3 steps towards creating an effective business plan

1. Start by creating a SWOT analysis?

SWOT stands for?Strengths,?Weaknesses,?Opportunities, and?Threats. Think of ‘strengths and weaknesses’ as characteristics of your business internally, and ‘opportunities and threats’ as issues affecting your business from the outside.

Conducting a SWOT analysis will both reveal your advantages and areas where your business is lacking. It will also pinpoint your most promising areas for growth — knowledge you can then turn into an actionable, effective business plan.?

2. Understand the key elements you need to include in your business plan

A business plan is a clear roadmap for achieving meaningful goals. It will help you define and hit measurable targets. It is also a “living document” to be shared with partners and investors, and will help you ensure your business stays profitable.?

Be prepared to include these key elements:

• Executive summary:?A simple overview of the business and its overall mission.
• Opportunity:?An explanation of the ‘gap’ your business can uniquely fill within the market.
• Execution:?An elaboration on what you will actually do to fill the gap, including marketing strategies and specific business goals.

3. Create a high-level business plan

Even before you know every single detail, a ‘lean’ business plan is a useful starter guide. It will reveal the finer points you will need to fill in. The bullet points will direct your research efforts and enable you to cover various parts of your plan, like sales strategies and financial forecasts, more fully later.?

A high-level business plan will provide clarity and purpose for your next steps.?

Next steps…?

It can take a long time to get off the ground, but a solid business plan will ensure you are headed in the right direction.?

To get your business off to a great head start, you will need a good business plan.?It is a clear-cut framework for starting and scaling your company. In the plan-writing process, you will fully realize your strengths, identify where you can improve, and engineer a real strategy to make your business idea succeed.?

If you are still unsure about your business plan,?seek support from a business mentor for startups today, and get professional guidance from someone who has been in your shoes.