The Importance of a Business Plan for a Small Business

If you're one of the many people thinking about starting a small business, having a business plan is one of the first things you should have on your list of things to do. It doesn't matter if you're starting a small business from home or away, having a plan for your business is considered a blue print for a successful small business. What is a business plan and why do you need one?

A Business Plan
A business plan is simply a plan of what your goals are for the business, and how you plan to go about accomplishing them. Some people refer to it as a vision for your business. I like to refer to it as a blue print or a road map to accomplishing your goals.

Your plan should be spelled out in clear and defining terms and be kept simple. It should be a written document and used as a tool in managing the business.

A plan should include but is not limited to the following:

1. A statement of your business purpose
2. A description of your company
3. The goals of your company
4. The structure of the company (sole-proprietorship, partnership or corporation)
5. The product or service that you are selling
6. A market analysis of your product or service
7. Resources spent (time and money)
8. A financial plan to include financial statements
9. Information about the managing principals in the company
10. How you plan to manage and operate the company

The Importance of a Business Plan
The success of a business starts with a business plan. The plan defines your business as to what it is and how you plan to achieve the goals of the business. It presents a clear picture of your business in terms of goals and objectives.

The plan reflects how you plan to operate your business. How you plan to market your product or services. It provides a financial picture of the company.

If you are looking for money to fund your business, you're going to need a plan for your business. When you go to borrow money, lenders and investors are going to want to see written documentation in a business plan of your financial situation. Why do they want to see this information? Lenders and investors want to see this information because they are the ones taking the risk in lending your business money.

Once you have a plan in place, it's important that you follow it. If you're achieving your goals you should stick with the plan. If you are not achieving your goals then you will have go back, analyze your plan to find out what is working, what is not working and why it is not working.

A plan is not etched in stone. It is subject to change. As time goes on, things change in this world and businesses like everyone else are subject to change. A good plan will reflect changes that a company has to make to keep it competitive and successful.

Where can you find samples of a business plan for a small business? If you go into any of the search engines such as Google or Bing and type in "samples of a business plans for a small business" you will find websites with this information.

This is why it is important that a small business should have a business plan. If you look at those small businesses that are successful, you will find that most of them all started with and have a plan for their business.

The Author
Larry Zinamon has had a home based tax business for over 20 years. A few years ago he started doing work as a network marketer. If you are serious making money online, then you'll want to join the fastest growing community of home based entrepeneurs, by visiting Larry's website at http://www.PerfectWorkAtHomeOpportunity.com today.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Larry_Zinamon

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6679086

Internet Search Engine Optimization - 5 Tips On Building Your Online Presence

Building your online presence is essential for most, if not all businesses, and local SEO positioning must not be overlooked as it is likely to be more appropriate for some businesses than a global-focused online marketing campaign. There are 5 tips on building your online presence that should be remembered when setting out.

When positioning your business online it is important to understand the difference between general and local search engine optimization. General SEO will look at the position of certain keywords on the main search engines, while a local SEO will focus on keywords attuned to specific localities. The purpose of local SEO positioning is to increase online visibility within the local areas served by your business. This focused approach will be more beneficial to a company that is only able to provide services within a certain radius of their physical location. This often takes less time to show results than a more global approach as there is less competition; although, this can also mean less traffic.

The first step to positioning your business is to carry out a competitive market analysis. Review your competitors' sites by searching using the common keywords or phrases a potential customer would use to find your site. Examine the listings on the first page of results and see what title and descriptions were used. Take note of what words or phrases were used and their frequency which affect their local SEO positioning and build from this.

How you build your pages on your site will play a large part on building your online presence. Use good, detailed descriptions of your products and services and include several instances of at least three of the keywords and phrases that you have decided to use. Title each page appropriately and enter a description which must include similar keywords as those in your title and the content of your page to achieve the best possible search ranking. Remember these keywords are crucial for your local SEO positioning.

Writing related articles for your own website or forums and discussion boards are popular methods to build your online presence. Posting to a blog that you have linked back to your site is growing in popularity as well. This is key to improving your local SEO positioning and often when you submit articles to free submission sites, other webmasters seeking quality content will copy your article and use it in their web pages. The webmasters will include your author by-lines and a link back to your own site. The more sites that link to you, the better your listings will be among the search engines and the better your online presence becomes.

Submitting your site to major search engines on a regular basis is another way to expand your online footprint. Also, updating your site on a regular basis with new articles for your blog, and re-evaluating your keywords and descriptions will increase your local SEO positioning and your online presence.

And now I'd like to break down the internet search engine optimization process a little further.
Josh Taylor is the President of http://www.incisionmarketing.com and partners with small business owners to increase their profits by strengthening their online presence.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joshua_B_Taylor