Starting with simple expectations…and benchmarks!

The actual work of creating a business approach, strategy and steps to building your vision for a business is the most crucial steps in a business plan.

It could be a simple excercise of a few points on the back of a napkin that could mean more to you, than any sort of number cruching.  But as you start building, and working towards your vision, some details or a road map is very helpful.  A simply business plan template to keep you focused and aware of progress.

What’s wrong with most business plans?   The answer is relatively straightforward.  Most waste too much ink on numbers and devote too little to information that really matters to intelligent investors.  As every seasoned investor knows, financial projections for a brand new company, – especially detailed month-by-month projectsions that stretch out for more than a year- are an act of imagination.  AN entrepreneurial venture faces far too many unknows to predict revenues, let alone profits.  Moreover, few if any entrepreneurs correctly anticipate how much capital and time will be required to accomplish their objectives. 

Creating best guess targets, and viewing them as such, during start up is a good start.  Initially as a benchmark, in a consistent format for as much as is known with confidence.  Likewise, an outline for the people, product, positioning and distribution points are very important.  Put them down in a structured format, could be very simple initially, and build to that and from that.