Don’t skip on planning, if you wish to stay in business for long. You, the owner of the business, should write the plan, whether you are using the business plan to seek financial resources or evaluate future growth, to define a mission or give guidance for running the business. Agreements should be negotiated in writing and documented in the business continuity plan.

In fact, Kaiser Permanente has been rated the most cost-efficient plan in the markets we serve.2 Let us help you make the right investment in your business — for yourself and for your employees. Craig Jackson has dabbled in business planning before. Business plan templates offer step-by-step instructions and prefabricated slides for your executive summary, company overview, financial plan, and more.

4. Outline the specifics of your business, utilizing the “who, what, when, where, why, and how” approach; make sure all of these answers are provided within the text of the plan. For help in the planning stages, many new owners use an online business plan service.

That is not to say that additional products, applications, markets, and distribution channels should be discarded – instead, they should be used to enrich and support the highly focused core strategy. A start-up plan for your small business will certainly settle any doubts as to whether or not to pursue beginning a business you take into consideration, but will also serve as your roadmap to take you to the next levels of growth.

Such services provide potential investors with details on how a new business will become profitable. But if you selling to other businesses (B2B), you may have a few key customers that are critical to the success of your business, or a handful of important customers that are trend leaders in your space.