Many entrepreneurs feel that they can run their business by “flying by the seat of their pants”, so to speak. While that can be done and is exciting, almost 90% of startups never see a second year, and many small businesses tend to run sluggishly all because their owners never invested in a business plan. Well here are 7 good reasons why you should:
1. Help you figure out clearly where your business is headed and what critical steps you need to take.
2. You need to perform research to get the start up costs for your new business or for the growth you’re planning for the next phase of your existing business.
3. Give you a sales document that you can use to raise capital at the banks or lending institutions.
4. With the right financial analysis software tools, you can vary your business assumptions and see the financial results without spending time or money.
5. The plan is a map by which to run the business and to checkpoint your performance and see whether you’re on course and on schedule.
6. All your key employees can refer to the business plan so that everyone is always on the same page.
7. By using it as a guide and by varying the behavior of the business or by changing the plan as needed, you can prevent yourself from repeating the same mistakes.