Laying the Foundation Successful people make goals, so it should stand that successful businesses do the same.

Goal making is what making a business plan is about. Business plans should set specific objectives for management, create backup plans for crisis situations, fingure out financial and speacial needs, set professional standards, include goals for growing theyour business, and, most importantly, sell your the business. Business plans make it simple to share your business ideals, objectives, and goals with new employees, family, friends, and spouses. By establishing the right steps to take when starting your business, you lay the framework for success, and by thinking of a backup plan before things go wrong, you'll already have a plan and won't be discouraged by failure when it happesns. Don't sell yourself short by not creating a business plan. Taking the time to write out a clear vision of where you want to go with your business will help you think through and visualize the realistic aspects that you may not have thought about while dreaming ofabout your perfect business. It forces you to force work through the less fun problems and the nitty- gritty details. Many people don't like business plans because they believeing that things never go as planned and sothat they would just end up having to constantly create new plansones. However, I don't think this is a good enough reason. Even if things don't go as you thoughtplanned they would, your business plan can still serve as a reminderd of what you're working for and can always give you a good foundation to work off of. There are many elements that you must include and think about if you're planning on writing a business plan. Before jumping into your business plan, you should include a brief executive summary. This should be no more than one page and clearly state what you desire in a business. No one wants to read a ten page jargon- filled statement to learn about your business aims. Not to mention that it makes youit look like you can't clearly envision your business, so why should they? This executive summary should include your businesses concept, your financial features and requirements, and why your business will be successful. Then you can start writing the business plan itself. Obviously, the first thing you want on your official business plan is a detailed description of your business, the industry, and how you will profit. How will other markets in this industry affect your

Commented [CS1]: I like the title. :)

Commented [CS2]: What do is meant by this? Sell the product? Or sell the business idea to investors? Or sell the business idea to potential clients?

Commented [CS3]: Edited to avoid saying plan again.

Commented [CS4]: Citation? Commented [CS5]: I added this sentence because when the reader sees the first thing you want in the next paragraph, they could be confused because the executive summary is the first thing you want. With this sentence, readers can be reminded that the executive summary isnt considered as part of the actual business plan in this paper.

business? What are your plans for being a competitor? What are the future possibilities of your business? What will the structure of your business be? Will your business be a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corportation? Who is you clientelle and how do you plan to target them? What services or product do you plan to market to them? This is where you can really create the visioni of your business and help others envision it as well. Don't be afraid to include any unique or unusual business practices; these are what will set your businesses apart from all the rest! Secondly, what is a business without a little profit? Explain the factors that will make your business successful, such as being well organized, having the right market for your product, providing exceptional customeor service, or its offering competitive prices. AlsoThen, define your market. Who do you want to sell to? What type of services or product do you specialize in? What age groups will be most successful to your product? By doing research, you can discover your target market and then l Also be sure to look at the sales potential of your market and your products. Analyze the market and crunch numbers. This may seem tedious, but it can be crucial in setting realistic expectations and goals for your business. Through analyzing the market, you can then Ddiscuss the product pricing for your business. Have you worked the expenses of business materials and housekeeping items into your fees? Doing this will make sure you are making money right from the start by forcing you to standardize your prices, know the reasoning behind why you must make that much, and forcing you to stick to your goals. Also be sure to look at the sales potential of your market and products. Analyze the market and crunch numbers. This may seem tedious, but it can be crucial in setting realistic expectations and goals for your business. Next, you need to discuss how you want to position your business to give it an competivie edge over your competitors. Ask how other businesses in your market are positioning themselves, and ? Llook for what they are lacking, and positioning yourself in a way that will take advantage of their flaws. Highlight the positive traits that your business has that will set you apart from your competitors by asking yourself. Look for what they are lacking and position yourself in a way that will take advantage of their flaws. wWhat customer needs does your product fulfills.? Also, don't be afraid to look at other businesses and steal their strategies that work well. There is no shame in learning from others successes and failures.
Commented [CS9]: I moved these sentences here because they go better content-wise with this paragraph than with the paragraph they were in (a summary paragraph). Commented [CS8]: Edited to avoid saying competitive and competitors right next to each other. That it is a competitive edge is understood. Commented [CS7]: What is meant by this sentence? Does it mean to ask what age groups will buy your product? Commented [CS6]: Nice. I really like this sentence.

