What you’ll learn to do: identify and describe the essential components of a business plan

No one plans to fail, but many individuals who start a small business fail to plan!  Let’s go on a trip . . .

We decide that we are going to Malibu, which, according to our sign here, is 1,760 from wherever this sign is located. So,we grab our suitcases, sunglasses, and sunscreen and head west. We drive through rolling hills and scenic pastures and then realize that we have no idea how to actually get to Malibu because we don’t have a map—there’s no fancy GPS in the car, and even though we look great in our sunglasses, the battery on our phones died about three hours ago and no one brought a car charger. So, we begin stopping at roadside diners and gas stations asking people how to get to Malibu. Some of them have never even heard of Malibu and others seem to know how to get there, but their directions seem very vague and generic. Our travels are taking a very long time, and we are wasting a lot of money. . . . Well, this isn’t how we expected the trip to go at all, is it? We had planned to be in Malibu by now—or had we? As I recall, we didn’t plan at all.

That’s what a business plan is—a map. It’s a map of what you will sell and to whom, how you will run your business, whom you will rely on, and where you will be located. Starting a business without a solid business plan is just as ill-advised as jumping into a car and heading on a cross-country trip with no map, no expert advice, and no support system in place. In this next section you’ll learn about the components of a well-crafted, solid plan to help entrepreneurs successfully launch a business and get where they’re trying to go.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

The learning activities for this section include:

• Reading: Create Your Business Plan
• Self Check: Business Plans

Take time to review and reflect on each of these activities in order to improve your performance on the assessment for this section.