Richard Forster

First of all, what's the big deal about a business plan anyway? "I know my idea will work and that's all that really matters". Or perhaps you might say… "I don't want everyone knowing my business". And of course, there may be some who "just don't have time to write all that stuff down, I need to get going and do something". Fair enough.

Consider these thoughts if you will. How many times have you started a project, have it moving along and suddenly you get interrupted? Sometimes those interruptions can last days, right? Now it's time to get back on board your project and you realize you have lost a few thoughts and ideas you had in the beginning. You challenge your brain to near painful interrogation tactics but alas, ………ya can't remember what it was. Now the painstaking effort begins to reconstruct that plan of action the hard way, in hopes that it will come back to you.

Maybe you were able to pass on part of the idea or work project verbally to a helper or employee before you were pulled away abruptly, and you trusted that individual to continue the good work you had started. Upon inspection, you discover your dependable servant wasn't so dependable after all. The job is incorrect and incomplete by your standards. But guess what? Not by your workers. He thought he did just exactly what you requested in every way and a darn good job at that by the way!

Wow. Here we go again, right? Well these are just a few examples of what can and does happen in these similar type situations all around the world everyday. That's the bad news and you're not alone in this dilemma. The good news is, there are simple, effective ways to prevent these and many more mishaps from occurring by just following a few simple, effective business plan preparation steps.

To start preparing an effective yet simple business plan it all begins with your idea. Now that's a simple start, don't you think? The next important step is to write it down so all who are supposed to can understand it. This not only includes you but also all those who at some point of the life of your conceptual idea become an active role player in its development and success. Now I always have and always will be an avid proponent of the KISS THEORY. That is to, "Keep It Simple Stupid". This approach has an astonishing high percentage of success and it will work for you too.

Consider these seven basic and practical steps that you can apply to not only writing your own, personal business plan, but helping you to stay organized and communicating with all necessary parties you need to assemble and manage the best business operation you possible can with the least amount of stress. Much of the fear of failure that paralyzes many entrepreneurs can be minimized or eliminated by placing your well thought out business plan into a written game plan all can follow and understand.

7 Steps to Prepare Your Business Plan

1.Explain your business idea overview or big picture, but include details that support the thought process including your long and short term goals for the company.

Once again, this is your effort to explain more clearly your dream company, your passion, your ministry, etc., for your future. Only you had this dream or idea and only you can convey the content and vision accurately. With clear and detailed communication, you can create more opportunity for success with those certain individuals you will need to help you make this dream a reality in the future.

Your short and long term goals help you define expectations that are measurable in a time frame. I call this" inspecting what your expecting". If you see things are not going the way you predicted at your specified check points, you still have time for correction and to get everyone, including yourself, back on track. These goals also paint a picture for the necessary support group that will need to help you build your company successfully. They can visualize and see the end result which better enables them to commit their best to you by buying in on your idea. You're probably beginning to see another picture here now and that is, starting a new business is almost always a TEAM effort. It takes many different assets to build a potentially successful enterprise. Why? You can't do it all yourself. More about that later.

2.Describe all the major players in your planned organization and what their job descriptions and expectations are. While describing each of them individually, including yourself, take time to articulate what their strengths and qualifications are for the particular assignments you are giving them. Listen to Wall Street company analyzers and takeover artists and you will always hear them evaluate a company primarily by their product or service profitability, then their management performance of the same. No matter what level or size of company your building, this is very important. Defining roles and expectations of each of these key people will help you and them immensely going through the growing stages by keeping efficiency progressing and communication clear and performance fairly measured.

3.Describe your financial condition in detail, your sales, costs and income projections for the first 12 months.

A good resource besides the web for financial forms like, financial statements, profit and loss statement, budget and sale projections is your friendly, hometown banker. If you are going to be borrowing any money from that resource, they will have specific forms they will require of you to fill out for loan consideration. Many a great business idea failed for lack of knowledge and awareness to the reality of finances to a business. If finance is not your gifting, I strongly suggest you seek a qualified, experienced professional to help you in this area. Your banker is usually willing and able to help you get started planning in this area. The SBA has a branch called SCORE which is a volunteer group of historically successful businesspeople willing to help you not only in the area of finance, but helping you write your business plan for free. A wonderful Federal service that your tax dollars helped subsidize, and if available in your area, a true blessing for new and existing business entrepreneurs. Whichever way you choose to go is your prerogative but don't fool yourself into thinking that you can "get by fine anyway" in this area of finance. The tax laws and their changes must be kept up with and they are not the same in every city you do business in. These types of financial issues, when and where to pay them, license fees and their respective filing features but be adhered to in order to avoid unnecessary litigations down the road.

4.Write out a 12 month timeline with your expected plans and results.

Here again is another tool to help you communicate your vision to others as well as a yardstick to measure your progress and eventual success. Every project is different but a basic approach for most business startups is to take the 12 month timeframe and break it into benchmark sections such as quarterly for example. Say you are staring up your business Jan 1st. Then on April 1st, July 1st and Oct. 1st, you have scheduled reviews of every aspect of your plan with the respective people you have put in charge of those areas. It works like a progress report basically, and protects you from surprises. It also allows you time to react to circumstances and situations that need attention or adjustment for one reason or another and fix them before it is too late.

5.List or describe what your resources, suppliers, and wholesalers you will be dealing with.

This explanation serves to tie some loose ends together and bring the total picture more into perspective. Most businesses will need some sort of supply lines to perpetuate their product and service offerings. The continual team building aspect now becomes more real as you involve other resources and assets to compliment your business offerings. It is always a good idea to check these resources out with your local banker or Better Business Bureau in the area you are planning to serve if you are unfamiliar with them. Setting up an organized bookkeeping system for these vendors and associated suppliers is critical. If you don't know how to do this, for heavens sake, your banker is again a good resource for helping you at least get started and often recommending someone they feel has the proper experience to help you long term.

