Business Plan

[TheFaQQer]

Here's my business plan:

- Minimise expenses
- Maximise earnings

The end.

[Buffoon]

Here's my business plan:

- Minimise expenses
- Maximise earnings

The end.

NO!

Maximise allowable expenses.

Minimise recorded income.

[tim123]

he's not wrong. why would you not want to create a business plan .

Because I'm not asking anybody to back my company.

Business plans are produced to show to third parties, they aren't done for your own benefit.

tim

[DS23]

Business plans are produced to show to third parties, they aren't done for your own benefit.tim

sure, business plans are rather fundamental for startup or investment proposals but just because these are not happening does not negate the benefits that an ongoing plan can provide.

ancient chineese proverb say: "fail to plan, plan to fail"

plan, revise, review and plan better. measure success and then plan for less failure and improved profit, plan for that ideal training spot or replacing hardware, plan to identify bad payers or your dividend level and schedule, plan the amount of time you can bench yourself...

[tim123]

sure, business plans are rather fundamental for startup or investment proposals but just because these are not happening does not negate the benefits that an ongoing plan can provide.

ancient chineese proverb say: "fail to plan, plan to fail"

plan, revise, review and plan better. measure success and then plan for less failure and improved profit, plan for that ideal training spot or replacing hardware, plan to identify bad payers or your dividend level and schedule, plan the amount of time you can bench yourself...

I am a freelance contractor selling my time in six month chunks (as is 99% of this board). WTF is a business plan going to contain that is useful to me?

tim

[DS23]

just because you can't see something doesn't mean that it isn't out there waiting.... to scupper the plans you never had. ahhh - i think i see what you mean: you are travelling and you don't have any expectation about destination so wherever you are going is wherever you get.

i own a ltd company that sells it services from 1 day to multiple years so why would i not want to plan the future of my company?

[tim123]

just because you can't see something doesn't mean that it isn't out there waiting.... to scupper the plans you never had. ahhh - i think i see what you mean: you are travelling and you don't have any expectation about destination so wherever you are going is wherever you get.

i own a ltd company that sells it services from 1 day to multiple years so why would i not want to plan the future of my company?

This isn't about whether one can, it's whether one must.

Business Plans are (almost by definition) nothing more than a guess as to what might happen.

The average freelance person, selling their time, does not need to compare 'income received' against a predrawn plan to tell if they are doing well or not. They can do this by counting hours billed per quarter.

It's a trivial task to tell if you are doing well or not.

tim

[TheFaQQer]

NO!

Maximise allowable expenses.

Minimise recorded income.

D'oh - I knew I shouldn't have tried to be clever (I'm told it doesn't suit me).

My real business plan says "make lots of money, don't pay much tax"

[swboy]

I need to put together a Business Plan to send off to the VAT office before i can get my number (another loop). Never written one before so was wondering if there are any recommendations out there for sections i should have in my plan.

My accountant suggested the following
Overview of the Company and what line of work it is to provide
Overview of the Director and experience of any other staff employed
12 month Plan
5 year plan.

Now i'm ok with the first 2 but 12 month plan is simple to make money and 5 year plan is to continue to make money. But i think in a plan you put a lot more into it.

Try http://www.tvp.com.au/resources/bplanguide.htm it has some good advice.