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Business plan outlines vary in their complexity. Depending on your situation you may just want to follow a very basic business plan outline. Regardless, the process of sitting down, creating a business plan outline, and writing a business plan is one of the most valuable exercises you will do.

Basic Business Plan Outline

List your business credentials – why are you qualified to start this business and sell your products and services?

List your staff: Is it going to be just yourself, or do you have a definite plan in terms of when you are going to hire sales, technical, or administrative staff?

Project revenue: Will you be selling services, products, or a combination of both?

How much revenue will come from products? How much profit will come from products?

How much revenue will come from services? How much profit will come from services?

Sales and marketing plan: outline your major sales and marketing activities – the things that you’re going to do to bring in key, sweet spot clients. Talk about what you’re doing on a month-by-month or week-by-week basis. How much time you think it’s going to take up and how much money you think it’s going to cost to execute.

Operations: Where will you be located? Home office or rented space? How will you get to your clients’ places of business? Personal car or leased vehicle? Will you need to rent facilities from time to time for meetings, seminars, etc…

Finance: What capital do you need to start? Where will you get this capital? Where will you get additional capital during your first year in business?

Salary and Payroll: What are your expectations for your personal salary or drawings. Do you have to pay staff as well?

Expertise of principals: What makes you and/or your partners qualified? What kind of skills and experience do you bring to the table that will be of valuable to this business venture and valuable to the clients you want to pursue?

The Bottom Line On Business Plan Outlines

Business plan outlines can be as detailed as you want. The most important aspect is that your business plan outline covers off the basics. Make sure the business plan outline you adopt allows you to answer the five W’s and provides you with a plan for how you will start and operate your business.

So what exactly is a “Small Business Lone Ranger?” A “Small Business Lone Ranger” is a business owner who does all the work themselves.

No matter how big or small the project, the Lone Ranger handles 100% of it. Either because they’re afraid to let go of control or because they feel they can’t afford to hire help. Can you relate? I know I can!

So what’s wrong with doing everything yourself? Well it’s tough to grow your business if you’re busy managing every single detail. I know it’s a bit scary to let go of control or to consider actually hiring help, but I also know it’s necessary if you want to grow your business to its fullest potential.

Take my 10-question quiz to determine if YOU are a Lone Ranger. And don’t worry if you are, I’ve got some suggestions to help you rid yourself of this business-stifling affliction!

1. Do you work alone?

2. Do you feel no one can do your work quite as well as you?

3. Do you often feel there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done?

4. Do you maintain your own website?

5. Do you do your own accounting and billing?

6. Do you write your own sales and marketing copy?

7. Do you get your own mail?

8. Do you buy your own office supplies?

9. Do you create or deliver all your products and services by yourself?

10. Do you fulfill and ship all your sales yourself?

I think you can see this list could go on and on and on, but you get the idea. So if you answered “Yes” to most or all of these questions, guess what, YOU ARE A LONE RANGER! That’s okay, I’ve been one, too.

When your business is small you have to wear many hats because you can’t afford to hire help. But at what point do you make a decision to start delegating tasks to someone else? ANSWER: When the time you’re spending on administrative tasks involved in keeping your business running prevents you from spending time growing your business.

As a business owner, you should aim to spend at least 60% of your time marketing. You are the BEST person to market your product or service. And marketing is the only way your business will grow and flourish. So if you’re too busy paying bills, getting the mail, responding to email and running out to pick up office supplies, then guess what? You don’t have time to market. And your business cannot grow.

So what’s a Small Business Lone Ranger to do? Here are 6 tips:

1. Make a list of all the tasks that don’t require your specific expertise or talent (things like sorting mail, buying office supplies, and filing).

2. Make a second list of the tasks that consume a lot of your time but are OUTSIDE your specific area of expertise (things like maintaining your web site or managing your business finances and accounting).

3. Determine how many hours per week you spend doing these tasks.

4. Determine what additional sales and marketing, or other business-building activities you would have time for if you didn’t have to do these other tasks.

5. Estimate how many additional clients or sales you could generate with this extra time spent on marketing and building your business.

6. Make a decision to hire an assistant, bookkeeper, web site manager or whatever specialists are appropriate to handle these tasks. Determine what you can afford based on your results in Tip Number 5.

