A business plan is a written definition of, and an operational plan for achieving your goal. You need a complete business tool in order to define your basic product, income objectives and specific operating procedures. You have to have a business plan to attract investors, obtain financing and hold onto the confidence of your creditors, particularly in times of cash flow shortages - in this instance, the amount of money you have on hand compared with the expenses that must be met...

Aside from an overall directional policy for the production, sales efforts and profit goals of your product - your basic 'travel guide' to business success - the most important purpose your business plan will serve, will be the basis or foundation of any financial proposals you submit. Many entrepreneurs are under the mistaken impression that a business plan is the same as a financial proposal, or that a financial proposal constitutes a business plan. This is just a misunderstanding of the uses of these two separate and different business success aids.

The business plan is a long range 'map' to guide your business to the goal you've set for it. This plan details the what, why, where, how and when, of your business - the success planning of your company.

Your financial proposal is a request for money based upon your business plan - your business history and objectives.

Understand the differences. They are closely related, but they are not interchangeable.

Writing and putting together a 'winning' business plan takes study, research and time, so don't try to do it all in just one or two days.

The easiest way is to start with a loose leaf notebook, plenty of paper, pencils, pencil sharpener, and several erasers. Once you get you mind 'in gear' and begin thinking about your business plan, '10,000 thoughts and ideas per minute' will begin racing through your mind... So, it's a good idea when you aren't actually working on your business plan, to carry a pocket notebook and jot down those business ideas as they come to you - ideas for sales promotion, recruiting distributors, and any other thoughts on how to operate and/or build your business.

Later, when you're actually working on your business plan, you can take out this 'idea notebook' - evaluate your ideas, rework them, refine them, and integrate them into the overall 'big picture' of your business plan.

The best business plans for even the smallest businesses run 25 to 30 pages or more, so you'll need to 'title' each page and arrange the different aspects of your business plan into 'chapters'. The format should pretty much run as follows: