A Business Plan Checklist | Kingdom Business Connection [PDF]

A Business Plan Checklist Whether you already have an established business, or are thinking of starting one, this simple checklist will get you going in the right direction. A more thorough plan may be needed in order to proceed, yet reviewing these eight items now will assist you with that. Begin with a concise summary addressing each of these topics. For established companies, it is good to conduct an annual review to see where you stand on these points. Your Mission: It should be simple and to the point, yet inspiring to those who read it. This is your overall goal(s) stated in one summary, which helps to form your business personality and acts as a compass to keep you on course. Market: Clearly identify your target clientele or customer and be specific as to age, location, size, financial status, etc. Competitors: Realistically and honestly examine these barriers to your success. Research and know your competition and their basic pricing. If you can’t fill a missing niche, or there isn’t room for more in market share, you may want to change your plan. Management: Define your experience in this field and what role(s) you personally are prepared to perform. Especially in partnerships, you should be clear on what each person will be responsible for. Also state what resources for advisement you have available to draw from, since you must identify each area of management to be sure it is covered. Just as a seed planted grows with water, a business needs the right management skills to make it work. Operations: State how you intend to grow operations and have a plan for future growth levels. Address how you plan to meet demand and what steps you will take. Test your flexibility and ability to stay profitable with “what if this happened” scenarios. This will enable you to identify weak areas and what you would do to fix them. Investment Needs: State your financial needs in order to fulfill your optimum plan. Try to keep any borrowing to a minimum with a strategy to utilize profits for growth whenever possible. Financial Forecast: Plug your proposed income and expenditures into a forecast to see where you will end up at the end of a year. Any established business approaching $1 million or more in annual sales should begin to do these forecasts monthly, if you are not already doing so. You should also compare these estimates to actual figures from a financial statement to see how accurate you were, in order to improve your forecast ability. Exit Strategy: Do you ever intend to sell your business? If so, think about how and when. Do you have a partnership? If so, it is key to make a plan ahead of time on exactly how you would dissolve the partnership if one wants out. Also, if you intend to sell your business prior to retirement it is a good idea to begin implementing others to manage and replace you in all operations during the years preceding that event. You would be surprised at the marketability of small companies that have followed this formula. Copyright © 2008 by Gregg L. Gray. All rights reserved.

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Copyright © 2001-2017 by Gregg L. Gray. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise designated, all Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.