If you’re thinking about starting and growing your own business, you’ll probably have to write the best business plan possible first.
Even if you want to use that plan as a business planning tool and don’t intend to give it to anyone else, a well-written and thorough business plan can help clarify your ideas and strategies for the company from the get-go, so it can definitely be worth doing.
In reality, though, it is very easy and common to feel like your creative juices are blocked and you won’t be able to write a good business plan for your new venture without an investment of time and money.
Where to start? What to write? How to come up with numbers that make sense? How to understand the logic behind the exercise… there are lots of questions to consider!
Don’t worry, there are plenty of affordable ways to get assistance with this task, and a business planning course is definitely a great option for those who need some structure when tackling such a challenging task. Let’s see why!
Shameless plug before we get started: this article is part of a series of articles on how to write a business plan and aims at giving you hints on how to come up with a document that converts!
We make about eighty percent of our content free to entrepreneurs and small business owners just like you – that even includes a free online business plan template with a free mini-course, by the way.
But if you need more, then our Business Plan Builder is the business plan writing course you have been looking for!
That being said, let’s go back to our topic of the day.
First, we’ll consider why the business plan writing exercise is essential for a business (small or large), and then we’ll elaborate on why making such an investment is worthwhile.
We’ll also look at the typical mistakes people keep making when they ignore the point. And we’ll give you some tips to leverage when it comes to finding your best course.
At the end of the day, business plan writing is not rocket science and you won’t get any certificate for doing the job right, but it takes a very specific method, and learning that method is very easy to acquire!
Is having a business plan that essential?
Yes, a business plan is a necessary and critical part of the small business creation and development process. It will help you clarify your strategies and goals, and it will also serve as a roadmap for where you want your business to go.
However, the key stake is not just to produce a business plan pdf document (nobody cares about that), it is to build a business that answers demand and has some paying clients. Hence, writing a business plan is not a finality nor a box to tick, it is a tool you should be using to think about everything and build some convincing storytelling people will listen, remember and repeat.
If you do things right, a business plan can help you get funding for your business, but if you don’t then investors are unlikely to fund your venture.
A good business plan will also allow you to think through all the risks and challenges you’ll need to overcome to create, develop, and sustain a successful business.
Overall? What you get out of the exercise definitely depends on your situation and what your goals are. Having said that, writing a business plan takes time, effort, and commitment, but it is a worthwhile investment if you are serious about starting a business or growing a business.
Again, a business plan is a roadmap that will help you reach your destination. It is not something that you complete and forget about: it is a living and breathing thing that ought to change as your business changes.
Why is writing a business plan so challenging?
There are so many aspects of a business you’ll need to consider in order to create a comprehensive business plan! Yet, business planning isn’t part of the typical education curriculum so people end up struggling with way too much to learn in no time.
You’ll need to find the perfect name for your business and make sure it tells a story that matches the story you are trying to tell and the difference you are trying to make. You’ll also need to find a good location for your business and make sure it’s compliant with all the necessary regulations.
Beyond those very practical details, though, you will also need to think hard about the niche you’re in, and you’ll need to create a detailed financial plan for your company that takes everything into account.
You’ll need to create a marketing plan that will help you attract customers to your brand and turn them into lifelong customers.
You’ll also need to create a staffing plan and decide how many employees you’ll need to have on your team.
So forth, and so on…
There are so many aspects of a business you’ll need to consider in order to create a comprehensive business plan – can you see why the exercise gets easily challenging, especially when you are missing a reliable framework to get things done efficiently?
Why should you invest in a business plan writing course?
Why invest in a business plan writing course, then? Well, you probably know the answer to that question already, because it flows from what we just said.
Creating a business plan can be a daunting task that you might want to put off. But if you want to start and grow your business as quickly as possible, you need to get this task out of the way as soon as you can.
For that matter, a business plan development course can help you get your business plan done and out of the way so you can focus on getting your business up and running.
A user of the Impactified Business Plan Builder once told us that, after struggling with the idea of starting her business planning work for six months, she had understood the logic in under two hours just by looking at our videos. And the writing part also rolled after that.
Can you see how fast her investment became profitable?
Really? Yaaayy, you’re awesome!
Jokes aside though, a business plan writing course can act as a guide to direct you to create the perfect business plan.
The course will give you a clear structure to follow, and you’ll then be able to focus on the most important aspects of your plan.
