Business Plan Benefits

It's not easy to find credible statistics for the number of small to medium sized businesses that have a working business plan. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the figure is less than 10%, with only half those being workable plans that people understand.  It seems that most small businesses are only motivated to create a business plan by the need to borrow money.

One Director of one of the Top Six firms questioned, ''People wouldn't go on a journey without a travel plan, so why do they think they start and run a business without a plan?''

Most entrepreneurs will say that they do have a business plan and it's in their head, constantly evolving. Often this is said with pride. It is undeniably an entrepreneurial thing to say. By committing it to paper and sharing it with others the likelihood of successful delivery - often saving time and money - increases.

Larger businesses all have plans and strategies, broken down into departments, roles and goals so that performance can be monitored and aligned in the same direction. By understanding the business and the plan, you can run the business much more effectively and strategically, giving you the opportunity to plan for certain highs and lows.

For example, on 28th November 2011, it is estimated that over 3,000 items will be bought every minute on-line as part of the Christmas Shopping spend. The Dixons Group employ an additional 700 staff at their Warehouse to cope with the demand.

Can A Business Plan Fast Track A Business To Success?

Citrus PR rewrote their business plan and shared the main points of it with their half a dozen staff and have recorded growth this year of 48%. At some point in a the life of business, a business plan is essential, and the process of writing that plan can have a profound impact on the individuals running the business and the business itself.

Writing a plan is essential for a Bank Loan to demonstrate the viability and value of the business and its ability to pay back the loan, it also demonstrates how the investment will be used to grow sales, this in effect will be a step change for the business and help it to develop and succeed.

A business plan cannot fast track a business to success, it is people who deliver the plan that fast track the business. However, without a plan, a mission and clear roles and goals, those same people are much less effective, motivated and focussed.