#549 Who is your Business Plan for?

The marketing minute is a shorter version of the popular More than a Few Words podcast. Instead of a conversation with a marketing professional, host Lorraine Ball shares a quick tip to start you on your day as a business owner. Who is your business plan for? I know that sounds like a simple question, but it’s not really. As a business owner, it’s important to have a business plan that guides your operations. But sometimes you also have to produce one for other people. And those different audiences are going to want different things from your plan. For example, if you’re trying to get a bank loan, the banker is going to want to make sure that all the numbers add up. They’re also going to want to see that you have clearly thought through what could go wrong and how you’re going to pay back that loan even if things don’t turn out quite the way you expected. Conversely, investors are not going to be as interested in the numbers. What they want to see is a really clear explanation of what your business idea is, whether or not you have any customers, and what are the skills of the people behind the idea. And finally, if you are just writing this business plan for yourself, make sure that you spend the bulk of your time focusing on the action plans and the milestones that will tell you you’re heading in the right direction.