6.Write out a contingency back-out plan

This should not be confused with a "negative approach", to your business idea. "Planning for the worst but striving for the best", is always the smarter approach to any business venture. This effort is merely to help you think your idea out thoroughly and completely. Things happen, surprises shock you and often these are things out of your control. By following the timeline plan we talked about in #4, you will be able to see some of these disaster type incidences coming before they slam you up the side of the head and pocketbook, and you can yet do something about them. If you plan your work well, and work your plan well, you reduce the controllable chance of something catastrophic happening by a substantial percentage.

7.Describe your marketing and sales plan for your product and/or service.

It stands to reason that the most important ingredient necessary to build and secure your businesses future is sales of some nature. Whether you are service or retail oriented or both, the lifeblood of your organization will be the profitability you manage from your sales results. A most effective catalyst for obtaining good sales results is a well planned, organized and financed marketing plan. Your budget will play a major role in this planning effort. What you must believe however, is that no matter how much or how little budget you have for marketing, it is integral and very important to the success of your companies sales efforts.

So now you have a 7 step simple and practical way and reasons to write out your business plan. There are as many business plan templates as there are businesses I am sure. Your particular business venture may require additional considerations and may not require all these steps above, but I assure you, if you commit and create a business plan of some similar kind, you will be miles ahead of most of your competition, and you will be able to sleep better at night because your fear of the unknown is reduced substantially with a good, solid, simple and practical plan. You can deal with a great deal of adversity when you understand what you're dealing with. When you know your plan is solid and positive, and you can count on your resources during the rough times as well as the good times, it is a great comfort in the midst of the storms. Your mind will be free to think more clearly and strategically, thus permitting you to lead your company to success rather than commiserating in a quagmire of fear and discouragement.

Let me invite you to take these 7 steps to another level of understanding. I am going to correlate the Kingdom Principles from the Word of God to them and ask you to do your own spiritual research as to how God would have these principles apply to your personal situation. Here is what will happen if you follow this suggestion. Below you will see the 7 numbers each corresponding to the 7 numbers above. I will write out a scripture for each of the 7 steps and if

you ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the wisdom and truth contained in His word as it relates to your business and the 7 steps that you can do to create your own business plan, He will answer you! He will give the desires of your heart. In the Book of Jeremiah 33:3 The Lord said, "call out to Me and I will tell you great and mighty things you do not understand". So just try it and see if I'm not right. God doesn't play favorites, so you are just as entitled to His blessings as Moses. Now that's pretty good company to be in I would say!

We have only brushed the surface of preparing a helpful and practical business plan for you in the material above. Our desire is to provide you a basis of knowledge which you can immediately apply to your business situation or need, and experience positive results. If you have benefited from these suggestions and would like to learn more about building, planning and operating your business by Kingdom Principles, contact us through the forum center or by email, and we would be glad to respond. We offer a great many resources to assist you and your staff to help grow your business through audio, video, print and web products and much more.

1.Read the book of Exodus, starting with chapter 25 through chapter 31 to verse 11, and you will see how God Himself gave Moses, the author of Exodus, a complete overview and very detailed directions both to build a temple for Him.

2.In the book of Nehemiah, starting with chapter 3, you will read how specific families and well defined job descriptions and the capabilities to do them well.

3.Proverbs 27:23-24 admonishes us to be diligent and know the conditions of our flocks and pay attention to them or risk losing them.

4.John in the book of Revelation was given a detailed timeline and lists of expectations that will happen within that timeline. Although we have yet to experience these end times happenings, they are the Divinely inspired word of God and you can be assured, they will come about exactly as predicted. Starting with chapter 5, read through the entire book and take note of the many incidences that are to take place at very specific points in the Tribulation timeline.

5.I love the story of Gideon in Judges 7 when God tells him how to pick his best warriors to go fight this particular battle against nearly 30,000 Medianites. He had Gideon go through a process to separate out the best and most alert fighters but only 300 of the 22,000 thousand qualify by God's standards. Hardly a fair fight by most standards. One of the many lessons given us here was that all things are possible with God and especially when you depend on him for your help and not man. But the process also taught Gideon who he could trust and for what purpose they would serve him. Pray for that discernment and open your ears to hear the word of the Lord.

6.Luke, when he wrote in Chapter 14:28-32 quotes a teaching parable Jesus used referring to the hardships the disciples must be prepared to endure. I think it has practical application to our contingency planning also. There is wisdom in preparing for the worst so that you can confidently expect the best.

7.Jesus had a great marketing and sales plan for going about doing the work of His Father. He knew the needs of the people and how to satisfy those needs. He just loved them. Find out what your customers needs are and then offer the best solution you can. Oh, you may not be able to love them all. That's a hard one to teach and not be hypocritical I know. But effective marketing requires building relationships with your potential customers and offering ways to help solve their business needs with your products and services. Jesus said the Kingdom of God was within us and that the Kingdom was righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. That's a guaranteed formula for your marketing and sales success and the keys to His eternal Kingdom.

There you have it, an example of using Kingdom principles for success and ministry in the marketplace. Can you see now how planning and managing your business wisely and with biblical principles provides you a template for success and a platform to minister to the lost and saved in a way that so often church will never get the chance to do. It is by your example that people will judge your character no matter what you think yourself. So as you enter the marketplace tomorrow, here is your chance to be a disciple for the Lord and show the gospel spirit to a lost and dying world. I pray that one day when your season is finished on earth, you will hear those precious words from the Lord saying, "Well done my good and faithful servant. Now…enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Rich Forster

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