The benefits of a business plan

Writing a well developed and organized business plan dramatically increases your odds of succeeding as an entrepreneur. The benefits of a business plan include:

“¢ Determining whether your business has a chance of making a good profit;
“¢ Providing an estimate of your startup costs, and how much you’ll need to invest or finance;
“¢ Helping you compete in the marketplace (through an analysis of what your competition lacks);
“¢ Convincing investors and lenders to fund your business;
“¢ Providing a revenue estimate (by defining your market – who your customers will be – and the percentage of the market you can expect to reach);
“¢ Helping your business make money from the start by devising a effective marketing strategy; and
“¢ Anticipating potential problems so you can solve them before they become disasters.

Learn how to construct your business plan from the articles in studentDC.com’s Financial Preparation section.

Visit studentDC.com’s Resources section for links to “Avoiding business plan mistakes,” “An online fill-in-the-blanks business plan,” and “Business plan preparation from the Connecticut Community Investment Corporation (a nonprofit organization).”

Check out this related article:

How to develop a business plan