I know you’re probably wondering how you’ll be able to afford it. But really, we can’t afford NOT to hire help. Unless we are satisfied with keeping our business small. And don’t get me wrong, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that — I’ve done it for seven years. But if you have a bigger vision (like I do now), then you need a team to help you make that vision a reality.

To start with, your team should include an assistant to do the work that is not a good use of your time. This doesn’t have to be a full-time employee; I’m starting out with someone just a few hours a week. You’ll also want to get a bookkeeper and a CPA to manage your finances — they’ll not only free you up from your accounting tasks, they’ll also help you keep more of what you do make.

So take a moment to get a clear vision of what kind of business you want to create. And if that vision is larger than you can accomplish on your own, take the six steps above to get a team to help you make it a reality.

Business startup funding is always a worry. Do I have enough money to start? Can I quit my job to concentrate full time? Will I be able to cover my monthly expenses?

When the time comes to actually launch your business you must have done your homework regarding your business startup funding needs. You need to be prepared so that if the opportunity to accelerate your launch presents itself, you’re ready.

Assess Your Personal Finances

Take out your checkbook and credit card statements and review all of your personal expenses. Find all the frills and eliminate them. It’s tough to do, but if you’re really committed to getting this business of the ground you need to reduce your personal expenses.

Taking control of your business startup funding doesn’t mean you have to quit enjoying life. You just have to prioritize for now. Skip the night show and catch a matinee instead. If you’re going out for dinner, clip a 2 for 1 coupon or go to the early bird. Hold off on that tropical vacation for one year.

Evaluate Your Business Expenses

Another element of business startup funding is your minimum business expenses. Luckily, computer consulting is not a capital intense venture. You will have business expenses to cover though, so you must analyze what those are and figure them into your business startup funding needs.

Do the Math

Total up your personal and business monthly expenses. To launch a successful business you need to have at least six months of cash in the bank OR an alternative source of affordable capital. Many people won’t have 6 months cash to cover their business startup funding needs. If this is you, you will need to find, or keep, a job.

Limit the job to 15 – 20 hours per week so you leave enough time to concentrate on building your business. Whether it’s teaching some computer courses at the college or working at an electronics store, you have to be bringing is some reliable income. This reliable income will give you the cushion you need to spend time building your client base.

Securing adequate business startup funding is one of the most challenging aspects of launching a small business. You don’t want to minimize its importance though. Inadequate business startup funding is at the root of many business failures.

The Bottom Line on Business Startup Funding

Do what you need to do now, in order to do what you want to do in the future. Having enough business startup funding means conserving your cash mercilessly. You have to know where your money is going and have enough to cover 6 months of expenses. If your business startup funding is a little short, a part time job is often the most practical means of securing the funding you need.

Details can kill your web business. And I’m not talking about details killing your business from the standpoint of being careless about them. While it’s true that being careless can hurt your business, everybody knows that (even if they don’t always put it into practice).

The way I’m talking about that details can kill your business is if you focus too much on them.

Say what?

How on earth can focusing too much on details hurt your business?

Ever tried to walk on a railroad track?

When I was a kid, my aunt and uncle had a house right next to a railroad track. My uncle once challenged me to walk on the track without falling off.

Hey, it’s not like walking a tightrope. That track was as wide as my feet. Should be no problem. So I started walking it, carefully watching my feet with each step to make sure I stayed on the track. But I couldn’t get more than a couple of steps before I’d lose my balance and fall off.

My uncle taught me that the only way to walk that track successfully was to look at a point a ways down the track – not down at my feet. By setting a goal and focusing on it, I could walk on that track as easily as if I was walking right on the ground. It was only when I focused on my feet that I tripped up.

It works that way with business, too. Our natural reaction is to put all our attention into “watching our feet” as we deal with this short-term detail and that. But when we do that, we “fall off the track” of where we wanted to go.

Now, I’m not saying that we should ignore the details of our business as we gaze wistfully toward our vision of the knock-out business we dream of building. You never get anywhere without taking step after step after step to reach your goal. But you never get anywhere, either, if all you look at is the present step.

The point in the distance that you need to focus on is the need your audience has and the solution you have that will fill it. It requires you to understand your audience – who they are and what they need and what concerns stand in the way of them choosing your solution.

