Do I really need a business plan for this Internet thingamajig?

If you don't plot out the map, how will you know where you are going or where you are supposed to wind up?

Yes, I agree... No matter what kind of business it is, it would still a business and a business does need thorough planning. Your business plan is one of the key to have business success..

Everything you have pointed out, the facebook fan page, the directory... they are tools, not the plan.

So picture the scene: you go to a hardware store and start browsing. "NIce jackhammer! I´d love to have one!" or " that Star wars themed lawn mower sure would look good back home". You get the two of them. You get home. Missus looks at you:

" Dear, we have a foundation problem at home. I don´t know if the jackhammer will help solve it s im not an expert but I´m definitely not so sure about that thing with R2D2´s head on it. How about you get a Surveyor or a building contractor to tell you what the real problem is, what causes it, how do we solve it and which tools do we need? maybe then you would know what to buy at the hardware store".

You need a business plan. Definitely. Abusiness plan doesn´t have to be a 200 page report that will gather dust on a drawer. A self employed plumber can have a business plan drafted in no more than a single page.

In your plan you need to know where you are now with the business, where you want to bein 1, 3 and (or) 5 years time.

You need to writedown what your vision is for the business, what you want it to achieve and if possible how. Saying I want it to make money is not enough:

- You need to know how to monetize it: affiliate marketing, partnering with a travel agent, selling advertising space, pure content with Adsense as the only means of revenue, all or some of the above together or some way not mentioned there.

- You need to have an exit plan: would you be willing to sell it if someone came and said I´ll buy it? how much would it sell for? how do I calculate that? Do I want to keep it instead? Do I want o grow it to the point where it would go way beyond what my current plan is with it?

- You should crunch some numbers (I could write on and on about this one because I love this part but I´ll leave it at that for now).

- You should do a basic SWOT analysis


And possibly a few other things that now escape me because I just woke up ( night shift is a killer).

Don´t be scared if all of what I just wrote seems like an abyss you can´t cross. It´s just not the case. There are many organizations that will help you create your business plan, even free of charge (many banks will even give you a simple software kit to do it, It happens in UK, I´m sure other places have other ways too.)

Once you have these few things placed in your mind you will look at your business as... well... a business, rather than a thingamajig.

Most people don´t understand the incredible opportunity the Internet represents. For the first time ever you can setup a full blown business at only a fraction of the cost of a bricks and mortar one.

Problem is, in most people´s mind, the fact that you cand do this with so little risks means they don´t feel the pressure to perform they would if they had bought or rented office space, where paying 3 or 4 full time employees, business supplies, commuting costs, etc.

Don´t allow yourself to think because you don´t have those expenses and you don´t lose much if it doesn´t work you can just do whatever. You owe it to yourself and to the rest of the world to make the damn thing work. I want to visit your country ( I know because I want to visit every country in the world), and if I end up having a ****ty experience because I read some other guy´s website and he wasn´t anywhere near as good as you with his guide I will be very pissed off, because he failed... and so did you.

Of course this is just my personal opinion, so feel free to disregard it at your earliest convenience.

If you don't have a goal(s) or plans to get there (call it a business plan, an action plan, or just a plain ol' plan), how will you know what you need to do, how you need to do it, and whether what you did was worth it?

I can guarantee you only one thing: if you don't have a goal, you will surely get there.

Ron

Yeah, what businesses need first and for most is a business plan, a business plan, and, of course, a business plan.

Well, without it, how would you know if you're in the right track? How would you know that this month's cost is this much and this much is the targeted revenue. It's like a calendar, a schedule, target list and an organizational chart all together. People need business plans to get their business running in the right direction.

And if you're just starting out with business on your mind, you might as well create a business plan first and for most.

Your right! And He should include listing those plans and steps he fails to implement. In one or way or another, this can help us not to keep on repeating the plans we already fails to achieved.