More often than not business owners talk about business plans in elusive terms, leaving one to wonder if they will ever write one at all. How often have you heard – “I wrote one then put it on the shelf,” “Our plan is out of date – it’s useless,” “It’s too long – no one will read it,” or my favorite – “I’ll pay a consultant to write one!”

Too often the focus has been on writing your plan. I am suggesting a better focus – implementing your plan. Implement it by asking 5 key questions. So, let’s review the 5 key questions, apply them to your business, and discuss next steps.

This process is not new. Some years ago Jim Horan founded The One Page Business Plan Company expressly to help business owners define and implement their plan. He simplified the process by identifying the standard elements of a business plan with 5 simple, universal questions.

1. Vision: What are you building?

2. Mission: Why does your business exist?

3. Objectives: What results will you measure?

4. Strategy: How will you build this company?

5. Plans: What is the work to be done?

Your Vision – What are you building? Simple enough? Where are you now, where do you want to be in 5 years – can you define it in terms of sales, target markets, products and services, and geographic reach? Oftentimes business owners are challenged to answer this question, but when they focus on it – watch out, the dream reignites and the creative energy starts to flow again.

Your Mission – Why does your business exist? Think brand, think benefits (especially when viewed through the eyes of your customer), and think simple, direct, and memorable. What is the Mission of Burger King, of FedEx?

Your Objectives – What results will you measure? What did your gross in sales last year? What do you want to achieve for sales this year? What other goals do you have for your business? Don’t have goals yet? Getting very focused and specific is a key ingredient to your success. Prioritize them and clearly state them.

Your Strategy – How are you going to build your company? What specific strategies and programs do you need to develop and implement to get you there? Think multi-year, look at marketing, sales, organization, technology, process change, human resources. Get the picture?

Your Plans – What work needs to be done? Well, every year you need a plan to get you from point A to point B. How are you going to accomplish your vision, your mission, your objectives, and your strategies? Can you develop a series of action steps to help you get there this year? Do they tie into your other plan elements?

Preparing and implementing a business plan requires a strong, exacting, specific, goals-oriented focus. Simpler is often better. If you can prepare it on one page it will be easier to follow, easier to explain, easier to measure accomplishments, and, yes, easier to achieve the profitability and growth you have envisioned, perhaps in a shorter time frame than you planned. Now, how cool is that!

Try to work a plan that is action-oriented, that is goals-focused, that is top-of-mind every day. Working your business in this way increases the potential for your short term and longer term success. And, don’t let that plan become static. Make it a living, breathing organism, let it encourage you to improve it, update it, and enhance it as you move on your road to success.

Now that we have outlined these 5 simple questions, how about giving it a try? I would love to hear from you. Need any help, let me know.

Perspective business owners are prone to many mistakes when starting up a new business. One very common mistake is writing a bad business plan. At times, they fill the business plan with what they think investors or banks want to see instead of what will realistically happen. Then, when the bank turns them down, they sit back and wonder why. Here are five of the most common mistakes business owners make when writing an internet business plan template and ones that you would do well to avoid.

· Dismissing losses during the early stages of the business – losses are part of starting up new business, everyone knows it, and it is expected. Concentrating the business plan on only long-term profits will bring more questions than confidence. The first year of the plan should be laid out in full detail, including expected losses. However, the business should show reasonable progress over that time, even if it means the business will continue to lose money for a short period thereafter.

· Thinking your business is totally unique – few businesses created today are not already in circulation. However, improving on an already existing concept is what can turn a loser into a winner. Trying to sell investors on a “one-of-a-kind” business will have them running for the door. Show previous models and show how your business will improve upon its weaknesses.

· Painting an unrealistic picture of yourself – while this may fool investors, it will not help the overall success of the business. It is better to actually admit your own shortcomings and show how they will be overcome. Mention hiring someone to fill a specific role because it is not your strength. Doing that will work much better than being asked a question about something you claim to be an expert on and then stammering your way through the answer.

· Being overly negative during the early years – while we do not want you to expect to turn an immediate profit, nor should you overestimate losses just to play it safe. If projections have the business making money in the second year, state exactly that. Just make sure the figures are accurate, well researched, and not over-exaggerated in either direction.

· Expect you business plan to be perfect – while we would all like to think we are perfect, there will be weaknesses to the business plan. However, this offers an opportunity to shine. This ties into not painting a picture that you are the all-knowing new business owner. Put the weaknesses out in the open, because they will be found if you don’t. Admit that you know certain areas are suspect, but present a plan to find a possible solution to the problem.

The internet poses enough of a challenge to new businesses, so don’t compound the problem by making one of these mistakes when creating your internet business plan template.

Business planning can never be truly outsourced. If a contractor or consultant is brought into the process they may be allowed to take the lead, but the work will still require extensive collaboration between the entrepreneur or business managers and the contracted firm. This collaboration process will take a different shape depending on the specific firm you are working with, but should include these important stages: 

Interview Stage

After a contract has been signed (and perhaps even before) interviewing will occur where the consultant attempts to gather as much business information directly from the entrepreneurs or managers as possible. If there are multiple managers or founders, they will look to reconcile their different accounts of what the business is attempting to do and make the team aware of significant divergences. 

Research Stage

With the interview information as background, the consultant can now use a wide range of resources to find supporting data and statistics for the business plan. This will become the basis of the industry/market, customer, and competitive analysis sections of the plan. This is work that can primarily be done by the consultant or consultants on their own. However, the client should keep an eye on the process, getting updates on findings at various intervals so they can offer input rather than simply a huge report at the end of the research process. 

Strategy Consulting Stage

With a better idea of the market situation, the consultant is now in a position to help the client craft a better strategy. High quality consultants will not simply accept the business’s strategy as dictated, but will bring their own understanding of business strategy to the table at this point. Discussions between the two parties will be important to the process at this stage. 

Outlining and Drafting Stage

With strategy and the basic information for the business plan now in hand, the consultant can outline the basic business plan. A draft of the plan will next be created which should serve as a point of additional discussion if necessary. 

Completion Stage

Finally, the plan is proofread and copy edited. Appropriate graphics, such as charts, graphs, and logos are inserted to better illustrate what is being said. The business plan consultant should provide directions as to how the plan should be printed and perhaps even how and to whom it should be presented.