Overall, investing in a business plan writing course can help you overcome the challenges of writing a business plan so you can get it done as quickly as possible instead of spending months (yes, months) wondering where to start and how to proceed.
Considering how many small business owners just give up and keep struggling in the absence of a GPS to lead the way, that’s definitely a game-changer.
What is a business plan writing course?
To dig a little deeper, a business plan writing course is a structured program that will walk you through the process of creating a comprehensive business plan future partners will want to read and act upon.
You’ll get assistance with understanding the logic and the expectations of your audience – which really is a big start.
But you’ll also have a great opportunity to start thinking systemically about the type of business model and marketing plans that will bring in lots of new customers. Systemically, because the point is to turn your business into a system that works for you, and without you, by the way.
Obviously, your course should aaaabsolutely provide support with creating a financial plan and a staffing plan – without management, your business will go south fast, don’t you think?
All of this, of course, with the support of an instructor – in recorded video or live, depending on your budget – who can help you brainstorm ideas and come up with strategies you can use to create the perfect business plan.
Ideally, the course should also put your fingers on the various traps people keep falling into, and will also provide you with designer templates capable of creating a comprehensive and effective business plan people simply can’t ignore.
What if I don’t invest in this?
Great question and easy answer: there are two types of risks to handle here. The cost of the course, and the cost of inaction.
On the one hand, you are taking the risk of paying for something you won’t like. The course should only cost you a couple of hundred, but if you aren’t serious about getting your hands into it then that’s a risk you take, and it’s purely on you.
The other risk you take is what we usually call the cost of inaction. Doing nothing will likely make your idea and business model obsolete in no time, so the decision to invest or not is yours to make.
Creating a business plan without proper training takes time, however with a business plan writing course, you’ll have a clear structure to follow and will be able to come up with a plan that’s comprehensive and effective in no time.
You may also be less likely to create a plan that investors will like and fund, if only because investors have a very specific mindset and they expect a very specific type of business plan outline and format you won’t be able to come up with on your own.
Coming up with finances and financial projections that make sense is also a very difficult task if you don’t know where to start – and there again a business plan writing course like the Impactified Business Plan Builder will give you everything you need to get started in no time.
4 typical mistakes people who ignore business planning keep making
Finally, if you don’t invest in a business plan writing course, you are a lot more likely to make common business plan mistakes most small business owners (entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurship alike) make without even realizing it.
Mistake #1 – Not making the effort to understand how investors, bankers and potential business partners think. Each of these potential readers have specific expectations and specific mindsets, hence you have to try a walk a mile in their shoes to understand where they come from, how they view business ideas and what they expect from you! Otherwise, you’ll try and sell them something they don’t want to buy and that’s the end before you even know it.
Mistake #2 – Not creating a go-to-maket plan and forgetting the marketing plan: If you don’t create these for your business, you won’t be able to explain how much the operational part will cost and you may not be able to bring in new customers.
You may also not be able to reach your target audience. And you won’t have a clue about the cost of acquisition of a new client. Investors will want to see a marketing plan in your business plan, so make sure you create one!
Mistake #3 – Not creating a proper financial plan: Any investor or bank that considers funding your business will likely want to review your financial plan, and again they will have specific expectations that you will need to meet. Financial projections go way beyond coming up with ballpark sales guesstimates!
If you don’t create a financial plan for your business, or if you try and build one without fully understanding how business plans work, then you will be turning away potential investors.
Mistake #4 – Not doing the work yourself. That’s silly for two reasons.
One, asking someone else to come up with a plan for you means you won’t be able to explain it, plus it just won’t be yours.
Two, asking someone to do the financial planning for you is the best way to never understand your numbers. And there again, things will turn south because when people grill you they’ll see you can’t follow up.
So, understand the logic, and be able to defend your point.
4 typical mistakes a business plan writing you will save you from making
- Missing your investors’ expectations
- Missing your go-to-market strategic plan
- Missing your financial plan & perspective
- Missing the point of business planning (if someone else does it for you)
What to look for when investing in a business plan writing course
When looking at a potential business plan writing course, you want to make sure that a few points can be checked without the slightest doubt.
First, beware of online courses that promise you hours and hours of video content. Nobody can survive over three hours of video class on that kind of topic, you will be dropping off before you know it. Besides, courses that include hours and hours on a topic are often a mere recording of online sessions and they are full of repeats, and “hm” and “ah” and “and…” which is an absolute loss of time.
