The Financial Times Guide to Business Start Up 2014, 27th Edition

6

The business plan

Life can be very chaotic when you are starting or running a small business. The e-mails to answer, telephone calls to make, the letters to write, the decisions to take – all the day-to-day emergencies can push aside the long-term strategic planning that is essential to keep your enterprise on the right track. Do not let short-term problems divert you from your longer-term objectives.

Writing a business plan is merely encapsulating your longer-term objectives, estimates and forecasts on paper. Once you have put down your plan, do not necessarily accept that it is set in concrete. Forecasts and objectives change as new bits of information and your better experience emerge. The important point is to incorporate your best ...