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National Write a Business Plan Month: Some useful tips on writing a business plan for your enterprise

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

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At GROW South Dakota, entrepreneurs and business owners are crucial to our thriving community and economy. One of GROW SD’s goals is to maintain good relationships and communication with the business community. Advice and technical assistance are offered, in order to help companies problem-solve to optimize their chances for success and expansion.

Do you own a business? Are you just starting out to own one? In either case, you can provide a sense of direction to your enterprise’s daily operations with a business plan. A well-written business plan can help you measure and guide your company goals. With December as National Write Your Business Plan Month there is no better time than now to explore how to create that key pillar of business success.

What is a business plan?

A business plan is a 3 to 10-page document that outlines a company’s goals and strategies for achieving those goals. It also outlines the internal and external processes a business needs to meet its financial projections and customer expectations.

Why is it important to create a business plan?

Having a business plan in place is important for many reasons:

  • Helps you monitor your finances
  • Provides the opportunity for unique partnerships and investments
  • Helps you determine regulations and other important requirements needed to operate your business. 
  • Makes you appealing to top-tier talent within your industry
  • Gives you a foundation from which you can refer to make further business decisions
  • Helps foster business growth within and beyond your industry.
  • Helps you determine the feasibility of your idea.

Tips for creating a business plan

Here are some tips for creating a well-written business plan:

Determine your reasoning for creating a business plan before you start writing:
To create a business plan you can use to make your business decisions, you first need to establish your expectations and the goals you want to achieve by using one. 

Define your target market:
Businesses are successful when they provide a solution to meet a customer's need.  It is important to specifically define the customer group(s) your business is serving and what solution(s) you are providing.  This information is key to determining the size of your business opportunity, how you will reach said customers, and who your competition is.

Establish a time frame for completing the goals you outlined in your plan:
By giving yourself a deadline to achieve your goals, you’ll motivate yourself and your employees to complete tasks in a timely manner. For long-term goals that require a shift in industry or brand identity, you might allow one to two years, whereas short-term goals like paying off short-term debts might be achievable within a few months.

Make sure you have reasonable goals:
It’s also important to set reasonable goals that can be achieved within the timeframe you set for your business. For example, with your budget, it might be impossible to create and launch four new products within two years, but, it might be reasonable to create and launch two new products within that same time frame. Revisit your company’s mission statement to remind you of your organization’s purpose and to help you prioritize the most reasonable goals.

A broad outline on how to go about writing a business plan

Business plans serve as an excellent guide to help you make decisions.  Here are some pointers to help you start writing one:

  • Start with the executive summary
  • Include your company description
  • Showcase market analysis
  • Outline the organization and management
  • Describe your services or products
  • Request funding
  • End with the appendix.

GROW South Dakota’s can staff assist you with every facet of your expansion projects.

South Dakota of today is characterized by...

  • A strong work ethic and high productivity workforce
  • #1 business tax climate in America
  • Accessibility to leaders to get the job done

In 2007, Grow South Dakota expanded to provide housing, community, and economic development statewide. Through services to individuals, technical assistance to community and economic development agencies, and loans to small businesses and homebuyers, GROW South Dakota has had a broad and lasting impact. Visit our website growsd.org for more details on how we can serve you and your business.

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NESDEC closed over 70 business loans for a total of $7.38M in 2023!

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GROW South Dakota
104 Ash Street East
Sisseton, SD  57262
Phone (605) 698-7654
Fax (605) 698-3038 info@growsd.org