Starting a Home Business - How to Write a Business Plan That Guides Your Success!

Writing a business plan isn't optional just because you consider this simply a home business. You are a small business owner. A written business plan is required to secure finances or investors in your new home business. Starting a home business with your own funds and ideas doesn't mean you don't need a business plan.

A written business plan is critical to every home business. The thought process and research involved in writing your business plan will reveal the blue print for your home business.

There are numerous paid and free business plan products that you can use to develop your own home business plan. Unless you are seeking investors in your small business, you can learn how to write a business plan that keeps your business working toward your goals. To have a well written small business plan, you will find your goals easier to reach and keep track of your progress both with building your customer base and sales.

Starting a home business without a writing a well thought out business plan is like building a house without a blue print to guide you every step of the way.

Your home business foundation built on these eight areas will give your business a strong identity and focused sense of direction to help you plan and manage your business effectively.

#1) Business Summary.

Write out a description of your business. What kind of company do you want to build? A well written description or summary of your business often propels you through each step of how to write a business plan. Writing the summary first means you will always have the basic premise of your home business idea at the top of everything you put in your business plan.

#2) Name Your Business.

You may think that your direct sales business already has a company name but that is not the name of YOUR business. Creating a distinct name for your business will help make your plan. Does your business name reflect what you offer? Is it easy to remember? Does it have strong branding potential? Should you reconsider your current business name if it not working with your product? Make sure the name of your business fits not only your product or services but your mission statement.

#3) Itemize Your Products or Services.

Write out descriptions of your products; how do they look, smell, taste, feel or how your services will help others reach their own goals in life. How will your offerings improve the lives of others? Sort through why others aren't already doing it and if they are offering exactly what you are going to offer then what prevents the competition from doing it better or more cheaply than you are.

#4) Mission Statement.

Your mission statement is a concise clear summary of the goals of your business. In your mission statement, you will define exactly what your business does, the products or services offered and what makes your business unique above the competition. Writing the bottom line of your business goals into your mission statement will guide the rest of your business plan.

#5) Business Assessment.

A major portion of your home business plan is a detailed assessment of four areas: your strengths, your weaknesses or limitations, business and marketing opportunities and threats or barriers to your potential success. At this stage of your business plan, you will be looking at your industry. Your work experience and talents that will add to your business would fall under your list of strengths. Your lack of knowledge or funds could be listed as your weaknesses. Take into account how broad your industry is when you are looking at your strengths and weaknesses. If you have little money for start up then you will need to be creative in your marketing and running your business. Will your weaknesses mean your opportunities for success are limited? Will your talent surpass your lack of funds?

Opportunities for business growth may be dependent on your networking contacts or website design. Every business owner should remain wary of all threats to business success. Planning for problems before they arise will make running a business easier and more successful in the long run. As you can see this aspect of business planning is critical to all of your vision, your mission statement, your goal setting and running your home business.

#6) Goal Setting.

Write your vision for your business. Be specific. You can revise this as your goals and mission changes. How do you envision your business a year from now then five years from now? Write out your goals and objectives. Break down each product or service into their own set of goals. Plan for expansion as your business evolves.

Goals are useless unless you can measure your progress towards them and plan to regularly assess which goals have been met or still need to be fulfilled. Make your goals specific and time sensitive. With each business goal, itemize what needs to be in place to reach each of your goals. Outline what steps you will take to reach the goals for your home business. Mark your calendar when its time to re-evaluate your goals and re-align your vision for your business to match the direction your business is going.

Celebrate when you reach your goals and regroup when you realize you missed the mark. It's important to decide what you consider to be a major loss and what you will accept as unsuccessful. Knowing what you will accept and absorb as a business loss before it happens will help prepare you for when it actually happens.

#7) Target Market.

Research your desired target market. Identify who you expect to buy your products or services. Write a profile of your average customer. You need to know your target before you are able to aim. Study your potential customer's behavior. Where do they shop? What do they read? Do they move in specific social circles? Who wants or needs your business? Who will benefit from your product? What type of people will find your business a necessity?

You cannot expect to fill a need or desire of a customer if you do not know what makes your offer unique and necessary. Look at those that offer similar products with success. Write out how you can rise above and differentiate yourself from the competition. At this stage of your business plan, describe how you can stand out from the crowd. Write down how and why your company is better than the competition. Study the competitions latest marketing strategies then outline here how you plan to counteract their business moves to give you the edge you need to stay unique and effective.

While studying your customers and competition, take the extra time to identify complementary products or services that may fit your current business plan that may give the edge you need to compete in the future.

#8) Sales and Marketing Strategies.

How will anyone know your business exists? What steps will you take to make your business known? How will your customers find you? What can you do to ensure that you attract the customers you seek? How will you track your efforts? How much money do you have to put these strategies in place?

List your strategies - press release, printed catalogs, business cards, open house, craft fairs, business, conventions, virtual expos, sales letters, etc.

Determine whether you will market exclusively online, locally to your warm market or a combination of both. If online marketing is part of your business plan then include an internet marketing plan to include your domain name and host, whether you will hire a professional website designer or do it yourself, your business logo and e-commerce set up.

#9) Business Start Up.

