Back to the Business Plan

I am about to sit down with our business plan and begin to write -- again. Because the catering aspect was never really expanded in the first edition of the plan, it will be important for me to write a new plan that focuses on the catering business and how it will eventually fit into Cafe Evoke: a coffee house. Business plans are one of those things that seem fun to write at first but the details will get you. The Entrepreneurial Mind offers a nice post today about the danger of short-cuts in writing business plans. I have seen many of the template programs out there and I get several emails per month from people that want to sell them to me. I do not feel that it is needed. The business plan has several main components: 1. Executive Summary 2. The Business Concept 3. Market Analysis 4. Marketing Plan -- which includes Product, Promotion, Pricing, Place 5. Operating Plan 6. Staffing Plan (in some cases - especially business that will have high payroll) 7. Growth Plan 8. Funding Plan 9. Capital Budget Report (at least I added that in mine) 10. Assumptions Not all businesses are going to have or need to have the exact same sections in their plan. This plan has to be a working guide to your business. While you do not have to have a put together and stapled business plan for your personal use, it is important to have the documents around that cover what I talked about above. The part I find difficult is that there are many different version of the plan that you need to have around if you are in the process of finding money and getting started. I had to re-write mine 3 times since we moved to Bozeman. Banks, landlords, friends/family investors, and my use are all different. My copy is nearly 70 pages long. My banker only wants to read about 10 or so (on a good day) and the rest probably are not as concerned but will not want to read the whole thing. You have to know your audience and include what is important to the reader. The plan should be summarized in the Executive Summary so you should be fine on content. I read on blogs all over the place that business plans are not needed and that it is a waste of the entrepreneurs time. The process of writing a business plan is important because it makes you think through all aspects of your business. Remember, you do not have to have a binder that has the words "business plan" and a date written on it that is collecting dust on the back shelf of your office. It is about setting benchmarks and reaching them. It is about knowing what you are getting into and how you will run the business. It is about knowing when you can say you have succeeded. It is also about knowing how you will exit the business and what values you are bringing into it. This plan should define your budgets, forecasts, and all issues related. It is worth taking the time to write these plans. Dr. C used to tell me that this was my chance to fail on paper with Monopoly money before going after it with real money -- and someone else's money. You have to know what you are getting into. In my case, I will not be making $1,000,000 per year with Cafe Evoke -- wrong business. My measure of success is my customers, our impact on the local and global communities, and happiness. Yes, I have goals of making decent money but I know what I feel are the ceilings of a coffee and art house. Remember our friend who let his coffee house ruin his life? With a business plan, you will know that before you even try. Take the time to draft a plan for your business. You will not regret it. ..be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, business plan, coffee, tea, espresso, bozeman, montana, belmont university