Chapter 1. Starting Your Business Plan
In This Chapter
Getting the most out of your plan
Using your plan as a record of the past and a guide to the future
Making your plan function as your company description
Figuring out who makes the plan and who can can help
Checking out what the written plan looks like
Most of us go through life thinking ahead. We plan to paint the house, plan to go back to university, plan to take a holiday and plan for retirement – we always have a plan or two in the works. Why do we plan so much? We certainly can't predict what's going to happen, so why bother? Certainly, none of us knows the future. But each of us knows that tomorrow will be different from today, and today isn't the same as yesterday. Planning for those differences is one way to move forward and face things that are unfamiliar and uncertain. Planning is a strategy for survival.
Companies make business plans for many of the same reasons. Planning is a strategy to improve the odds of success in a business world that's constantly changing. Business plans are not a guarantee, of course. Business planning isn't a science that offers you right and wrong answers about the future. But business planning is a process that gets you ready for what's to come. And making a plan increases the likelihood that down the road, your company will be in the right place at the right time.
In this chapter, we explore what planning is all about, how you can use your business plan and why having a plan is so important. We ...
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