Читать книгу Business Plans For Dummies - Paul Tiffany - Страница 33

A business plan provides a view of the future. Whether your company is large or small, whether you’re just starting a business or you’re a part of a seasoned company, you still need some sort of planning process to point you in the right direction and guide you along the way:

 A brand-new company makes a business plan to get its bearings and often uses the plan to get funding.

 An up-and-running company uses a plan to prepare for the inevitable changes in the marketplace.

 A large company needs a plan so everybody sees the same view ahead.

 A small company constructs a plan to make sure it has the necessary resources to survive year-in and year-out.

In fact, a small company needs a business plan most of all; unfortunately, small businesses are often the last to prepare a formal business plan. If you own or manage a small business, you already know that you’re the jack-or-jill-of-all-trades. You hardly have enough time to get your daily business chores done, much less plan for next week, next month, or next year. But because you run a small business, you simply can’t afford not to plan.

When a giant corporation stumbles, it usually has the financial reserves to break the fall and get back on its feet. General Motors, for example, filed for bankruptcy not that long ago, but it’s still churning out millions of cars a year. If your resources are limited, however, a single mistake — such as exaggerating the demand for your product or underestimating how long you have to wait to get paid — can spell the end of everything you’ve invested in and worked so hard to achieve. A business plan points out many dangers, alerting you to the hazards and obstacles that lie ahead, so that you can plan to avoid such pitfalls.

Three-quarters of all new businesses fail within two or three years. And untold numbers never even make it off the ground. Smart business planning up front can reduce these dismal casualty rates.