DIGITAL STARTUP SOCIETY BLOG — Creating Your Business Plan

Home business owners often underestimate their business. If you start a home business, respect the importance and value of your home business. A home business is not a fake business. A home business can be more stable than a wage job. A home business can earn millions. Where the business is located really doesn’t matter as much as you may think. The location doesn’t define either legitimacy or potential.    Many people think of business plans as a document you create if you need a bank loan or investors, but the truth is, the business plan is a lot more...

One of the parts of your business plan that is essential is to describe your ideal customer or client. As you get to know your customers, you’ll find answers to questions such as: Who are they? Where do they hang out? What do they want? What do they need? What are their pain points? What keeps them up at night. Where do they get their information?    One practice that has become popular due to the fact that it works is to create a customer avatar from the information you collect that best describes your ideal customer. When you first...

As you are creating your business plan, the part about understanding your industry and business’ financial outlook can seem daunting. But the truth is, while the numbers are assumptions based on what you studied, if you do a good job, your projections should be pretty close. Let’s look at how you can know and document your business’s financial outlook.    Study Your Industry – Remember that killer technologies are always being invented that can impact your business and even end your business. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it, but you should keep up to date so you can mitigate...

As you work through your business plan, one of the things that come up is what do you sell. Well, it may seem easy to list products and services by name, and that’s enough. But the truth is each product or service has a reason it’s selling that has nothing to do with what it’s called but instead what it does, namely, solve problems or provide exceptional value.    At this point in your business plan journey, you’ve likely heard the idea that you need to focus on benefits over features. But sometimes, this can feel unnatural and maybe even...

As you research your customers, you’re going to figure out where they like to hang out, what keeps them awake and worried, and more. It might help you to know some of the processes of finding your customers and clients as you move forward with creating your business plan.    Create Products and Services They Need and Want – Before you design any products or services, you need to know who it’s for, why they need it, and how they can afford to pay for it. When providing your audience what they want, it will sell itself.  Know Where Your...