FREE online courses on Business Plan Basics - The Essential Elements of a
Good Business Plan - Introduction
Comprehensive, in-depth research is the key to developing an
effective business plan. Without adequate research, your plan will come across
as vague or shallow and anyone reviewing your plan will wonder if you really
know what you are talking about.
As any good salesperson knows, you have to know everything
you can about your product in order to persuade someone to buy it. In this case,
YOU are the salesperson and your product is your business. Your customers are
potential investors and employees. Since you want your customers to believe in
you, you must be able to convince them that you know what you are talking about
when it comes to your business.
To become an expert (or to fine-tune your knowledge if you
already believe you are one), you must be willing to roll up your sleeves and
begin digging through information. Since not all information that you gather
will be relevant to the development of your business plan, it will help you to
know what you are looking for before you get started. In order to help you with
this process, we have developed an outline of the essential elements a good
business plan will include along with the questions you need to ask yourself as
you gather your research data. Let's get started.
Every Successful business plan should include something about
each of the following areas since these are what make up the essential elements
of a good business plan:
