Heather Moon

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Suzy Bills
Elang 410
1 October 2014
Business Plans

Comment [KH1]: Perhaps we could work

on brainstorming a more specific title?

So I want to start a business. What do I do? What should I charge people? How do I get my
name out there? Where do I even begin? Im sure most beginning freelancers had the same
questions that I had when I was looking at freelancing. It just seemed so daunting to me to be
thinking about having my own business. The responsibility and freedom was enticing, but it all

Comment [KH2]: Specifically, what was so

daunting?

looked a bit overwhelming. All I had was an idea and a hope that the idea would work.
Im sure Im not the only one who felt that way the first time learning about freelancing.
When starting a freelancing business, one a person always has a lot of things to think about and a lot

Comment [KH3]: OK? Something like this

to show a clearer transition from pervious
paragraph?

of questions to answer. There are just so many elements that need addressingto be addressed, so it
can be pretty overwhelming to someone with only a dream and no idea where to go from there.
Freelancers, just like anybody, are likely to make mistakes. Thats okay. But what is I think
oone of the biggest mistakes that freelancers make? Probably the biggest mistake freelancers make is

Comment [KH4]: Something like this to

show transition? Clearer now for reader?

that sometimes freelancers start a business withoutis that they dont have having any idea of where
they want to go in their freelancingbusiness. Thats where a business plan comes in. Business plans
are a guideline for help give the freelancer a guideline of what to do for their starting business and
how to get there. Many people have described a business plan as a roadmap to starting a business
(Ward).
Elements of a Business Plan

Comment [KH5]: Expound on this idea

here? Why does this idea of a roadmap
really matter? Why should you care or your
reader care about it?
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There can be lots ofmany different elements to the business plan, depending on what type of
business you a freelancer wants to start up. Here are the basic elements: (1) executive summary, (2)

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company information, (3) services offered, (4) competitive analysis, (5) marketing plan, (6) plan of
operations, and (7) financial projections (Loughran). I want to talk about each element and my own
ideas for incorporating the elements into my business plan for my freelance editing business.

Comment [KH6]: Consider putting

numbers to help the reader keep track of
how many elements could be included in a
business plan.

Executive Summary

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Executive summary talks about the purpose of the business and how you I will plan to

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achieve that purpose. This section is kind of the general summary of the business, and of what you I
hope to accomplish in your business. For me, the purpose of my business is to provide editing
services to those individuals writing fiction, mainly novels and short stories.
Company Information
Company information talks about the fundamental facts about your my business. Things like

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the hours you I will plan to keep, my phone numbers, my company name, and the my address all fall
under this element. Since Ill be doing freelanceedit, Ill need to decide whether I want to have an
actual office or work out of the home. I think Ill probably want to have a separate phone altogether
or another phone number thats just business related so that I dont end up mixing up my business

Comment [KH7]: OK? Clearer now?

life with my personal life.

Comment [KH8]: Interesting idea.

Offered Services

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Services offered talks about the kind of services your business will offer to clients. This

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section of my business plan should bewill detailed and specificly my on your type of services. For
my business, I would like to offer substantive and copyediting services to fiction authors. I have a lot

Comment [KH9]: Great, concise line.

of experience in both types of editing, so I feel I can offer these two types to clients.

Comment [KH10]: You say you have lots of

experience editing. But maybe here you
could provide examples. Show not tell
principle here maybe?

Competitive Analysis
Competitive analysis takes a look at the industry and the competition that youll I will be

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facing. This part of my business plan is where you I will have to do a lot of research to see whats
going in the industry youve that I have decided on and how much in demand your my services are.

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Its also good to look at the competition to see what theyre doing and how you I will plan to
compete. For me, I want to look up the different services there are for fiction writers, as well as the
major editing and publishing firms. I know theres a pretty big niche for fiction editors, so I need to
find out whos good and how I can become even better.
Marketing Plan
The Marketing marketing plan talks presentsabout how you I will plan to get your my name
out to potential customers. Some One ideas I have are is finding clients through publishing firms. I
can find people who are writing books and in need of my services. I also want to look at social

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Comment [KH11]: Perhaps unclear

idiomatic expression for non-native English
speakers?

media websites, mainly LinkedIn and but even Twitter. LinkedIn would be helpful in setting up my
own professional profile. People can look at my experience and contact me through there. I can also
use LinkedIn for research and connecting with those individual who are writing in areas that I am
interested in and will be able to provide them with great help. Ive found Twitter to be helpful for

Comment [KH12]: More specific now?

Something like this?

connecting with people with common interests.

Comment [KH13]: What are some of your

common interests? Perhaps provide an
example here?

Finding others who are writing books would be a good way of getting clients interested in
my work. Getting my name out there through social media would probably be my best prospect. I
also want to take advice from The Wealthy Freelancer and create my own buzz piece (Slaunwhite,

Comment [KH14]: What will your buzz

piece be exactly?

Savage, and Gandia). I can use it to get the attention of potential clients and show them that Im
very a capable at editingeditor and that I know what Im talking about.
Plan of Operations
Plan of operations discusses how you I will plan to run your my business, meaning you that I
will talk about what you I will do during a typical business day. For me, Id like my day to go where I
do a couple hours of editing, followed by breaks, then more editing. I am unable to edit cant do it
for long periods of time, since I get burned out, so having a break in between projects is definitely
good for me. I also like to plan a couple of meetings with potential clients during the day. I also

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want to avoid working on the weekends, so Ill need to incorporate my hours around that so I dont
get phone calls during time that I could spend doing . . on the weekend.
Financial Projections
Financial projections: tThis element is a financial estimate where you I will talk about how
much you plan to be earning. I want to look at projects and decide what my project fee is. It would

Comment [KH15]: Example. Why dont

you want people calling you on weekends?
Some people are fine with working then.
Give an example of what hobbies you like to
do then or that you want to have family or
relaxation time. Just an option.
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be good for me to develop a fee schedule for different projects so that when I discuss pricing with
clients, I have something from which to base my estimate from. As for estimating what my earnings
will be, I dont have any ideas for that yet.
Conclusion
A business plan takes more thought and research than one I originally thought it

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wouldthinks, but I see how it can be a valuable tool to use. Before looking at business plans, I didnt
really think about what I wanted to do for my business; I didnt really have a good idea of what my
marketing plan was and how I wanted to go about my daily business activities. This plan helped me
see what I want to do, what Ive looked at, and what I need to do more research on. I definitely need
to look up my competition to see what kind of niche I may want to be in and whether I can make a
profit in that niche or not.
The business plan has helped me see holes in my own planning and has given me
something tangible to work with. I think thats where most freelancers run into problems: they dont
have something substantial, just an idea. The business plan helped me to get one step closer to
making my dream job a reality.

Comment [KH16]: Great line.

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Works Cited
Loughran, Marie. Introduction to Writing a Business Plan. Artsandcraftsartsandcrafts.about.com. N.P.

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n.d. Web. 23 Sept. ember 23, 2014.

Slaunwhite, Steve, Pete Savage, and Ed Gandia. The Wealthy Freelancer. New York: Alpha, 2010. Print.
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Ward, Susan. Business Plan. Sbcanadainfosbcanadainfo.about.com. N.P. n.d. Web. 23 September Sept.

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23, 2014.
Slaunwhite, Steve, Pete Savage, and Ed Gandia. The Wealthy Freelancer. New York: Alpha, 2010. Print.

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