It’s way too easy for us to focus on details, namely, on the latest traffic building tips or tools, the latest bells and whistles we can add to our site. Details are usually driven by facts, and facts are something we feel we can learn and control. Understanding the people who make up our pool of potential customers is a lot more scary. It requires us to step outside ourselves into the hearts and minds of other people.

Given the choice between dealing with predictable facts and details or dealing with unpredictable human nature, most of us will jump at dealing with facts any time.

But that just gets us stuck staring at our own feet as our feet inexplicably slip off the track. The only way to stay on track is by looking toward your ultimate goal: you helping people solve some problem in return for them repaying you fairly for the time and effort you put into it.

That’s really the most simple definition of what business is. The details are not your business. The facts and the tips and the tools are not your business either. They’re merely the steps you take to get to that point in the distance. And the more you take that to heart, the more easily you’ll stay on the track toward your goal.

Starting a business and becoming successful is often part of the American Dream. But there is a difference between starting a business and building a successful business. Many businesses fail within the first few years of existence due to the lack of planning for the long-term. There is not enough vision and there is not enough done to strengthen the business properly from the ground up.

If you want to start a business there is an easy way to get a better understanding of why some businesses fail and others don’t. When starting a business think about it similar to building a house. If done right it is protecting you against any kind of storm or danger of the outside world and will last for a long time. It offers shelter and protection. For you and your business that could be translated to that you want to have a business that is able to weather economical ups and downs (=storm) and that will provide income to pay the bills (shelter and protection).

When building a house there are several different steps you need to follow to have the house build. You know you want a house, but you got to pick a location and get an architect to plan everything out. In the business world that would be: you know you want to start a business, but you have to come up with a business idea and work out a business plan. The next thing for the house would be to build the foundation (and eventually the basement) for the house. In the business world – you got to build the initial infrastructure (example: connecting with vendors, find a manufacturer for your product, create a sales team, rent office space, get a delivery truck, etc.). Once that is in place you able to actually do business and earn some money. But you are not completely done yet. You need to build a frame, put in windows and you also need a roof on house. For your business this means that you pay off debt, improve business processes and get professional help when needed (example: find a tax accountant, select a payroll service, etc.).

Once the house is build you probably want to fill it with furniture and make it livable for the future. Nobody wants to sleep on the floor, right. Again translating this to the business world it could mean that you invest money you earned back into your business. You buy machinery instead of leasing it. Eventually you buy a building, hire more staff, develop more products, move into new markets, build up a high cash reserve, and buy other businesses and so forth. This is often the step where winners and losers separate. Re-investing money into the business is a key factor for success. If you go and spend all the money on your own salary to buy things you have nothing to go back to when the economy slips into a recession or if disaster strikes.

The successful business owner has build up a cash reserve or can borrow money from bank – securing loans with the assets of the business. Going back to building a house this pretty much matches the same efforts. You pay off your mortgage and have equity available to eventually borrow against when emergency arises. Emergencies do not include paying off credit cards to use them again or to buy a car. Financially responsible you should be looking at the long term and not finance short-term goods with long-term debt.

If you are just starting your business, or if you have just developed a new product or service for an existing business, one of the first questions you need to answer is, “What should I name it?” And while you may feel pressure to make this decision quickly, I caution you to not make it lightly. What kind of things should you take into consideration when choosing a name?

Don’t Use Your Own Name

Well, first of all, use a name other than your own name. I often see service business professionals opening up shop and simply using their name, and the title of the service

they offer. For example: Joe Smith, Accountant. I made this mistake myself, early on in my business, operating as Debbie LaChusa, Marketing Consultant. Why don’t I recommend this? Because your name means absolutely nothing to your prospects. Often you only have a split second

to get a prospect’s attention. Make the most of that split second by having a name that communicates something of value about your business. Or a name that tells your prospects what your business is all about, or represents

a benefit you offer, or how you deliver your service differently or better than your competitors.

Create A Meaningful Name for Your Business

When I was operating without a business name, I remember calling prospects and clients, and having the receptionist ask, “Debbie with what company?” I realized relatively soon that if I wanted to be taken seriously, and I wanted to be quickly understood, I needed a company name. I was trying to build a business after all, and I wanted people to recognize who I was and what I offered. So I started using the name, DLC Marketing and I incorporated to make it official. Now I at least had a real business name, and when I contacted prospects they took me seriously. It was amazing the difference it made in the number and caliber of clients I was able to land. All of a sudden, I was a company, not an individual. Mind you, nothing else had changed. My services were still the same. I still worked out of my home. I still did not have a staff (although I had to hire partners to help out with all of the work!). But suddenly I came across differently when calling on prospects.

