Why You Must Have a Business Plan

It's more than a tool for getting funding. Think of it as the road map to your business's future.

Recently someone asked me why they needed a business plan if they were getting all the funding they needed from friends and relatives. It sounded to me as if they were thinking of a business plan as just a fund-raising tool. In fact, a business plan is much more than that: It's a tool for understanding how your business is put together. You can use it to monitor progress, hold yourself accountable and control the business's fate. And of course, it's a sales and recruiting tool for courting key employees or future investors.

How to Start a Business in 10 Days

With an executive staffing venture about to open, a business loan from the in-laws gnawing at her conscience and a new baby to care for, Michelle Fish was already feeling the pressure. But what really pushed her over the edge was an unexpected communiqué from the IRS demanding immediate payment of a "huge sum" owed from a prior business in which she was a partner. Poof! Her seed money was gone. "All the spreadsheets, all the forecasting, all the preplanning took a back seat once that bill came," recalls Fish, hearkening back to the 2003 launch of her Charlotte, N.C.-based firm, Integra Staffing.

How to Build a Lean and Efficient Business Plan

The concept of the lean startup, developed by entrepreneur Eric Ries, looks at how product development cycles can be shortened and businesses can run more efficiently by continuously measuring progress and feedback. This philosophy is particularly relevant when it comes to thinking about your business plan.

In business, it is the continuous planning process that matters. Your business plan, like your business, is a living, evolving, flexible thing. It requires rapid changes and fact-based decision making. I like the body metaphor implied by the term. Lean doesn’t just mean thin; it also means healthy, muscular and efficient. Here five ways to help make your business plan leaner:

How to Build a Business Plan For Your Personal Brand

If you were marketing a big brand for a living, the notion of outlining an annual marketing business plan would be second nature to you. Those of us who have managed brands through the years are very much used to the process.

10 Business Plan Benefits You Might Be Forgetting

Too many people don't bother to write a business plan because they think it's too hard or unnecessary unless you’re looking for funding. That's a shame. These myths keep a lot of people from the benefits of planning.

If you're still skeptical, here are 10 benefits to business planning you shouldn't be overlooking:

Why You Shouldn't Send Your Business Plan to Investors

Most entrepreneurs think they can get funding simply by sending out their business plan. Unfortunately, this rarely works. Over the past 15 years, my company, Growthink, has developed thousands of business plans for entrepreneurs seeking funding.

But I always tell people not to send the plans to investors. He trick is not simply sending out a plan. It is finding the best way to leverage it.

Here's why:

Business Plans For Small Business - Why and How You Should Write One

You have a great idea for a new product or service. You know nothing like what you have to offer exists in the marketplace and in your mind you're going to take over the world!

To add more fuel to your enthusiasm to make things happen you have just lost your job at the company you spent the last 10+ years serving.

This is the answer to your problems, your lost paycheck, loss of pride, and spouse's sky-high stress level!