Learn from other businesses so that you can avoid their starting mistakes. If you're successful, someday somebody will probably look toward your strategies too. Finally, compile these lists of characteristics to This part of you plan should explain exactly how you want your company and service to be perceiieved by both your customers and the product market. Doing so will help you envisoiion exactly how your business will fit in or stand out from all the rest. Make sure you take the time to position your business in a way that will leave an impression. Once you know how you want to position your business, you need to decide how you will promote your businenss. How are you going to let the rest of the world know about your fantastic business and convince them to buyt your products or services? Will you pay for advertising? Will you hire outside sources to advertise, or will you create all advertisements from within the business? Will you start advertising before your business opens, or will you wait to advertise until you're up and running? Make sure that you take into consideration all marketing tools and strategies, even if you don't end up using all everything you listedof them. These include traditional advertisements, social media, packaging, public relations, sales promotions, personal sales, promoting referrals, and discounts and specials. and social media. Doing these steps will help provide you with a plan to advertise and bring in buisiness right from the start, and help preventing a discouraging and, slow- starting business. When creating a business plan, d When creating your business plan, don't be afriad to look at other businesses and steal their strategies that work well. There is no shame is learning from others success and failures. Learn from other businesses so that you can avoid their starting mistakes. If you're sucessful, someday somebody will probably look towards your strategies too. Also, don't be afraiiad to dream big. Your business plan should include plans details aboutto continually growing your business and developinge your product. Anyone can create a successful business, and a well well-thought out business plan can beis the first step in getting there. When creating my business plan, I intendplan to take all of these elementsthings into consideration. I want to clearly define the type of business I and want and what my specialties will be. My planIt will also provide a clear marketing plan for my business. The editing and writing world is becomming more and
Commented [CS12]: Can they? Consider rewording When creating a successful business, a well-thought business plan is the first step in getting there. Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 11 pt Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 11 pt Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 11 pt Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 11 pt Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 11 pt Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 11 pt Commented [CS11]: Citation? Commented [CS10]: Consider deleting this sentence because it goes off-topic.

more of a do-it-yourself industry and I intend to stay ahead of the trend. I will also need to pay special attention to everything that I need to has to beve set up before I start taking clients, along with the cost of the equipment. Although the business will be raan out of my home, I will have a dedicated office area for my business to separate work from my homepersonal life. I will have a specific email for my business and will have scheduled hours when work can be done. Before runninggn my business, I will need to set up: a busiisness website, an in- home office, a reliable computer, a buisiness email, a PpayPpal account, back- up drives, and an internet server. All of these elements I can account for in my business plan. I also will need to set my pricing. I have decided that starting rates for my work will be half off of the standard prices found on the Editorial Freelancers Association. I believe the cost of running and maintaining my business will be relatively cheap after initial starting costs and setup fees, but I will be able to assess that more thoroughly in my business plan.. I currently do not plan on spending any money on advertising or marketing. I will also need to throrougly think through and research what target market I am going for. Once I decide on that, I plan to target clients by advertising in writing communities and. I will also target websites by sending website owners them editing examples that showing how I could improve their site's content. While I will make it a policy to not provide discounts, I will offer a 10% discount for past clients who referre me to a friend, I will offer a 10% discount forto both the refferredal client and the next work of the past client.
Commented [CS15]: What about a concluding paragraph? Sum up by saying things like this: creating a business plan is important; it increases chances of success for your business; while it has a lot of elements, it can still be simple because youre just answering a series of questions; you plan on taking advantage of making a business plan; etc. Commented [CS16]: We need a bibliography. What sources did you consult for all this information? Commented [CS13]: Reworded to avoid saying need again. Commented [CS14]: I added this because this is a big part of making a business plan and relates to making sure all these elements are set up. OK?