How to Prepare a Business Plan
THIRD EDITION

How to Prepare a Business Plan
THIRD EDITION

How to Prepare a Business Plan
THIRD EDITION

Starting a new business venture is like going into a tropical forest
on a treasure hunt. There are rewards to be won, both in material
wealth and personal satisfaction, but there
are
dangers lurking
and
you can easily lose your way.
This book is written not only to help you convince your financial
backers
that you will succeed and come back with a bag of
gold,
but also to help you write your own guidebook for the journey.
The author has himself spent 40 years on foot among the
trees,
both in small business on his own account and as a guide
and
adviser to others.
Before beginning work on your business plan or your cash flow
forecast, you would do well to ask yourself two vital questions:
What do you really want out of the business?
The answer to this question will fall into two parts.
The monetary rewards are obviously important. Set yourself a
target. If anything less than a million pounds would be a bitter
disappointment, then a million is what you are aiming for. If anything
above £150 a week would give you cause for a major celebration,
put that down as your target.
However, money is not all you are in business for. What else?
Are you a born ‘loner’, anxious to be free from the constraints of
a company set-up? Or someone with a yen to organise his own
well-structured corporation? Would freedom to design your own
products make your life worth living? Or do you just want to feel
useful? Your strategy should reflect your own personal ends.
Think, too, about the time-scale. Are you determined to make
a quick fortune and retire to la dolce vita or to a life of good
works? Or, conversely, are you so fascinated by some aspects of
what other people call ‘work’ that you would happily carry on as
long as there is breath in your body?

Edward Blackwell