Step-by-Step for an Easy Business Plan

by Quinn McDonald

Business Plan. There, I’ve said it. Stop, stop! Please don’t run–I promise this will be a helpful article. No lecture, no finger wagging, just ideas for all of you who hate business plans.

The user-friendly business plan

Your business plan is a to-do list for your product, your service or yourself. You have a lot of things you’d like to do-sell your work, update your website, maybe add a shopping cart, add more classes or products to your current line. What should you do first? Create a business plan. It’s a simple (really!) way to help you get into action and do what you can afford.

Creating a useful plan

I’m a fan of simplifying big business projects into smaller steps, starting with deciding how many steps are manageable for you.

To keep track of my ideas, I write them all on index cards. One idea, one card. It keeps me from forgetting and helps me check on what I can do now, soon, or save for later. I save all the cards in a box.

Twice a year I sort the idea cards into a business plan. I create categories that work for my business right now, then sort the cards into stacks–product ideas, marketing ideas, plans for the future, office re-configuration ideas. (A layout that helps production can save time.) The last category is the most amazing one-sometimes the idea that seemed brilliant in February is not applicable by July. Sometimes a small idea becomes an important one.

Sorting through ideas

The next step is like playing solitaire. In each stack the cards that are most immediately useful are on top; others that may be useful later go on the bottom. Then I look at the whole big picture. It’s like a Tarot reading–but one in which you control your future.

For example, the top card in the idea stack might say, "Develop combination beginner/expert class" The top card from the product stack, "Discount coupons for people who have taken three classes." The top marketing card, "Sell mix-and-match class packs for discounts," and the office configuration, "use empty shelf in bookcase as production/assembly line for class notes and eval forms."

Next comes a to-do list of what needs to be done. Once I have the framework, I sort it by timeframe and money to see which ideas can be done in three months, which can wait. The list goes on my bulletin board. Keeping my achievable goals next to the ones just out of reach keeps me inspired and motivated.

If I have a good sales month, I check the list to see what previously too-expensive item is now affordable. It keeps me from impulse buying and keeps the dream of the business fueled.

If you aren’t a list-maker, you could just as easily create a calendar, a journal of ideas, or mind-maps to keep yourself on track. A colleague of mine, Debra Exner, a life coach and successful business owner in Phoenix, likes Excel spreadsheets for the flexibility of information she can keep (i.e., financial projections, project timelines, analysis). "I take the information and think about how to attract more of the clients I most enjoy, where to meet them, what makes me attractive to them, what sets me apart from other coaches in their eyes." The important thing here is to develop ideas that show you how to improve your business.

Creating a Formal Plan

If you need a bank loan for your business or you are going to rent studio or retail space, your business plan will focus on what the bank or landlord wants to know. Below are some websites that can help you create a formal business plan. Some of them contain useful templates that you can fill out without starting from scratch.

• www.bcentral.com/articles/special.haveplans/101.asp
• http://www.paloalto.com/
• http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/templategallery/
• http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html

About the Author: Quinn McDonald is a writer and nationally-known speaker who has achieved the "Professional" designation from the National Speakers Association. Contact her through her website, QuinnCreative.com.