Determine what equipment and services you will need to run your business to include setting up your home office, equipment, supplies, product inventory, customer record keeping, and book keeping. Create a checklist of professionals you need to secure for legal and financial advice, advertising expertise, office assistance or tax expertise.

Starting a home business can be exciting and scary because it is Your dream that you are working towards with each work day. To write a business plan, means a great deal of commitment to the process. The process of writing a business plan will bring you closer to understanding yourself, your business goals, your company identity and reaching your potential customers.

Although these areas are critical to writing a business plan, there is much more that will be added to your plan over time. Each time you reach a goal or discover a barrier to making the sale ~ you will return to your business plan and revise your goals, strategies and techniques.

Business success is in the plan and implementation but also in the ability to adjust and redefine your business goals to meet your customers need or desire while letting you design your home business your way!

Tam Carson is owner of Article Marketing Profits blog helping other online marketers and home business owners that want to learn how to promote your business on the internet. Stop by and sign up for feed updates at Article Marketing Profits today to learn how to boost your income with article marketing!

Which Type of Fear Might Be Holding You Back from Success in Business?

Good ideas are literally "a dime a dozen". Individuals conceptualize revolutionary new products and new services with each passing minute of each day. Although there is such a steady stream of ideas that can be marketed successfully and developed into a lucrative business, there are actually few new businesses that make it past the "initial stages" into actual existence.

Why is this, and what factors contribute to the abandonment of great ideas that could've possibly netted the creators a small fortune?

There seem to be two major psychological forces at work when a great idea is abandoned before completion or a business fails for no apparent reason. These two psychological syndromes are:

1. Fear of Success 2. Fear of Failure

It is a very frightening prospect to start and maintain a home-based business. There's no doubt about that. And every business owner feels the "fear" of being responsible for their own destinies, and for their own futures. It's quite common, to be somewhat nervous and stressed about our businesses, especially in the beginning.

Conquering this fear is a necessity, however, as no one can be effective in a business if they allow the fear to overwhelm them.

Fear can be "healthy" in a way, as it can keep an individual alert and aware of any failures of the business, which thwarts problems before they start. Fear can also be "unhealthy" when an individual experiences such fear that it leads to inaction and the business never really gets off the ground as a result.

The two fears above seem to be the most prominent among new business owners. In the first, Fear of Success, a new business owner may have a great idea, and may develop every facet of the business thoroughly, yet they never seem to "open" the doors of the business. They may find excuse after excuse, why they can't really put the business into play, although all facets of the business are established. They may find that they run into repeated crises in their lives, sickness of themselves or a loved one, disasters that are not "really" disasters crop up repeatedly. This is simple Fear of Success, and part of a psychological pattern.

Although crises do occur to us all, we go on with life despite these, and no one has crises that are continuous. A business owner with this syndrome is merely afraid that success will "change" their lives and they are afraid they won't be able to cope with the changes. Of course, success will change someone's life. However, the Fear of Success can be so overwhelming, that some new business owners simply let the business fall by the wayside, thereby ensuring its failure. After all, if the business fails to get started or to succeed, they never have to face the reality of their "Fear of Success".

The second fear is just as detrimental as the Fear of Success. This fear is the Fear of Failure. This fear seems slightly more common and is characterized by the inability of future business owners to even get "started" with any plans or any concrete method of establishing a business. They constantly procrastinate in even the most simple of business chores. They fail to ever establish the business in any way, and for the most part are always promising to "start tomorrow", only tomorrow may never come. They also may jump from "idea to idea" always hatching a new plan for the next great business. Unfortunately, the plans are the only thing that is ever hatched, as nothing concrete ever materializes. They can be seen by their family and friends as mere "schemers"/ "daydreamers".

Occasionally, business owners can "waver" between the two fears, actually experiencing both Fear of Failure and Fear of Success simultaneously, becoming almost paralyzed with the emotions of all this, and unable to attend to the business with any degree of rationality. They can start businesses over and over, or make plans for businesses over and over, and yet never see any real degree of success.

These fears, like all other fears, can be overcome. There are many methods to use to overcome them:

1. A business owner needs to stop "projecting the worst case scenarios" onto the business. This is by far the most effective method. Business owners that worry too much about the worst happening, eventually make this projection a reality.

2. Business owners need to be realistic about the timeframe involved in success. A good business may take months or even years to stabilize.

3. Business owners need to be aware of their own feelings and motives. When "stalled" within a business, they have to question their own inner emotions and ask themselves if perhaps their emotions are overruling their own common sense.

4. A business owner will need to have as much personal and business support as possible behind them. This includes family, friends, and of course, other business people. Knowing we are not "alone" can easily alleviate misgivings and misconceptions.

5. A business owner should take time to relax and de-stress whenever needed. Fears become more palpable and real during times of extended stress.

6. Business owners should always have well thought out plans of action. Good plans reduce stress and the symptoms of stress, which exacerbate our fears overall.

It is best if any potential business owner addresses their fears and their approach to life as well as their motives before starting a new business. It is better to address any underlying issues prior to beginning a business, as addressing them while "within" the throes of a hectic business start up is difficult, if not impossible.

Remember all fears can be conquered, and it is better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all!

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Vishal P. Rao is the owner of Work at Home Forum, an online community of people who work from home.
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