What is Business Plan

A Business Plan can be written anyway you want it. This design works for both tiny and large business:

• Mission Statement 
• Objectives
• Milestones
• Budgets

Mission statement, in my book, is one precise single sentence stuck in the brain, like "I shall be the leading supplier of Widgets for the mass market in my State".

Mission clarity and precision makes all future decisions much easier. Any issue at hand either fits the Mission or it doesn't. For example, the above Mission says "mass market" so product quality is hardly an issue - all that really matters in the mass market is price. Having a clear simple Mission statement eliminates time wasting thoughts. A generalised Mission of "I am going into the import business" is a recipe for doom. 

Importantly, our sub-conscious mind does wonderful things when we have a clear long term goal. Our subconscious automatically keeps us on track - guides us along the shortest path to our goal. In absence of a clear simple goal we tend to wander in a criss-cross path covering maybe 10 times more area than necessary. Little is more powerful than our subconscious mind at work on our goal - it ticks away while we are asleep at work or at play. Know your clear goal and your subconscious will somehow make you get there ... just keep the Mission words simple.

Objectives is the general master plan to achieve the Mission. It's the steps to reach the top of the ladder. It's a spreadsheet of number of years / product variations / geography or whatever as necessary to achieve the Mission. Like, year 1 = $x sales at Timbuktu / other. Year 2 = $x at Whatchama. Timing to complete each objective is important. But, go easy on objectives for the first year where just achieving break-even is a prize.

We periodically review /adjust/change our Objectives according to actual found conditions from year to year, but our Mission itself never changes. Our Objectives should consume no more than one page - a sort of general 3 or 5 year plan if you like. 

Milestones - the same as those mileage stones you whiz by on the side of a highway journey. Each marks one mile of a journey. This is short term detailed planning for the first year ahead.

Go to the year one Objective. Compile a list of the various elements of marketing, finances, etc necessary to reach that year one objective. Each one of these elements is a Milestone - one step closer to the end of the journey. Research / work out / write down what must be done to get past each Milestone while noting the costs. 

Budgets. Year one Budget now automatically falls into place - each budget sub-heading is one of those Milestones. We see these milestones whizzing by once we get the business up and going.