able to give that onerous service, a good business plan must have these 7 qualities which every entrepreneur must always look out for.
01. It must be realistic. Since a business plan is premised on future achievements, the assumptions must be realistic enough to be achievable. If the assumptions are unrealistic, chances that the business goals will be met become very doubtful.
02. It must be easily understood. When a plan is too complex, implementing it becomes very difficult. If it is easy to understand, it can be implemented easily to meet targets as projected.
03. It must address the purpose of the business. Every business known to man always has a purpose. Any business plan which can not clearly define the purpose of any business is not a good plan and can not be implemented.
04. It must have target functions. A good plan will show clearly the target functions of every major unit of the business. That helps to check these functions to make sure that they can individually meet their targets without which the overall goals of the business can not be met.
05. It must be clear, concise and direct to the point. A clear and concise plan makes for easy understanding and implementation. Tasks, deadlines and time frames must be shown clearly in a good business plan. These provisions usually guide the entrepreneur to meet production and delivery targets.
06. It must define and apportion responsibilities clearly. Apart from determining before hand the number of people expected to work in a business, a good business plan shows clearly what functions each employee will do for the overall interest of the business. That way, the plan helps to cut to the barest minimum, conflicts and wastes.
07. It must clearly highlight all assumptions. A good business plan must show clearly all the assumptions used to make all the projections for the future. With these assumptions, it is easy to find out how realistic the projections are and if necessary where to make amendments and adjustments to ensure the projections will be achieved. A very common recipe for disaster in any business is when assumptions are unrealistic and unreasonable.
A very good business plan is usually an inseparable companion of any smart entrepreneur. That is because it is needed to run any business smoothly and to present the business in good light to outsiders particularly investors and financiers. When an entrepreneur ensures that her business plan has all these qualities, it becomes a very useful tool to run the business successfully. That is why every smart entrepreneur must always look out for these qualities in any business plan to enable her decide how good and useful such a plan is.
Sule Yesufu, a Certified Speaking Professional, has been a Strategic Partner in S D Y Management Consult, a firm of Investment, Small Business and Entrepreneurial Consultants since 1999. He is a Published Author and a Newspaper Columnist. An expert in Small Business and Personal Development, he focuses on communicating his ideas and thoughts mostly through his Training Seminars and popular free blog. He offers useful tips on Self-Improvement, Personal Finance, Entrepreneurship, Current News, Politics and Business in Nigeria, the most populous and vibrant country in Africa. To learn more about Sule and to contact him for consultations and private inquiries, visit his website athttp://www.sdymanagers.com
For more business tips, visit: http://www.sdymanagers.com/apps/blog/
01. It must be realistic. Since a business plan is premised on future achievements, the assumptions must be realistic enough to be achievable. If the assumptions are unrealistic, chances that the business goals will be met become very doubtful.
02. It must be easily understood. When a plan is too complex, implementing it becomes very difficult. If it is easy to understand, it can be implemented easily to meet targets as projected.
03. It must address the purpose of the business. Every business known to man always has a purpose. Any business plan which can not clearly define the purpose of any business is not a good plan and can not be implemented.
05. It must be clear, concise and direct to the point. A clear and concise plan makes for easy understanding and implementation. Tasks, deadlines and time frames must be shown clearly in a good business plan. These provisions usually guide the entrepreneur to meet production and delivery targets.
06. It must define and apportion responsibilities clearly. Apart from determining before hand the number of people expected to work in a business, a good business plan shows clearly what functions each employee will do for the overall interest of the business. That way, the plan helps to cut to the barest minimum, conflicts and wastes.
07. It must clearly highlight all assumptions. A good business plan must show clearly all the assumptions used to make all the projections for the future. With these assumptions, it is easy to find out how realistic the projections are and if necessary where to make amendments and adjustments to ensure the projections will be achieved. A very common recipe for disaster in any business is when assumptions are unrealistic and unreasonable.
A very good business plan is usually an inseparable companion of any smart entrepreneur. That is because it is needed to run any business smoothly and to present the business in good light to outsiders particularly investors and financiers. When an entrepreneur ensures that her business plan has all these qualities, it becomes a very useful tool to run the business successfully. That is why every smart entrepreneur must always look out for these qualities in any business plan to enable her decide how good and useful such a plan is.
Sule Yesufu, a Certified Speaking Professional, has been a Strategic Partner in S D Y Management Consult, a firm of Investment, Small Business and Entrepreneurial Consultants since 1999. He is a Published Author and a Newspaper Columnist. An expert in Small Business and Personal Development, he focuses on communicating his ideas and thoughts mostly through his Training Seminars and popular free blog. He offers useful tips on Self-Improvement, Personal Finance, Entrepreneurship, Current News, Politics and Business in Nigeria, the most populous and vibrant country in Africa. To learn more about Sule and to contact him for consultations and private inquiries, visit his website athttp://www.sdymanagers.com
For more business tips, visit: http://www.sdymanagers.com/apps/blog/
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