A few years ago, I decided to quit my day job and become my
own boss. I had a great idea for an Internet/mail order company, and knew that
I could make it work if given the right resources. Of course, to a would-be
entrepreneur, "resources" usually means capital, which was definitely
the case for me.
I just didn't have the money to get things rolling, but if I
didn't get in the game immediately; my chances of success would diminish.
The
smartest move I ever made was to review as many sample business plans as
possible, and then model my own document on the best ones.
Why are sample business plans so important? Well, the main
reason is that no banks or venture capitalists will take you seriously unless
you can provide them with a formal statement about your proposed enterprise
that includes specific goals and ways to achieve those goals.
This document is
by far the most critical sales pitch you'll ever make as an entrepreneur, so
you have to make sure that it's perfect in terms of format and content. That's where
sample business plans come into play. After all, if you've never written one
before, how will you know what you need to include?
Fortunately, there are several ways to get hold of sample
business plans that you can then tailor to fit your own proposed venture. The
first way is to simply search the Internet for websites that cater to
entrepreneurs. Often, these websites contain a bunch of different resources
that will be helpful at different stages of your journey, including free sample
business plans.
While "free" makes these documents attractive, I
should warn you that you might not end up with high-quality models to work
from. Often, these websites are simply run by amateurs with an interest in the
subject, so be sure to review everything carefully.
A second great way to get sample business plans is to buy
special software made for this purpose. There are many products on the market
that essentially use a fill-in-the-blanks approach to generating the documents
you need for your start-up, and these can be very helpful for first-timers.
Best of all, most software packages come with sample business plans for a
variety of industries, allowing you to customize your plan in detail.
And finally, you can always hire a professional writer to
compose your plan for you. If you do so, however, you have to make sure that
your writer is well versed in producing business-related documents, or else
you'll need to provide sample business plans for that person to follow.
Either
way, this approach takes the burden off of your shoulders so you can focus on
other aspects of getting your dream off the ground.
Just remember that sample business plans are a crucial
weapon in any would-be entrepreneur's arsenal. You need to put your best foot
forward right from the start, so make sure you've got good models to work with!
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