First and foremost, a business plan is required whenever you want to start up a new business. Whether it is a personal injury law firm such as Gunzburg Law, a software company, or even a restaurant, planning is always the first step. You should set up and organize your finances, budgeting, choose which business entity type that you will select, only to list a few. Often, the help of a business legal team is required so that you can have experienced professionals advise you about the pros, cons, and common problems when starting a new business.
Business Plan Components
Successful business owners know that a business plan is necessary when starting up a business. With a business plan, you can lay out the foundation of your business. Common components in a business plan include:
- Your business’s purpose and description
- Business entity selection
- Company management overviews
- Finance and budgeting plans including expected profits and losses
- Market analysis
Most successful businesses were not built overnight, and many businesses who thought they could skip the first step of preparing a detailed business plan have unfortunately failed. Through diligence, accurate information, and realistic predictions, you too can have a successful business like Campbell Law and have the business that you’ve always wanted. The most important advice is to not skip the (sometimes tedious) step of creating your detailed business plan.
The 4 C’s
Competence, Capacity, Conflicts (or absence thereof), and Cash are the 4 C’s when planning a business. You must be familiar with and plan for all of these before deciding to start up a business on your own or with a partner. If you have a business idea, before you jump in, ask yourself:
Competence: Do you have the competence (i.e. knowledge) of the ins and outs of the business you want to start? What will you bring to the table?
Capacity: Will you put in the capacity of work necessary to get your business going? Will you put the time, devotion, dedication, and effort to make your business successful?
Conflicts: Are you aware of the possible conflicts that could happen? Starting a new business venture is exciting, but sometimes business fails, people have changes of heart, or things happen that might force you to move on. Are you being realistic of the possible conflicts that could happen, and have you planned for the possibility that it can happen to you?
Cash: Do you have the cash necessary to start your business up? If not, how will you receive the cash required in administrative fees, taxes, startup costs, etc.? Will you be receiving a loan from a bank, asking friends or family (and do they expect to be part of your business and/or paid back), or will you find an investor (and what are his expectations for the future of your business)?
While many businesses have started out small and have grown to be successful, most likely the people who have succeeded are the ones that took the time to plan, prepare for the worst, learn, pick themselves up in the case of a failure, and still stuck through with it.