I want to share some insights today about how to effectively plan your first enterpreneurial journey.
First, I want you to step back and identify if you are passionate about your new venture idea?
For example, a photographer my be passionate about colour, light and capturing moments on film.
An entire day with camera in hand does not seem like real work. It instead feels life fulfilling for that photographer.
It’s that kind of passion that will get you up at 5 a.m. to start your day, give you the energy to work late and on weekends and forever question yourself for just about anything and everything.
There is a theory which suggests that to be successful, we must work longer and harder and perhaps practice the 40 — i.e. 40 hours per week for survival and everything over 40 hours is toward your success. Can you handle that theory?
Simply put, if you have chosen to move forward with a business idea that ignites your “inner flame,” then, congratulations, you are on the way.
But passion aside, there are other important questions that aspiring entrepreneurs need to address, starting with the need to develop a business plan.
A thorough business plan may provide the necessary direction for would-be entrepreneur to define their business venture and what they want to get out of its implementation.
Second, a business plan provides a structure, a roadmap as I like to call it, to an entrepreneur’s thinking process..
Third, it may help them think about the future, to develop a response to any competition they may face in the marketplace.
And lastly, what is critically important to me is that a business plan will aid the communication of the essentials of the entrepreneurial venture, not only to investors, but also employees, suppliers and customers.
Let’s face it, a carefully crafted business plan can be used to elicit the reactions and recommendations of others to aid in bringing your entrepreneurial dream to a reality.
So, let’s agree to-day that authoring your new venture’s business plan is one of the most important things you will do in the entrepreneurial world.
Yes, the importance of such preparation has been debated over and over again. And yes,I have personally met and befriended those of a millionaire status who did not originate their entrepreneurial journey with a business plan but still achieved phenomenal success.
But even those success stories reiterate the importance to others following in their footsteps that success in business is geared to effective planning.
The editors of Profit magazine sometime ago commented in favour of business planning this way: “You won’t get everything right the first time around, but the very act of planning—knowing your products and services and analyzing your markets—will help you anticipate problems and opportunities and see you through the rough times that may lie ahead.”
Today there is still a strong assertion within the world of entrepreneurship that business planning is a worthwhile activity and an important part of fundamental new venture creation and effective management in increasing the aim of profitability.
While writing the business plan, you may uncover new information about your potential customers that may lead to a new product or service. This occurrence is not uncommon. You will also learn very important information about the apparent trends in your industry area.
A business plan Google search will list 1,290,000 options. If this seems overwhelming, there are resources available to help through local organizations such as Community Futures, Women’s Enterprise Centre, Business Development Bank and our Okanagan Valley Entrepreneurs Society.
Other sources of help include most chartered banks, the Kelowna or West Kelowna Chamber of Commerce and the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission.
