Internet Marketing - Your Business Plan Can Be Your Easy Button
A wise person once said, "If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail." Starting a business is such an important endeavor that you've simply got to have a business plan. I encourage the people I work with to start with a 90-Day Action Plan, and I help them formulate one that fits them like a glove. It's got to be tailored to your specific interests, desires, and objectives. Your 90-Day Action Plan is your roadmap to success.
Tweak your roadmap after 90 days. Add your new business goals. Having a carefully thought-out plan will surely aid you in operating your business and boosting your self-confidence. In business, you usually have to have more than desire. Your business plan can help you form the winning strategy that will see you through the inevitable ups and downs of running a business.
How to create a business plan
When you create your business plan, you anticipate contingencies. Don't be thrown off your game by predictable setbacks because you know that's part of the business cycle. Because your plan has anticipated these cycles, you will be better prepared to weather these storms.
I heard a story once about U.S. sailors during a World War II torpedo attack. Most people believed that the younger sailors would survive the attack in greater numbers because of their strength, energy and vitality. In reality, however, huge numbers of older sailors survived days in the water while many of the younger sailors died.
Naval investigators later determined that it was the older sailors' experience that helped them survive. Because of their experience, they knew how to overcome challenges and adversity and ultimately survive. They were also better at anticipating challenges and forming plans to overcome them. A business plan will give you a similar edge; because you are planning your response to setbacks, you will be better able to overcome them.
You would not try to drive around a new city without a map and hope to arrive at your destination by luck. Any endeavor that requires effort requires some planning to be successful. If you have no business plan you will be floundering around aimlessly. You will never reach your goals.
Your business plan will help you make a lot more money. There was a study of Harvard MBA graduates in 1979. The interviewers asked the graduates about their goals. The results are astounding. The researchers found that a whopping 84% of the grads had no specific goals. These folks had the lowest income when compared with the rest of their cohort.
Another 13% of the graduates had goals, but they weren't written goals. Compared to the grads with no goals, these students made almost double the income. The final 3% of grads is most interesting and significant part of this study. These are the grads that had written goals. Their income was ten times as much as the other 97% of the graduates combined. This study clearly demonstrates how important written goals are to your overall success.
Help writing a business plan
As a business coach, I help my clients create a simple, easy to implement marketing plan. Having a business plan or marketing plan is a lot like having written goals. It will help you get where you want to go. I'm sure if anyone every does a study of successful businesspeople, we'll find that most of them had and followed a business plan. It would be financial suicide not to have one - even if it is a very simple one.