Formal business plans

This is a good resource for anyone needing to write a formal business plan: http://www.business.gov/start/business-plan/ It's always recommended that a plan be formalized, but it's only really required if you intend to borrow money or attract investors. Just some food for thought.

Interesting link, thanks for sharing.

I can't say I've written a business plan for my business. As you stated, they're mainly to assist in acquisition of funding, loans and/or investors. I operate my business without debt so a business plan is just not something I've bothered with. I do, however, recommend putting together a solid marketing plan for your business. That is if you plan on advertising your business at all.

Thanks for sharing, I have bookmarked it for later use. I think whatever your business and from wherever you will get fund to run it, a good plan is always needed.

Cool link dude.

Even if you don't draw up a formal plan, doing some sort of planning and goal setting for the coming year is a good idea. It's statistically proven that those who write down actual goals will succeed more often than those that don't. I review my business every January and make adjustments to my plans for the coming year. It's not a formal business plan but it has many of the elements.

siteholder, good comments here. I don't have a formal written business plan either but I have a directory on my computer called 'business plan' where all of my business related documents go. These include my goals first and foremost as well as my marketing notes, my business templates (like quotes, marketing letters), etc.

Having things in one place and reviewing goals regularly helps keep me focused.

Here's a piece about this issue that I found (via Twitter) on the Business Blogs website: http://www.businessblogshub.com/2011...re-successful/

I do see the business plan as a valuable means to organize (or make sure you have) the basic information of your business, including goals. And, as I've been teaching and learning about the federal certification systems and the bidding process, having this information all together has been a great time-saver.

But if you're never going to present your business to someone (a loan officer, a potential investor or partner, etc) it may not be the best use of your time to fuss endlessly over the form you give this collection of information.

I like doing 3 and 5 year financial projections as part of my goal-setting, but I do see them as a combination of astrology and business fiction. In a field where most companies are not traded publicly, it's difficult to be sure what's happening to you and your 5 closest colleagues is in fact an industrywide trend.

Hi there,

I've just signed up to TF because I was frantically looking for some examples of contract and proposal writting and I'm very happy to see posts like these. I'll definitely be returning as I've been be struggling as a fresh freelancer for the past 6 months now and things have just started to pick up and I need to organise contracts and other documentation and have words with the taxman (not that I want to).

Anyone know any good threads on declaring myself freelance and dealing with taxes and other such invigoratingly exciting aspects of business that I've been putting off?

Regards

Benny

Glad you found this topic of interest to you. Two links you may find helpful: www.irs.gov and www.business.gov Lastly...in the words of Dwight D. Eisenhower: "The plan is nothing; planning is everything". All the best...!