Gary R. Prevost

Going into business or expanding a business is an easy process. It does take some forward planning and personal fortitude to make it happen. Documenting your plan and working on your plan will help make your business successful. This book describes the items that need to go into your business plan and will eventually become part of your plan of execution. These items should be researched and well documented in a format that represents a business plan as described in the book. The topics discussed in the book apply to small businesses and large corporations. A business plan is a document that describes all of the aspects of your business. Items such as financial data, products and services, location, and activities that will be conducted during your business operation and should be included in this document. The book is laid out in an outline format. Each topic in the book can be a topic in your business plan. The descriptions in the sections can be replaced by the information that is specific to your type of business. After you have sufficient data, you can use this plan to obtain financing, do additional detailed planning, and eventually molded to use as a guide for daily operations. If you already have a plan or existing business or business unit, this book will help you to improve your current plan for additional successes. If you see topics which may not apply to your type of business, it is still good to include these subjects in your plan to show that you have considered the topic and documented that it does not apply. Since many businesses fail due to lack of planning, now is your opportunity to create a plan that will better equip you with the knowledge you can use to make a success and prevent failure. Financial planning may be the most important topic since the principle of having more income than expenses is part of the basis of running a business. Understanding how and where income will be achieve and what your expenses will be is crucial to having a positive cash flow making money! This subject is covered in this book along with other supporting topics, which contribute to the success of running a business. Scenarios are included in several chapters. These show that as you make your plan, you will need to include different options, one or more which may come to fruition as you start your business. These may also include contingencies, or options, which you exercise based on real cost and income numbers. A plan should include as many facts as possible and enough scenarios to show that you have considered the variance that comes with any business. Variance could include number of patrons, number of employees needed, or changing cost of goods and doing business. The financial cost of doing business could include rent, office materials, cost of goods to be sold, or other intangible costs. Once you have read through the book, you may want to use the book as a reference guide. You can review topics, which may be more complicated and require you to further document your plan. You should add topics that apply to your type of business and document those items in your specific business plan. A good business plan now is better than a perfect business plan that is continually updated and never gets quite ready for use. There comes a time when the businessperson has to complete his/her documentation and start executiontaking action. Your plan can always be updated as you proceed with your activities of opening your new business. Start your plan, make your outline, and fill in the details as you obtain the information needed. Once you are satisfied that you have covered the subjects needed for your type of business, set your plan into action. Follow your plan, and you get your new business started. Now get yourself motivated and start Going Into Business To Stay in Business!