Business plans are valuable in a lot of important ways. Whereas some business plans are little more than busy work for the writer and something to occupy a bit of time for the reader, a lot of other times a business plan can get a lot done. A garden variety plan that isn't written very well is not going to accomplish the important things that it needs to in order to make your business more successful in the long run. It all starts with being clear from the beginning.

Mission Statement

Your mission statement comes first in the plan because it is one of the most important parts by a long shot. Do you have a reason for your business besides just wanting to have one? If your business has a huge, amazing goal that you might almost be embarrassed to tell people about, this is the place to fold it down into a simple meme. Once you have your mission statement in order,it will inform every subsequent decision your plan features.

Financial Plan

Where will the money come from? Once you have the money, where is it going to go? How much will it take to break even? What will you have to do in order to make this amount of money? Ultimately, businesses exist to produce profits. So your business plan should have your financial plan as one of its deepest core components. If the financial plan isn't there, you have a serious problem.

Business Plan Composition

A poorly composed business plan speaks to an overall low level of organization in general. if you want to be a slovenly business owner, feel free to put together your plan as a series of cocktail napkins duct taped together. Ultimately, the more effectively organized your plan is, the more easily you will be able to follow your plan until it either works or has to be changed due to infeasibility.

Solid Team Overview

There are few things in your plan more important than your management team. With their experience, insight and desire to succeed, you will either sink or swim as a company. If you don't have a management team to make things happen in a big way, the likelihood is that you will try to do everything yourself and ultimately fail. Investors will often invest in great people with far less interest in the specifics of what they will be doing. Success tends to be a personality trait more than a particular activity.