Reasons Why a Business Plan Is Important for Entrepreneurs
Source: WSI | Repost QBScott 10/21/2021 –
What is a business plan? For people who are just starting out and forming their own company, whether it’s a small freelance business at home or a new venture with an office and a starting pool of employees, there’s a lot of importance to a business plan. It is a road map, an outline, a document that explains what your business is, what the goals of the enterprise are, and how exactly it will set about achieving those goals. So beyond being a document that identifies your business, what else does such a plan do for you?
1. Target Your Problems
The importance of a business plan to an entrepreneur begins by helping you to identify your possible problems and challenges. It’s one thing to aim for a goal of being profitable in the first year of operation, but how will you achieve that? A business plan forces you to get realistic and look at your numbers. This document often helps people to see where their real challenges and obstacles lie, making for a more pragmatic approach as the hard facts make their way into the plan.
2. Get Better Advice
The importance of a business plan to entrepreneurship can also be in the way it crystallizes just what kind of help you need. Merely telling a friend or potential business mentor you’re aiming to start with ten employees, for example, is not an exceptionally detailed statement. Showing a business plan that outlines the exact duties, salaries, and expectations you have for employees gives far more information for people to provide advice about.
Author: Scott Meister, CPA
I help small businesses, accountants, bookkeepers, office managers, and business owners with their accounting needs. I’ve used QuickBooks since 2002 and train folks on how to use it efficiently. I create high-quality video training tutorials for QuickBooks and post them on QBScott.com.
Certifications include: Certified Public Accountant (CPA) | Certified Bookkeeper (CB) | Advanced Certified ProAdvisor for QuickBooks Desktop | Advanced Certified ProAdvisor for QuickBooks Online | Certified ProAdvisor for QuickBooks Enterprise | Certified ProAdvisor for QuickBooks Point Of Sale