Enterpreneurship Development

Entrepreneurship Development

Lesson 8 : Business Planning

Uses and Benefits of a Business Plan

A business plan is often prepared when:

• Starting a new organization, business venture, or product (service) or
• Expanding, acquiring or improving any of the above.

There are numerous benefits of doing a business plan, including:

• To identify an problems in your plans before you implement those plans.
• To get the commitment and participation of those who will implement the plans, which leads to better results.
• To establish a roadmap to compare results as the venture proceeds from paper to reality.
• To achieve greater profitability in your organization, products and services -- all with less work.
• To obtain financing from investors and funders.
• To minimize your risk of failure.
• To update your plans and operations in a changing world.
• To clarify and synchronize your goals and strategies.

For these reasons, the planning process often is as useful as the business plan document itself.