In this post, I’ll give you 5 reasons why you should have a business plan. There are more than 5, but I hope these 5 are compelling enough to get you thinking.
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1. To develop a strategy: A business plan is not a fancy, 30 paged document with a lot of big grammar that you employ someone to craft for you when you want to get a grant or loan. It’s much more than that. It’s a plan in the real sense of the word, a step by step plan of what your business is, what problem you are proffering a solution to, how you intend to let people know about it, who’s going to be in charge of what and milestones for achievements.
2. To remain focused: Your business plan isn’t something you write and hide in a drawer. You should look through it at least monthly to see if you are on track with your vision and objectives.
3. To know if your business idea is worth pursuing: At the start oc a business, we all tjink our ideas are all thst, and frankly sometimes, thry are nit. A business plan will help you look critically at your business idea and if you are true to yourself, you will know if its worth pursuing or not.
4. To make sure all involved are on the same page: Even if you ststt your business as a bootstrapping lone ranger, at some point, you will have to employ other people to grow. Having a plan from the beginning will help you when onboarding staff.
5.To access external funding: My first external funding foe my business came from my late dad and even though it was an interest free loan, I had to present my business plan complete with a repayment schedule for him to agree. The same went for the seed capital we received in 2016 from the Tony Elumelu foundation. Nobody is going to fund your business if you cannot shkw proof that it is going somewhere.
That’s all for now.
Stay tuned for more on business planning soon.
P.S
I will be introducing the members of our teaching faculty at the SLH entrepreneurship academy soon.
