Want to Start a Business or Grow One? Build a Business Plan

Source: Pixabay

I always encourage people who don't have their own businesses to start a business. And for those who have a running business, I encourage them to grow that business and turn it into a franchise. I believe the entrepreneurial path is the path of success over the next five years. People who have jobs, I advise them to keep those jobs as long as they are paying their bills, but to start their own business on the side and gradually transition themselves from their day jobs to those businesses when the right moment comes.

Source: Pixabay

Whether you want to start a business or you want to grow a currently running business, you need a business plan. Putting a business plan together is not rocket science. It's simple and easy to do, but it has a process that you need to follow. I recommend that you do a feasibility study first before putting this business plan together. If the result of the feasibility study is a GO, then you construct your business plan. I'll be talking about feasibility studies and how to conduct them in another post, but now, I'll lay out the components of a "Business Plan". There are 15 simple points that make up a "Business Plan". You get those 15 points right, you have a business plan. Here you go:

The Components of a Business Plan (15 Points):

1. Title Page and Table of Contents.
2. Company name, address, website, phone number and social media sites.
3. Name(s) and Title(s) of all key people in the business.
4. The Executive Summary (not to exceed two pages including a brief description of the business, its products and services, the customer problems they solve, and the company’s competitive advantage).
5. Mission and Vision Statements.
6. A brief Company History (unless it’s a start up. Company history includes past achievements, main projects, names of some of the corporate clients)
7. Business and Industry Profile.
8. Business Strategy (The strategic goals of the company and how it's working on achieving them)
9. Description of Firm’s Product(s) or Service(s).
10. Brief overview of the market for your products and services and the marketing Strategy (Including both offline and online marketing strategies)
11. Competitor Analysis.
12. Owner(s)’ and Managers’ resumes (With a Brief description of the managerial and technical experience of key people)
13. Plan of Operation (How the company is currently running or the projected operational plan for a start-up)
14. Current (or projected) Financial Statements.
15. The Investment Proposal (If the company is soliciting financial investments)

Source: Image

I know many Steemians are having the goal of transitioning themselves from whatever jobs they are currently having into being full-time Steemians when they are able to generate enough income from Steemit that would cover their monthly bills. I too have this goal. This is a very important goal to have. My proposition here is to keep working on that goal while still considering either starting your own side business or invest in a start-up or a running business that click with your passion. The reason for doing so is not to put all your eggs in one basket and to have multiple sources of income. Even if you successfully became a full-time Steemian and you have good income generated from Steemit, you can still be a multi-level investor and entrepreneur if you know how to manage your time. That's what successful investors and entrepreneurs do. I wish you all great success and financial abundance.

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