In depth business planning is an essential part of the process of starting a business. A good business plan has many functions. A business plan serves as a blueprint for your business, helps attract investors or partners and serves as a basis for business growth.
Long term planning in business differs a bit from quick-start business planning. You can write a long term business plan before starting your venture to detail the process in advance, or you can rewrite a business plan once a business is a success to work towards more long term goals.
Find long term business planning software
Long term planning in business often means investing in a software application that meets your specific needs. Good long term planning tools can be found in several products on the market.
I recommend: PlanMagic offers business plan templates and financial tools. Look at a
great example of a long term business plan through Palo Alto Software's website.
Establish successful cash flow management
This process monitors and adjusts business cash flows according to how much revenue is brought in. For small businesses especially, it is very important not to have too great a gap in between cash inflows and outflows, which can result in long term business develoment problems.
I recommend: Try
Ironware or
Whitebirch software to help organize cash flow management.
Include marketing in your long term planning
Successful marketing plays a very important part in long term planning of a business. A marketing plan should detail the goals and objective of a marketing strategy on the timeframe of two to five years. Come up with ways to market that will last for that long.
I recommend: Find a marketing plan template with
Marketing Plan Pro9.0, or get marketing consulting from
Factor 3 Marketing.
Have a profit and loss account included in the long term business goals
A profit and loss account determines how exactly revenue is translated into profit for your company. This shows investors and employees how exactly the company made per each defined period, whether it be a year or quarter.
I recommend: Use
QuickBooks or
NetSuite to aid in the organization of accounts.
Create a long term financial plan
Set clear financial goals and a clear time frame of when you'd like those goals to be achieved. Determine how much must be invested in order to turn into a profit in the allotted amount of time. Break the long term financial plan into smaller short-term plans with specific steps to achieve.
I recommend: Get financial consulting from
Reese Partners, or get help with a plan from
MasterPlans.
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