Planning means thinking and working out what to do about something before it happens. Before you start a business, you need to collect certain information and make plans to see if the new business will be profitable and if you should take the risk to start. Lack of planning and preparation is one major cause for the high rate of failure among new businesses. Although the C-BED training tools for
Aspiring Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners have developed your business skills and captured much of the information you need in a business plan, putting your ideas and the information you
collect together in one document has may advantages. This is what we call a Business Plan.
A business plan helps you to:
• decide if or if not you should start your business or make improvements;
• organize your ideas so that you will start and run your business in the best way;
• present your business information to a lending institution such as a bank to get a loan for your business.
This C-BED training tool is designed to help you prepare a business plan for your proposed business or to capture the plan for your existing business. While developing your business plan you will have a chance to think through and assess your idea. You may find you need to make some changes so think of this also as a review process. By the time you have completed your Business Plan, you will have a better estimate if your business idea is viable and profitable. If you decide to go ahead and start your business or make the improvement, you will have a plan for how to do it.
Please note that it is important to take your time to find all the information you need and think through your ideas. It is a good idea first to complete supporting activities from the other C-BED training tools before committing to your idea in this plan.
Entrepreneurs who need to develop a business plans so they can apply to borrow money should first complete the C-BED on Orientation to Working Capital and Microfinance.
1. Turn to Section #2 and briefly review the Business Plan Decision Tree and Business Plan
Template.
2. Begin Module #2 Writing your Executive Summary