HOW TO PREPARE A BUSINESS PLAN (contd.)

Designing the business plan

The layout of your business plan can help greatly in keeping the reader interested. Above all, the information you give must follow a logical pattern. You could present your material in the sequence shown here, using headings, so that the reader can survey your plan and navigate without difficulty.

1. A brief statement of your objectives.

2. Your assessment of the market you plan to enter.

3. The skill, experience and finance you will bring to it.

4. The particular benefits of the product or service to your customers.

5. How you will set up the business.

6. The longer-term view.

7. Your financial targets.

8. The money you are asking for and how it will be used.

9. Appendices to back up previous statements, including especially the cash flow and other financial projections.

10. History of the business (where applicable).

This list can be added to, of course, if the people who will read your business plan have a special interest to which you should address yourself. For instance, public authorities are concerned to know the effect on local unemployment: write a special and prominent section to tell them about it.

Deciding how much to write

In all business plans something, however brief, should be noted on each of the items listed above. How much you put into each section should be in proportion to the size and scope of your project as readers of your plan will see it. Busy bank officials will not want to read through pages of material if they are being asked for no more than a few hundred pounds. On the other hand, they will not be impressed if, when asked to lend £500,000, they are given only a sentence or two on the aspect that interests them most.

Getting down to it

Careful writing of your business plan will give you a better insight into your own business. You have a marvellous project; you have a shrewd idea that there is a market for it; you have obtained a good deal of advice from experts and have done sums to calculate your hoped-for profits, your cash flow and the money you need to raise. So, when you get the finance, you will be ready to go. Or so you believe! But it is odds-on you still have homework to do. Now is the time to do it. ‘Writing,’ said Sir Francis Bacon, ‘makes an exact man.’ There is nothing so effective in testing the logic and coherence of your ideas as writing them out – in full. As the future of your business depends in large part on your ideas working in a logical and coherent way, now is the time to subject them to this test.

How to set about it

Taking the numbered sections above one by one, make notes under each heading of all you have done or expect to do. For example, regarding Section 2, what do you really know about the market you want to enter? Have you done enough market research? Who will be your customers? How many will there be? How will you contact them? How will you get your goods to them? When it comes to Section 5, have you a clear, concrete picture of what you will actually do to ‘get the show on the road’?

Write it all out! Perhaps you would like to adopt the following method: taking a large sheet of paper for each of the above sections, note down the facts relevant to each of them; then sort them, test for truth and coherence and arrange into a logical pattern. You will prune hard when you come to write the document itself. In the meantime you will have organized your ideas, you will have noticed gaps and weaknesses, and the business is bound to go the better for it.

TEN MYTHS ABOUT CHOOSING A CAREER

Most people think they know everything about choosing a career. So many think they know the right way to go about picking an occupation, but they often wind up choosing a career that is unsatisfying.

With in-depth research, we have come up with ten myths of choosing a career along with resources that can help you make an informed decision.

#1 Choosing a career is simple

Choosing a career is an involved process and you should give it the time it deserves. Career planning is a multi-step process that involves learning enough about yourself and the occupations which you are considering in order to make an informed decision.

#2 A career counselor can tell me what occupation to pick

A career counselor, or any other career development professional, can't tell you what career is best for you. He or she can provide you with guidance in choosing a career and can help facilitate your decision.

#3 I can't make a living from my hobby

When choosing a career, it makes perfect sense to choose one that is related to what you enjoy doing in your spare time, if you so desire. In addition people tend to become very skilled in their hobbies, even though most of the skill is gained informally.

#4 I should choose a career from a "Best Careers" list

Year-in, year-out , especially during milestone years, i.e. the beginning of a new decade, there are numerous articles and books that list what "the experts" predict will be "hot jobs." It can't hurt to look at those lists to see if any of the careers on it appeal to you, but you shouldn't use the list to dictate your choice. While the predictions are often based on valid data, sometimes things change. Way too often what is hot this year won't be hot a few years from now. In addition, you need to take into account your interests, values, and skills when choosing a career. Just because the outlook for an occupation is good, it doesn't mean that occupation is right for you.

#5 Making a lot of money will make me happy

While salary is important, it isn't the only factor you should look at when choosing a career. Countless surveys have shown that money doesn't necessarily lead to job satisfaction. For many people enjoying what they do at work is much more important. However, you should consider earnings, among other things, when evaluating an occupation.

#6 Once I choose a career I'll be stuck in it forever

This is the popular believe of so many people and I will like to let you know that this is not true. If you are not satisfied in your career for any reason, you can always change it. You'll be in good company. Many people change careers several times over the course of their lifetimes.

#7 If I change careers my skills will go to waste

Your skills are yours to keep. You can take them from one job to another. You may not use them in the exact same way, but they won't go to waste.

#8 If my best friend (or sister, uncle, or neighbor) is happy in a particular field, I will be too

Everyone is different and what works for one person won't necessarily work for another, even if that other person is someone with whom you have a lot in common. If someone you know has a career that interests you, look into it, but be aware of the fact that it may not necessarily be a good fit for you.

#9 All I have to do is pick an occupation... Things will fall into place after that

Choosing an career is a great start, but there's a lot more to do after that. A Career Action Plan is a road map that takes you from choosing a career to becoming employed in that occupation to reaching your long-term career goals.

#10 There's very little I can do to learn about an occupation without actually working in it

While first hand experience is great, there are other ways to explore an occupation. You can read about it either in print resources or online. You can also interview those working in that field.