Trevor Marc Ray | Blog

START UPS & THE BUSINESS PLAN

The Facts: 62,5% and more (according to which statistic you choose to use) of new businesses fail in the first year. New business ventures will always be a risk and this risk can never be avoided. What you can do however is to manage your risk via proper due diligence and strategic planning in the form of a professional business plan. This is like the wise man building his house upon the rock.

As a start up owner (entrepreneur), your enthusiasm is unbridled and to be envied by many. You are taking a bold plunge with the ambitions of success, which more often than not results in big profits. Unless of course you are a Charity and profit is not a real issue. The truth is that enthusiasm, whilst essential for the business owner, can often blind one to many obvious deficiencies which an independent 3^rd party would notice pretty easily.

What does a business plan do?

It is a living document, essential for any business. Yes, it gives life to a business!

It creates measurable standards of performance for a business to achieve

It paints a clear picture of:

Where the business is today, and

Where it is going to be in the future, and

How it will get there (Marketing & Sales Plans), and

How much money you will make and how it will flow into your business (Financial Feasibility and Cash Flow Forecasts)

It provides the basis for business funding i.e. financial institutions require it

It tells you the truth about

Your business, and

Your business environment (competitors, market analysis, S.W.O.T. analysis, etc)

Be smart and sensible:
Invest in a business plan today. Get real about the viability and profitability of your new business, and help yourself to avoid becoming a business statistic with an independent and expert assessment. Yes you can visit web sites that can show you how to write a business plan and give you all the advice. But at the end of the day we both know that you do not have the impartiality required to do an honest analysis and feasibility. It is not a put down, it is a reality check. You are investing a lot of money! This is why so many businesses fail in the first year. Build your house upon the rock, not the sand. Call us today!