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E-Myth – “Why most small businesses don’t work & what to do about it”

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Virtual Accountant | Business Plan Component Parts


One of the struggles in the business is that many business owners who are not growing the revenue in their business did not know why they are not growing says virtual accountant. One of the reasons for that may be that some business owners do not have business plans in their business. The statistic says businesses who have a business plan or 50% more likely to grow their revenue, so business owners without that important document may be impeding their business and not even know it.

Itís a very worthwhile exercise for business owners to create a business plan in their business, no matter if their business is brand-new or if theyíve been around for a very long time. A business plan is a great tool that business owners can use to help them achieve their business goals. In order to make the exercise of creating a business plan worthwhile says virtually accountant, business owners should know all of the most important components to include to have an extremely functional document. The first component parts they needs to consider is having cash flow projections. Although most business plans have this section, they often only include year to year in advance, which isnít always usable in the business. The reason for that is many things can change the course of a year and a projection that has been planned out that far in advance may not accurately reflect the state of that business. Virtually accountant recommends creating month-to-month projections in order to help the business owner stay much on track of their finances. If the business owner is having trouble creating these statements because it can be complex, there accountant will be more than happy to help them figure it out. Business owners should also be aware you shouldnít need to create projections longer than two or three years maximum. Often business plans have a five year projection however virtual accountant advises against that because five years is just speculation and not helpful.

Another important component parts that a business owner should think about including in their plan, is a specific marketing plan. Even though most entrepreneurs have lots of ideas on what they want to do when it comes to marketing their business says virtually accountant, an idea is not the same thing as a plan. This is the document where entrepreneurs can get very specific on each of the marketing initiatives they want to do. Itís very important that not only should a business owner right out what to each marketing initiative is, but they should also be as specific as possible by including dates they will start to each initiative as well as all of the specifics for each one. For example if a business owner is planning on using online keywords, they must know what keywords theyíre going to use, what dates they are going to start, how much money we are going to spend as well as how they are going to evaluate the effectiveness of that initiative.

Many business owners do not have current business plans in their business, or even any business plans at all says virtual accountant. A surprising statistic from industry Canada says that entrepreneurs who have updated business plans are 50% more likely to grow their business. This is extremely eye-opening statistic, and business owners should realize that they can exponentially increase their chances of success within their business simply by creating this document.

Business owners may not know what the most important parts are to include a business plan, so here are some of the things they should include. A lot of these things are not common to include in business plans, and they will help the business plan be measurable and achievable. The first thing that a business owner can write about in their business plan is their risk analysis. Virtual accountant says this is extremely important to include, because this is where business owner will right up to the plan on how theyíre going to avoid or elevate those risks in their business. Since every industry has their own business risks, itís important that a business owner is prepared of time on how to address them.

Business owners should also include in their business plan a deadlocked calendar says virtual accountant. And the reason for this is in order to help the business owner create on all of their goals. Since business plan will be used as a map to achieve their goal, getting very specific on the dates they will be doing all their important tasks and initiatives is extremely helpful. Itís also more likely that the business owner will follow through on their tasks if they already have them written into their calendar.

Included in their business plan, entrepreneurs also should write out there are sales and marketing plans. Virtual accountant recommends that entrepreneurs not only write out every single marketing plan they have, but to do so extremely specifically. By creating plans that include specifics for each of their initiatives, including dates for when they are going to start working on them, an entrepreneur can create an extremely detailed plan on how theyíre going to grow their business. Itís also important that the business owner will include in this section how they plan on evaluating the effectiveness of each of those initiatives, so they will know what is working and what they should continue and what is not working there for they should change.

Once business owners have extremely specific business plan documented, virtual assistant recommends that business owners also right into their business plan when they are going to review the plan as well as updated. The business plan should be a living document that the business owner should review regularly in order to see where they are in the plan and even set new goals when necessary. By spending time throughout the year on updating this plan, business owners can be sure that this plan will help them achieve their goals.