5 Free Tips To Quick-Start Business Plan

 You want to write a business plan, this quick-start business plan will work for you whether you’re starting a business from scratch or thinking of buying an existing business. Just answer these five questions to the best of your ability and you’ll know if this business idea is worth pursuing.

1. Is there a market for it?

Many people want to start businesses selling products or providing services just because they always wanted to do that. But rule one of starting a business is that other people have to want to buy the product or service involved. Otherwise, you’re trying to sell ice cream cones on a cold day – there’s no point in going any farther with this business plan.

Buying a business: You have a leg up here if you’re buying an established business with a proven market. The trick is ascertaining the truth of the information you’re being given.

2. What’s the profit potential of this business?

In other words, is there any money in it - or at least enough money to make it worth your while? You may have a flaming desire to crochet tablecloths, but if no one wants to buy the items you produce, there’s no profit in it.

Likewise, if the process is so time-consuming that you can only produce one a month, you’re not going to see enough of a profit to even make this a viable part-time business. Your business plan for this business idea ends right here.

Buying a business: Check the financials. How much money has this business made in the past? What are the projections for future income? See Business Valuation and 3 Methods of Business Valuation.

3. Is the market saturated?

There may be a market for the product or service you have in mind for your business plan, and plenty of potential profit – for those who are already doing it. Sometimes there’s just too much competition for any new business in the same business to prosper.

For instance, at one point my husband and I were thinking of starting a used bookstore in our small town. There already was one and just as we were in the process of putting our business plan together, another one opened. Looking at the potential size of our market, we shut our business plan down, figuring that there’d be no market space for a third used bookstore locally.

Study the competition carefully in light of your ideas for your new business. What exactly do they offer and what will you offer? How will you differentiate your products and/or services from theirs? How much of the market will you be able to get?

Buying a business: Just because a business has been profitable in the past is no guarantee that that business will continue to be profitable. Study the competition carefully. It may be that changes in market share or the difficulties of competing are why the owner wants to sell the business.

4. What are the obstacles to my business plan and are they surmountable?

Sometimes you have a business idea that seems sure-fire. You know there’s a market for it, you know you’ve got the edge on the competition and you know it will be a money maker – but there are showstopper problems that you just can’t get around.

You might, for instance, want to start a limo service, only to discover that you can’t get the licensing you need. Or want to improve an existing resort only to find that the necessary zoning change is impossible. Or want to start a home-based business in your residence only to discover that home-based businesses are forbidden in your neighbourhood. See The Best Home Business Opportunities and Before You Start A Home-Based Business and How to Start a Home-Based Business That Will Succeed.

Buying a business: Legal issues (of one kind or another) are a common reason for trying to sell a business. Make sure you do a search to see if there are any outstanding or past court cases involving the business you’re thinking of buying.

5. Do I have what I need to see this through?

Starting a business is gruelling. I can’t say it any plainer. You will probably work more hours than you ever have before and may have to keep doing it for longer than you thought possible – even if you buy an existing business. If you’re not prepared to make the personal commitment your business plan would take, or aren’t physically up to the challenge, shelve your business plan for the moment.

Cash flow is also an issue for many who start businesses. You need to have in hand not only the money to start your business, but the money to support yourself until your business takes off. While some deal with this issue by starting part-time businesses, working while starting a business can really test your endurance.



source:
http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/businessplans/a/quickbizplan.htm