Too many people think of business plans as something you do to start a company, apply for a loan, or find investors. Yes, they are vital for those purposes, but there's a lot more to it. Preparing a business plan is an organized, logical way to look at all of the important aspects of a business.

First, decide what you will use the plan for, such as to:
· Define and fix objectives, and programs to achieve those objectives.
· Create regular business review and course correction.
· Define a new business.
· Support a loan application.
· Define agreements between partners.
· Set a value on a business for sale or legal purposes.
· Evaluate a new product line, promotion, or expansion.

Iit is better to see the plan as part of the whole process of results, because even a great plan is wasted if nobody follows it.

Planning is a Process, Not Just a Plan

A business plan will be hard to implement unless it is simple, specific, realistic and complete. Even if it is all these things, a good plan will need someone to follow up and check on it. The plan depends on the human elements around it, particularly the process of commitment and involvement, and the tracking and follow-up that comes afterward.

Successful implementation starts with a good plan. There are elements that will make a plan more likely to be successfully implemented. Some of the clues to implementation include:
1. Is the plan simple? Is it easy to understand and to act on? Does it communicate its contents easily and practically?
2. Is the plan specific? Are its objectives concrete and measurable? Does it include specific actions and activities, each with specific dates of completion, specific persons responsible and specific budgets?
3. Is the plan realistic? Are the sales goals, expense budgets, and milestone dates realistic? Nothing stifles implementation like unrealistic goals.
4. Is the plan complete? Does it include all the necessary elements? Requirements of a business plan vary, depending on the context. There is no guarantee, however, that the plan will work if it doesn't cover the main bases.

Use of Business Plans
Too many people think of business plans as something you do to start a company, apply for a loan, or find investors. Yes, they are vital for those purposes, but there's a lot more to it.
Preparing a business plan is an organized, logical way to look at all of the important aspects of a business. First, decide what you will use the plan for, such as to:
· Define and fix objectives, and programs to achieve those objectives.
· Create regular business review and course correction.
· Define a new business.
· Support a loan application.
· Define agreements between partners.
· Set a value on a business for sale or legal purposes.
· Evaluate a new product line, promotion, or expansion.

No Time to Plan? A Common Misconception
"Not enough time for a plan," photographers cry. "I can't plan. I'm too busy getting things done." A business plan now can save time and stress later. Too many businesses make business plans only when they have to.

Keys to Better Business Plans
· Use a business plan to set concrete goals, responsibilities, and deadlines to guide your business.
· A good business plan assigns tasks to people or departments and sets milestones and deadlines for tracking implementation.
· A practical business plan includes 10 parts implementation for every one part strategy.
· As part of the implementation of a business plan, it should provide a forum for regular review and course corrections.
· Good business plans are practical.

Business Plan "Don'ts"
· Don't use a business plan to show how much you know about your business.
· Nobody reads a long-winded business plan: not bankers, bosses, nor venture capitalists. Years ago, people were favorably impressed by long plans. Today, nobody is interested in a business plan more than 50 pages long.

Objectives
Objectives are business goals. Set your market share objectives, sales objectives, and profit objectives. Companies need to set objectives and plan to achieve them.
Make sure your objectives are concrete and measurable. Be specific, such as achieving a given level of sales or profits, a percentage of gross margin, a growth rate, or a market share. Don't use generalities like "being the best" or "growing rapidly."

Mission Statement
Use the mission statement to define your business concept. A company mission statement should define underlying goals (such as making a profit) and objectives in broad strategic terms, including what market is served and what benefits are offered.
· What Business You Are In—Ask yourself what business you are in, and don't narrow yourself down. One of the classic business examples is the railroads, which lost a chance to expand in the twentieth century because they misdefined themselves. They thought they were in the business of running trains on tracks. They didn't understand they were in the business of transporting goods and people. When trucks and buses and highways grew, the railroads were left behind.


Keys to Success
Focusing on "keys to success" is a good idea for getting a better view of the priorities in your business.

Break-even Analysis
The Break-even Analysis table calculates a break-even point based on fixed costs, variable costs per unit of sales, and revenue per unit of sales.

Market Analysis
Determine if there is a sufficient market to support your business. You don’t need to do major market research for this initial market analysis. You may want to, and even need to, do real research later on. For now, however, you want to get a good educated guess about how many potential customers you might have.
What you want at this point is a reality check. You’ve already developed a quick break-even analysis that ties your initial business numbers to your required sales. Now you’re going to look at how many customers you might have so you can think about the importance of breaking even.

Pause for Reflection
At this point, you've defined your business, your financial break-even point, and your total potential market. How does your business look from this viewpoint? Does it make sense? Can you make the sales you need to break even?

For more information google "Business Plan" and find a wealth of information. Most of my information may be found on your own.