Creating a Business Plan That Leads to Success
The birth and death of your business will bring tears of joy and sorrow, and the statistics of how many businesses go through this are eye-watering. But to save you the tears of sorrow, it’s important to craft a business plan. A great strategy will lead to your success.
However, before we dive into the planning, let’s take a look at some of the statistics:
- During 2018, there were 414,000 businesses born in the United Kingdom.
- There were 382,000 businesses that died during this same time.
- Out of all the businesses started in 2011, there were only 44.1% that survived until 2016.
Therefore, without a plan for success, you will likely become a part of the 65.9% of companies that die within 5 years. You can find this data at the Office of National Statistics.
Selling The Right Product
We’ve all had an idea of products that would be great in our lives. Whether this is something to help us with our daily routine, or wishing teleportation was real. But whilst a product may be great for our lives, it doesn’t make it a good product.
The free market economy gives access to some of the biggest markets in the world. There’s absolutely no lack of consumers ready to make a purchase. However, if there’s no demand for your product – it’s going to flop.
Getting the Right Location
If you’re offering a service based business, then you need to consider your location. The local community are going to be your primary market. Scout out your competitors, and see how to improve upon their accessibility.
With the digital age, there’s also becoming a need for small offices and shared workspaces. These can be great for startups that need their first offices. There are tons of services online to help you find coworking spaces, such as London Office Space.
Focusing on Cash Flow
I’ve had the chance to offer consultancy to a number of eCommerce companies. When investigated, the main problem that I found was stock. The business invested too much money into their product, and had no cash flow for marketing.
Therefore, if you want to be successful, you should plan for spending more than you need. If you need to spend £10,000 on stocking the warehouse, instead plan for spending £15,000. This will help with making sure you’ve got extra resources.
Finally, if you want to improve cash flow, consider taking money up-front. Whether this is a deposit for your service, or cash for your products – always take the money up-front. However, you should also try to get recurring payments. These will help generate a consistent revenue source to pay your bills.
Some Scary Statistics
We’ve prepared this infographic for you, to show some interesting statistics. For example, if you’re considering restaurants or bars – then you should check this out first.
Hopefully this will help you to consider where you start your business, and whether your idea is going to be successful.