If you are starting a business for more than $500 or you are quitting your day job to start your business then please do a traditional business plan, not the easy one I list here.  You will be glad you did. 

What a Business Plan Is

A business plan is a roadmap for you to use for your business.  You list what your business goal is and how you are going to reach it.

How to Do an Easy Business Plan

There are lots of elaborate business plans that you can pay for but if you are just starting up a part time business for extra income you don't need one of those.  Save your money and just do it yourself.  It's really easy.

Here are the steps:

1.  At the top of the sheet of paper in bold write down what your business is and the specific goal you want to reach with your business.

For example, let's say you are starting a gift basket business part time.  You might write:  "I make $500/month selling gift baskets. 

Make sure to put a specific number or be specific in your goal.  For example, if you want to make a certain amount of money you need to say "I make $X a month or year doing my business," instead of "I make a lot of money selling gift baskets" or "I make enough to quit work." Be specific.  How much is a lot of money to you?  How much do you need to quit work? 

If your goal is attainable within a one year period then go to step 2.  If your goal is a big goal such as I sell $5,000,000 in gift baskets each year then you need to break it down into a small step first. 

Under the first line you would write your first goal that you can reach within a year.  For example, I make $500 a month on ebay by December 31.  

2.  Write down who your buying audience will be. 

For example, for gift baskets it would be people who need:  birthday presents, wedding or engagement gifts, housewarming presents, get well baskets, baby shower or baby gifts, care packages. 

Write down EVERY type of person you can think of that may buy what you are selling.

3.  Write down every way you can think of that you can reach the people you listed in step 2.  

For example, flyers, websites, word-of-mouth, putting baskets in a retail shop, selling on ebay, ads in a local paper, crafts mall (online and off), etc.

Important:  If you can't identify who your buying audience will be for your business product or service or can't think of ways to reach them then think a lot more.  If, after thinking more, you still don't have an answer that is feasible for either of these then choose another business.

For your business to be successful you need to have a product you can sell to buyers you can reach.  If you don't know who the buyers are and can't reach them then it's going to be really hard and almost impossible to sell your product or service.  Just remember that it's really tough to sell snowblower services in Florida. 

Okay, that's it!  You are done with your business plan!  Yes, a 'real business plan' would be a lot more detailed and have more steps, but this is enough to get most home businesses started.  If you want more information on business plans then there are services that will help you do a more extensive one for a fee.   

Next let's look at whether you need a business phone line and if you do where you can get one cheap.

 

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