For small businesses, business planning is key. Many studies have shown that small businesses with a business plan have a greater chance of seeing growth and success. However, much like many parts of running a business, professional business planning services can be expensive. Here’s how you can use a business plan to increase your chances of business success, without breaking the bank.  

Know Where You Are Headed

It is best to start your business plan with the goals you have for your company already in mind. This will save you time during the process, and save you money if you hire a business planning consultant. Your consultant can help you understand if your goals are feasible for your business as you go along in the process. Keep in mind that your business plan will grow with your business, so you can always make adjustments later. Ensuring that your business plan and your goals are scalable with your business is also something a business planning consultant will be able to help you with.  

Write the Key Components

If you are planning on applying for small business loans or grants, most lenders (including the Small Business Administration, or SBA) will require a business plan as part of your application. This means that the business plan you set out with needs to include nine key components. These nine components are: key partnerships, key activities, key resources, your value proposition, customer relationships, customer segments, channels, cost structure and revenue streams. You can find more information on each of those components here. Time is money, and you don’t want to waste yours redoing a business plan for a lender. To ensure that your business plan is the strongest it can be, we recommend hiring a business planning consultant with an affordable rate.  

Hire a Consultant from Another Small Business

No one understands the unique struggles of a small business like a fellow small business. Not only are they in the same boat as your business, they also understand that running a business of any size is expensive. This means that they’ll offer personal service and competitive rates that are more affordable than big-time business planning services.   At Better Accounting, we believe that the fact that we are also running a small business helps us understand our clients better. We offer personalized and affordable business planning and tax strategy services to get your business going on the right foot. Whether you have been in business for years or you are just starting out, an expert from Better Accounting will help you set your business in the right direction.