But even then I thought, DLC Marketing, Inc. still isn’t a great name. What does it tell people about what I do? It tells them I do marketing, and certainly I, or my web site copy, could explain my services and how I was unique. But what if they never got past the still somewhat nondescript name?

Choose A Name That Communicates An Idea

So I started thinking about how I could name my business differently to communicate my unique selling proposition more clearly. And that is when I came up with the name 10stepmarketing. To avoid having to re-incorporate, and because 10stepmarketing is a service I am offering

that is closely related to the marketing consulting services I offer through DLC Marketing, Inc. I have chosen not to

re-name my business, but to rather just market using the 10stepmarketing name. The initial response has been amazing. Suddenly people instantly want to know more about what I do. They ask questions and they want an explanation. That never happened with the other names

I was using.

You see, the name 10stepmarketing communicates

an idea. Something the other names did not do. So the prospects I encounter that resonate with the idea it represents immediately want to know more. Is 10stepmarketing a great name? I don’t know. But I do know it is strategically

focused on the services I deliver, and I am almost embarrassed to say that my previous business names were not (I am a marketing consultant after all. I should know better!). And I can’t argue with the response I have received thus far.

Creating a successful and profitable business is no easy task. It’s reliant on many outside factors, including competition, timing and demand, which you have very little to no control over at the beginning. Assuming all of these outside factors are in your favor, having a sound business plan can lead to having a successful business. Here are five steps to consider when you’re building your business from the ground up:

1. Determine your business. What are you selling?

This question isn’t as easy to answer as you may think. For example, Nike is in the sportswear business, but the truth is that when you buy a pair of Nike shoes and a t-shirt at the mall you’re buying a lot more than sportswear — you’re buying an image, a feeling. You’re buying the Nike brand. Richard Thalheimer, the former CEO of The Sharper Image and the founder of RichardSolo.com, has worked in specialty retail for more than 30 years. When asked what business he’s in, he’ll tell you “convenience” or “innovation” before he specifies any particular industry, and he’s built one of the most powerful brands in America. Keep in mind, there’s more to a product than, well, the product. Your brand is what sets your product apart from your competitor’s.

2. Select your market. Who are you selling to?

This step is a bit less interpretive as the first, though equally important. Who are you selling to? or more importantly, what do you know about this person? Understanding your consumer is a key to success. What do they do? Where do they hang out? What do they watch on television? These are just a few of the questions that you should be able to answer about your consumer. Knowing the answers to these questions can answer a lot of questions of your own when it comes to a devising a marketing strategy. Richard Thalheimer understood his market for The Sharper Image, probably as well as they understood themselves. From an article in the LA Times, Tracy Wan, who was president and chief operating officer under Thalheimer says “Richard has the amazing ability to figure out the things that people want to have.” This ability to perceive your consumer’s desire can only be a result of knowing them like your neighbor.

3. Create a marketing strategy. How do you speak to these people?

This is a culmination of understanding your brand and your consumer. As mentioned in number two, understanding your consumer can answer a lot of questions concerning your marketing strategy: Where should you advertise? What’s the voice of your brand? What kind of prices are reasonable for this demographic? In order to engage your consumer, a.k.a. sell your product to them, you must know where your advertisements will be noticed, how to speak to them, and how much they will be able to spend, among many of things. Really, this step should have been combined with the last because who your market is dictates your marketing strategy entirely.

4. Learn by example. Seek advice from those who have done it.

There are many books written by professionals who have already started their own business and have been successful in doing so. One that comes to mind immediately, as we’ve already mentioned him a couple of times, is Richard Thalheimer. “Creating Your Own Sharper Image” shares the story of how he grew his tiny office supply company, The Sharper Image, into the thriving enterprise that it has become today.

Remember, building a successful business in not all about the dollars and cents. Equally as valuable is you brand equity and your ability to engage your consumer, which is only attainable by understanding them. Assuming there is a demand for your product, and you can compete with the other brands, following these four steps shall guide you in the right direction.

