Best of the ABS – Create a Business Plan

Jennifer shared this post with us last January.  ‘Tis the season for planning, refocusing and setting goals, so I thought it would be a good one to share again today!

This is the time of year I start thinking about my goal and aspirations for the year. Personally, I am a big list maker and goal follower. I believe you have to know where you’re going to get there. If you don’t have a business plan, now is the time to make one. If you’re thinking, how do I get started, what do I need to know, oh my gosh I just make jewelry to sell every now and then, do I need one of these? Yes you need one and the good news is they are not hard to write.

The best part is, it’s your business, so you can make your business plan as complicated or as uncomplicated as you want. So what do you need in this plan? Here we go….

Define what you make and sell. Describe in depth what you make. Maybe you make custom jewelry, or just earrings, maybe children’s jewelry. If you know what you make, then you can stay focused on those products and keep you business heading in a consistent direction. Also make sure you think about your competition. Make sure you are making something different than everyone else.

Marketing: Marketing is how you will sell your work. Will you travel to shows, will you have home parties, will you advertise in magazines? These are all things to think about. Maybe you want to expand where you sell your work or add a few more shows this year. Here’s where you
would want to brainstorm and then refine your plan.

Operations: This is how you work. Is this a part time job where you will devoted ten hours a week or is this a full time job? Based on your hours, you will then need to create goals like three necklaces a day. This way you can work out your production schedule. You’ll need to know you have enough time to make everything you will need to sell.

Finances: You will need to make financial goals. Even if this jewelry business is just for fun. You obviously want to succeed so you have to create sales goals and keep track of if you are achieving them. It really is the only way to know if you are charging enough and if you are on
track to meet your goals.

Once you have brainstormed about these categories, you can write a paragraph about each section. At this point you might just have enough to be done. However, it might not hurt to make it official. If down the road you ever want to borrow money to expand your business, your banker will want to see a plan. Another reason to have a written plan, when you’re feeling unmotivated or lost you can pull it out and read it. It will immediately remind you what you want to achieve.

For more information, about writing a business plan, you can visit:
http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/plan/writeabusinessplan/SERV_ESSENTIAL.html