Instead, look for an online course that’s about two hours long (that’s totally enough) and that has been professionally recorded to ensure efficiency all the way through.
Second, make sure that the materials include not just a template but also a working tool you’ll be able to use to prepare the content before inputting it into the template. For instance, make sure the tools explain how to come up with a vision statement and a mission statement, and that it tells you how to write a proper executive summary people will read.
Otherwise, you will just be guessing and second-guessing yourself and you’ll get nowhere.
Third, make sure the course provides you with an efficient automated financial table that gets the numbers work for you AND explains you the logic behind the numbers! otherwise, you’ll be both struggling and losing your time.
Fourth, be careful about who teaches the course. There is no business plan writing certification out there so anyone can sell hours of Udemy business plan video on the matter. What you want, however, is to be sure that that person has the right credentials to teach you the topic, and that they practice the exercise in real life, beyond their recording room.
A business coach you does the exercise regularly with their client would be perfectly legit for the exercise!
Fifth, make sure that your data is safe and accessible at all times. It’s pretty easy to find interactive business plan online providers these days, however the drawback is that they’ll keep your data as long as possible and make you pay long-term to keep using the tool. At more than a hundred dollars a year, that’s a lot of money!
In contrast, the Impactified Business Plan Builder is built around tools you can download to use with your basic Microsoft or Apple tools, and videos in lifetime access, so your data remains yours.
Sixth, as a bonus, make sure that your business plan writing course goes as far as containing a lesson explaining the logic behind cap tables – capitalization tables in plain English – because these are a major negotiation tool when it comes to giving equity away.
You won’t be able to guess how these works, and you’ll lose a fortune because cap tables are the best way to assess what your business could be worth if you do things right!
Investors know you don’t know, so they’ll take advantage of that. Yet, most online courses don’t explain how to handle this so make sure yours equips you to deal with the point!
6 Things to look for when investing in a business plan writing course
- Aim for under three hours of video tutorials (save your time!)
- Look for writing support tools, not just a template
- Get automated tables that teach you the logic AND do the job for you
- Look for a teacher with proper credentials
- Make sure the tools can be downloaded (only pay once!)
- Make sure the course covers cap table & equity topics!
Alternatives to business plan writing courses
What are the alternatives, by the way?
Well, from a money-saving perspective, there are no free business plan writing courses out there that goes into the details.
A free online course like the Impactified mini-course could get you started because it comes with a free template and five days of insights delivered straight into your inbox. Obviously, though, you won’t get the same level of content there as what you would have with our complete business plan course.
You may want to consider hiring business plan consultants, but remember that you will then lose the opportunity to build your own story around the exercise. These are also pretty expensive, so that’s not a very good calculation in our opinion.
Alternatively, you can also consider joining a business incubator or accelerator program. Business incubators and accelerator programs may help you create a business plan and additional documents like a marketing plan and financial plan. They may also help you find investors and funding sources for your business.
However, the condition to get in there is usually to submit a business plan in the first place so that might be counter-productive in the end. Especially if you don’t have a year in front of you.
Last alternative, you might also want to talk to a professional business coach! Our coaches won’t be writing your business plan for you, that’s not how they create value. They are, however, very well equipped to ask the right questions to make you think and question your preconceived ideas, and they’ll act as your sparring partner or sounding board throughout the process. That’s worth trying!
The easiest way to get started is this!
Wrap-up time – investing in a business plan writing course is worth it if you know what you are looking to obtain and if you want to get results rapidly and efficiently instead of struggling for months on writing something that goes nowhere. Whether you need a business plan for online business or for a physical business makes no difference, inaction is what hurts the most.
If that sounds like you, then the Impactified Business Plan Builder is the business plan writing course you have been looking for and it will help you create the perfect business plan for your business.
It includes:
- The working tools you’ll need to build your business plan step by step
- The automated tables you’ll need to come up with numbers that make sense, easy as 1, 2, 3
- Two designer-made templates you’ll be able to customize any way you want
- And two hours of video by an experienced business coach (our business plan course hero), to make sure you get everything right.
The complete business plan course is available for a ridiculous price and will get you to understand and come up with successful business planning results – you really have no excuse. Act and secure access now!
