To Business Plan Or Not To Business Plan?

[Jeremy M]

Sorry about the title, I was hoping to catch attention to get good feedback on this question. :D I found one post about business plans on this forum and have been researching the subject for a while on the internet.

I have started a company providing an information product and have been researching business plans (not for investor funding, but for the knowledge, timeline and goal aspects). Some say a business plan is essential and others say it is a waste of time. As mentioned in the 4HWW, Brickwork and other outsourcers offer business plans from $2,000-$10,000.

Starting from the ground up with limited funds, do you believe it makes sense? I appreciate your feedback and help as I begin this exciting and intimidating journey. I must say the book and audio version are very motivating and I don't know if I would have done this otherwise!

[Sven]

That is a good question!

I guess it depends a lot on your situation.

If you need to convince someone to join you in your plan, fi to give you a loan, you will probably be required to have one.

When you go trough the process of making one you will get a bigger sense of what setting up a business is about.

And this is where I feel that it is useless to pay someone to make one for you. If it is your first Bplan paying someone to make it for you learns you nothing.

On the other hand, for some, as it was for me, making one may stop you from actually starting.

So I'd say, do make one and do not have one made unless you know about the issues anyway.

[TimW]

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there."
Lewis Carroll

Write one. It doesn't have to be extensive, or to the degree that one would require to obtain investor funding, but you need something....written down, with goals.

[kamakiri]

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

If this was muse #8 and you had 3 success under your belt, then ya, go with your gut, but muse #1? Hell no. Make some time for it and do the work.

[liam75005]

If you have to convince a bank or anyone of your idea, then you need to make it clear on a document : how much money you will invest, how you will proceed to manufacturing/product creation, what will be your business model and an estimated sales forecast. I did that for my muse and it was essential with bank and accountants.

If you don't have a partner yet, and don't need one, you need to make it very clear for yourself what your muse will be and how much money it will generate, so you can recoup with your dreamline and TDI if this is enough or not.

[pimstyle]

Put things on paper on your own. It's much more clear if you see something in front of you. It's also great to look back at it sometimes and keeps you motivated. Good luck!