Solopreneurs often feel that they don't need a business plan, especially if they're not looking for financing. Is this true? When do you need a plan? How complex does it have to be?
To help unravel the solo business plan mystery and the "how to" of it all, I turned to small business consultant, Doug Dolan. Here's what Doug has to say:
One of the top five questions I get from solopreneurs is, “Do I need a business plan?” My answer is always, yes. However, this doesn’t mean you need a formal plan. The detail, complexity and length of your plan will vary depending on these key factors:
1. The complexity of your business
2. The amount and source of your funding
3. The severity of the damages you will incur if your business fails
Business plans run the spectrum from a one-page outline or mini-plan to a 30-page formal business plan.
For example, if you wish to start an internet-based business using a meager portion of your savings to bring in some secondary, passive income through affiliate sales while working your day job, you can get started right away with a basic outline or mini-plan.
However, if you are passionate about designing a patentable, reverse osmosis water filtration system requiring a $500,000 investment (a combination of mortgaging your house, cashing out the kids’ college funds, and outside investment), a formal plan is necessary.
What is a mini-plan?
A mini-plan will range in size from one to 10 pages (whereas a formal plan may often span from 18 – 30 pages). So what’s in a mini-plan? At minimum, you need to have the following:
• Your UVP
• A definition of your prime prospect
• A list of your prime competitors
• The products / services you will offer
• Finances needed to reach profitability
• How you will utilize those funds
• Legal structure and other necessary licenses, permits and certifications
• A marketing plan (from ads, to social media, joint venture partners, etc….)
• Goals
What is a formal business plan?
If you do a search online for a “business plan template”, you will find a few different versions. So which do you use? Here are the sections an investor will want to see:
• Executive Summary
• Company Analysis
• Industry Analysis
• Customer Analysis
• Competitive Analysis
• Marketing Plan
• Operations Plan
• Management Bio(s)
• Financial Plans
• Appendix
What if you find yourself stuck (or simply fed-up with the process), where can you get help? You have a couple of options:
1. Do a search online for “free business plan templates”.
2. Buy a software package and fill out a template.
3. Seek out a SCORE or SBDC counselor to give you some free advice.
4. Hire a consultant (like me) to help you develop your plan and / or review and edit a final draft.
5. Hire a consultant or company to draft your plan from scratch.
Here are pluses and minuses with each of these scenarios.
Templates and software packages are simply tools. They don’t fill it out for you. Moreover, most of these options focus solely on the formal plan structure.
Seeking out a SCORE or SBDC counselor offers you a no-cost alternative, however, they will typically only help with reviewing a final plan … and often only a formal plan.
Hiring a consultant for a coaching or a review will cost you some of your start-up funds, however, you will receive more active, personal attention.
As for hiring a consultant to create a business plan for you, typically, this will cost you the most. While this will free up your time for other start-up activities, you will miss an excellent opportunity to get to know your business and your market. It is through market research and developing your plan where you gain the most insight. If you need to pitch investors, you had better know your plan forwards and backwards.
When creating a plan, let me stress a couple of key points.
1. Create a plan.
Don’t get started without a plan. It is your roadmap taking you from an idea to success. How long do you want that road to be? If you set up shop and start without a plan, chances are high, you will have to pull over along the way and ask for directions. Getting lost and asking for directions after the fact will cost you time and money.
2. If it doesn’t add up, take two steps back.
While doing additional research to complete your plan, you may find data that suggests your idea won’t make money. Don’t dismiss the negative information and only look for data that supports your idea. It is better at this point to go back to review and alter your idea and target market choice. Don’t try to sell yourself on a bad idea.
3. Have a pro review it.
If this is your first time creating a plan or if you are creating a plan for a business in an industry other than that of your previous work experience, let a successful entrepreneur review it. If you are creating a mini-plan, you may be able to start without having someone else reviewing it (although it wouldn’t hurt to let one successful entrepreneur take a quick look).
If you are creating a formal plan, you may want to consider passing it out to three pros. At least one of the three should be a successful professional with experience within your target industry while at least one should be an outsider.
Why?
First, with three pros, if there is a trend in their responses, you are less likely to dismiss what they have to say. Additionally, you will typically find that they each may give advice not provided by the other two.
Second, an industry insider will help you with the areas of your business you don’t know you don’t know while an outsider can tell you whether your plan is in plain enough English. Not everyone that you pitch your plan to will be from your target industry. You don’t want to miss out on securing money because your language confuses them.
If you have questions or find you are struggling with areas of your plan, leave a comment below or write me at doug@smallbizbreak.com.
Doug Dolan is a partner at Small Biz Break. Small Biz Break helps entrepreneurs expedite their new small business ideas to market and activates a buzz for their brand with multimedia services. Go to Small Biz Break to access their free business templates, forms and ebooks and to get more information about their small business startup and multimedia services.
Week after week, obsessive Mad Men fans call up retired advertising veterans, fashion historians, and businessmen to suss out what it was really like back in the sixites. But when Don Draper, the son of a prostitute, shockingly ended up getting slapped by an escort wearing a red bullet bra in the season-four premiere, did anyone think to call up a dominatrix and get her take on the scene's verisimilitude? Why yes, in fact: Vulture did. The scene raised so many questions: Does Don need a domme? And do dominatrices get to abuse guys as luscious and successful as Don Draper? On the eve of the prostitute's return in episode three, airing this Sunday, we asked professional dominatrix Mistress Pixie to help us understand some of what Don Draper may be in for. Now sit the fuck down and pay attention, slaves!!!
The slapping sex scene takes place on Thanksgiving day. Would you ever work on Thanksgiving?
Fuck yeah, could care less. Money is money.
This woman on the show, who is not a domme but an escort, mentions her family briefly. Do you ever offer any details of your personal life?
Not too much info in the beginning, but yes, after a few sessions, they like to talk; they become like friends, sort of. And they talk about themselves; it's like therapy.
This woman seems to be offering a little S&M along with sex. What do you think about that and do most dommes ever mix sex with domme work?
No, never. You never cross that line. A real domme never has sex with a client.
What if he's as adorable as Don Draper?
You never have sex, ever; you never cross that line. At least I don't — most don't. But it does annoy us when escorts also advertise themselves as dommes, because real dommes don't have sex. They should advertise themselves as escorts with fetish services. Real domme clients don't get off on sex, they get off on being dominated and humiliated: You give them nothing.
So having a client like Don doesn't turn you on?
No, but a gorgeous client is just an added bonus, a fun toy, more fun to torture.
Are your clients successful men like Don Draper?
Definitely. 90 percent of clients are powerful men: They are powerful at work, in their families, socially. They need a balance; S&M is a need. They need to feel weak and let go.
What kind of women are dommes?
Lots of very educated women, lawyers, woman with PhDs. We love what we do. We love to study psychology so we can fuck with their heads even more.
How's business been with the recession and all? Lots of these high-powered guys have lost their jobs. And Don's not doing great on the show: Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is struggling and his finances are taking a hit because of the divorce.
Yeah, we got hit pretty hard two years ago when the recession started. You know, hiring a domme is a luxury. But business is back. You know, when times are so stressful, I guess the luxury becomes a necessity.
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