Question:
Therefore I have a question, maybe
someone has an answer. Unlike many
of those here I do not have a business
of my own but hope to some day.
In the mean time I try when I can
to learn as much as I can in preparation
for a day when it's my time. One
thing that has occurred to me is
that when starting a business one
needs to have a business plan. Of
course to make a valid business
plan one needs to have a business
in mind to make a plan for. However
my thought is that it might pay
to know what is involved in making
a business plan before having a
business in mind. This way
one might be more prepared to make
an intelligent decision about what
a good start-up business might be.
1. For anyone that has made a business
plan, does this idea have any merit?
2. If so can anyone suggest a good
business
planning software?
3. Are there any other ways to prepare
for that day when the great idea
suddenly arrives?
Answer:
. Are there any other ways to prepare
for that day when the great idea
-suddenly arrives? Get some
practice: follow up on ideas
as you go along, make things happen.
Off the top of my head, I
can't think of any success stories
that involved only one great
day when "the idea" arrived.
That is to say, my experience
and what I read about is that people
try a lot of things on the way to
finding what works.
So, start any time. Learning
little things along the way is how
it works. Some things don't
work, but you learn for the next
time. Sometimes a particular
attempt will fail, but it doesn't
mean it wasn't a good idea.
There are many possible pitfalls,
so even a good idea might not succeed
the first few times it's tried.
Keep learning, stay aware of what's
happening around the world, read
a lot, ask questions -- and try
a bunch of stuff.
One thing that has occurred
to me -is that when starting a business
one needs to have a business plan.
Of -course to make a valid business
plan one needs to have a business
in mind -to make a plan for. However
my thought is that it might pay
to know what is -involved in making
a business plan before having a
business in mind. This -way
one might be more prepared to make
an intelligent decision about what
-a good start-up business might
be. Good thinking.
1. For anyone that has made
a business
plan, does this idea have any merit?
Indeed. It is especially
a good idea if you are going to
need to borrow capital to get started.
Any lender or investor is
going to want to see a thoughtful
and credible business
plan before proceeding, and knowing
what goes into a business
plan can be a help in selecting
the type of business
to consider -- the more capital
intensive a startup business
is, the more critically will the
business
plan be evaluated.
2. If so can anyone suggest
a good business
planning software? Two that
are widely advertised and used are
Business
Plan Pro, and Biz Plan Builder.
Both retail under $100.
Check them out at Egghead or comparable
specialized retail software outlet.
Use software only for the purpose
of preparing a rough draft -- then
fine tune it carefully and probably
fairly extensively to arrive at
a customized final plan.
3. Are there any other ways to prepare
for that day when the great idea
- suddenly arrives?
It's an online small business
workshop published by the British
Columbian (Canadian) government.
Dozens of links to expanded
text, and even a sample business
plan. Great resource.
When you get ready to zero in, contact
SCORE, the Service Corps Of Retired
Executives at
Confidential one-on-one free volunteer
counseling, and most chapters put
on seminar/workshops for small business
topics such as pre-business considerations,
starting and operating a small business,
marketing and advertising, taxes,
writing a business plan, and loan
information.
SCORE is a great resource.
Use it.