Beginning a mobile food concession business is a very challenging but possibly rewarding business. It is not just a simple undertaking to be taken lightly. There are several things that need to be researched and done in order to truly begin a concession business in the right and legal way. There are licensing issues, decisions about food choice and location and equipment you are going to have to make. These are just a few of the many decisions and regulations you must make and be aware of to start a business like this one.

One of the first things you will need to research to run a concession business correctly and legally is to find out the regulations of your city, county, and state governments. These regulations include health standards, location standards, and other standards that you will need to be aware of if you do not want to receive a citation, fine, or even be shut down. All of these things can happen if you do not research the local laws concerning your business. As is appropriate with any type of business, research everything before you make an investment talk to other people in the same field that you want to be in. Try to learn everything you can in order to be fully informed about the decision you are about to make.

Some states have regulations regarding how many feet you must be away from the highway where you set up. Many states have fees you must pay in order to be properly licensed. Most states have health inspections to make sure everything is up to code for service to the public. All of these requirements and more will be things you may encounter. Never assume it is simple.

Another thing you are going to encounter is deciding what type of food you are going to sell. Are you going to sell prepackaged food that you don’t have to cook or are you going to prepare everything by hand on a grill. Whichever of these you choose, it can also make the difference between what type of license you must acquire. Also, are you going to choose something unique or go with a standard that has already proven successful? Whatever you choose, this is something you must think about in depth.

Location is also something you will come upon when opening a concession business. This is one of the most important things to consider because if you are in the improper location, it may be difficult to attract customers. This is the one of the biggest keys to making money.

Equipment is another thing you must decide on. Are you going to purchase a hotdog cart in order to make a smaller investment, or are you going to choose to purchase a concession trailer, which is a considerably larger investment?

Determining these decisions all go together. Location and equipment are partly decided by what type of food you choose to prepare. Food and location are also decided partly by what equipment you can afford. Each and every decision you make affects another decision after it. Knowing what you are going to encounter is an important reason for researching.

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Young men after they get through their business training, or apprenticeship, instead of pursuing their avocation and rising in their business, will often lie about doing nothing. They say; “I have learned my business, but I am not going to be a hireling; what is the object of learning my trade or profession, unless I establish myself?’”

“Have you capital to start with?”

“No, but I am going to have it.”

“How are you going to get it?”

“I will tell you confidentially; I have a wealthy old aunt, and she will die pretty soon; but if she does not, I expect to find some rich old man who will lend me a few thousands to give me a start. If I only get the money to start with I will do well.”

There is no greater mistake than when a young man believes he will succeed with borrowed money. Why? Because every man’s experience coincides with that of Mr. Astor, who said, “it was more difficult for him to accumulate his first thousand dollars, than all the succeeding millions that made up his colossal fortune.” Money is good for nothing unless you know the value of it by experience. Give a boy twenty thousand dollars and put him in business, and the chances are that he will lose every dollar of it before he is a year older. Like buying a ticket in the lottery; and drawing a prize, it is “easy come, easy go.”

He does not know the value of it; nothing is worth anything, unless it costs effort. Without self-denial and economy; patience and perseverance, and commencing with capital which you have not earned, you are not sure to succeed in accumulating. Young men, instead of “waiting for dead men’s shoes,” should be up and doing, for there is no class of persons who are so unaccommodating in regard to dying as these rich old people, and it is fortunate for the expectant heirs that it is so.

Nine out of ten of the rich men of our country to-day, started out in life as poor boys, with determined wills, industry, perseverance, economy and good habits. They went on gradually, made their own money and saved it; and this is the best way to acquire a fortune. Stephen Girard started life as a poor cabin boy, and died worth nine million dollars. A.T.

Stewart was a poor Irish boy; and he paid taxes on a million and a half dollars of income, per year. John Jacob Astor was a poor farmer boy, and died worth twenty millions. Cornelius Vanderbilt began life rowing a boat from Staten Island to New York; he presented our government with a steamship worth a million of dollars, and died worth fifty million.

“There is no royal road to learning,” says the proverb, and I may say it is equally true, “there is no royal road to wealth.” But I think there is a royal road to both. The road to learning is a royal one; the road that enables the student to expand his intellect and add every day to his stock of knowledge, until, in the pleasant process of intellectual growth, he is able to solve the most profound problems, to count the stars, to analyze every atom of the globe, and to measure the firmament this is a regal highway, and it is the only road worth traveling.

So in regard to wealth. Go on in confidence, study the rules, and above all things, study human nature; for “the proper study of mankind is man,” and you will find that while expanding the intellect and the muscles, your enlarged experience will enable you every day to accumulate more and more principal, which will increase itself by interest and otherwise, until you arrive at a state of independence. You will find, as a general thing, that the poor boys get rich and the rich boys get poor. For instance, a rich man at his decease, leaves a large estate to his family. His eldest sons, who have helped him earn his

fortune, know by experience the value of money; and they take their inheritance and add to it. The separate portions of the young children are placed at interest, and the little fellows are patted on the head, and told a dozen times a day, “you are rich; you will never have to work, you can always have whatever you wish, for you were born with a golden spoon in your mouth.”

The young heir soon finds out what that means; he has the finest dresses and playthings; he is crammed with sugar candies and almost “killed with kindness,” and he passes from school to school, petted and flattered. He becomes arrogant and self-conceited, abuses his teachers, and carries everything with a high hand. He knows nothing of the real value of money, having never earned any; but he knows all about the “golden spoon” business.

At college, he invites his poor fellow-students to his room, where he “wines and dines” them. He is cajoled and caressed, and called a glorious good follow, because he is so lavish of his money. He gives his game suppers, drives his fast horses, invites his chums to fetes and parties, determined to

have lots of “good times.” He spends the night in frolics and debauchery, and leads off his companions with the familiar song, “we won’t go home till morning.” He gets them to join him in pulling down signs, taking gates from their hinges and throwing them into back yards and horse-ponds. If the police arrest them, he knocks them down, is taken to the lockup, and joyfully foots the bills.

“Ah! my boys,” he cries, “what is the use of being rich, if you can’t enjoy yourself?”

He might more truly say, “if you can’t make a fool of yourself;” but he is “fast,” hates slow things, and doesn’t “see it.” Young men loaded down with other people’s money are almost sure to lose all they inherit, and they acquire all sorts of bad habits which, in the majority of cases, ruin them in health, purse and character. In this country, one generation follows another, and the poor of to-day are rich in the next generation, or the third. Their experience leads them on, and they become rich, and they leave vast riches to their young children. These children, having been reared in luxury, are inexperienced and get poor; and after long experience another generation comes on and gathers up riches again in turn. And thus “history repeats itself,” and happy is he who by listening to the experience of others avoids the rocks and shoals on which so many have been wrecked.

“In England, the business makes the man.” If a man in that country is a mechanic or working-man, he is not recognized as a gentleman. On the occasion of my first appearance before Queen Victoria, the Duke of Wellington asked me what sphere in life General Tom Thumb’s parents were in.

“His father is a carpenter,” I replied.

“Oh! I had heard he was a gentleman,” was the response of His Grace.

In this Republican country, the man makes the business. No matter whether he is a blacksmith, a shoemaker, a farmer, banker or lawyer, so long as his business is legitimate, he may be a gentleman. So any “legitimate” business is a double blessing it helps the man engaged in it, and also helps others. The Farmer supports his own family, but he also benefits the merchant or mechanic who needs the products of his farm. The tailor not only makes a living by his trade, but he also benefits the farmer, the clergyman and others who cannot make their own clothing. But all these classes often may be gentlemen.

The great ambition should be to excel all others engaged in the same occupation.

The college-student who was about graduating, said to an old lawyer:

“I have not yet decided which profession I will follow. Is your profession full?”

“The basement is much crowded, but there is plenty of room up-stairs,” was the witty and truthful reply.

No profession, trade, or calling, is overcrowded in the upper story. Wherever you find the most honest and intelligent merchant or banker, or the best lawyer, the best doctor, the best clergyman, the best shoemaker, carpenter, or anything else, that man is most sought for, and has always enough to do. As a nation, Americans are too superficial– they are striving to get rich quickly, and do not generally do their business as substantially and thoroughly as they should, but whoever excels all others in his own line, if his habits are good and his integrity undoubted, cannot fail to secure abundant patronage, and the wealth that naturally follows. Let your motto then always be “Excelsior,” for by living up to it there is no such word as fail.