By Marxwell November 14, 2021 startup Issues 0 Comments

10 Mistakes we make when writing business plans.

As we know, the success of any business is dependent on a well-written and well thought out business plan. Unfortunately, many people don’t take the time to write their own individual plans before they dive headfirst into this endeavor. They think that it’s not worth it because they’re just starting out. They have no idea what they’re doing anyway. But if you want to succeed in your ventures, then you need a plan whether or not it’s actually written down somewhere. This article highlights Mistakes we make when writing business plans. If you donot know how to write one, you can find out in one of our about how to write a business pan.

lets get started.

What about Not writing a plan?

While you can make many minor mistakes while writing your business plan, not writing one is a serious major business mistake. A business plan guides you through the business and can help you gain business partners or funds. Always think about a business plan whenever you want to start a business. If you don’t know where to start writing one, you can look at our full blog post about how to write a business plan.

In order to help those who are just getting started with their entrepreneurial endeavors, here are some common mistakes people make when writing their own plans:

1. Being vague about goals or objectives.

This comes up as number one on our list of Mistakes we make when writing business plans as it is so common. Oftentimes, I find unarchivable goals in a business plan. This makes it lose its function of earning funds as no one can fund a clearly unrealistic plan or proposal. And neither can it lead you to business success as the set goals can’t be achieved. This is one of the causes of business failure. When you set yourself vague goals that you can’t archive, you’ve as well failed in the business.

2. Choosing the wrong goals for our plan.

Often times it’s not the vague goals, but the wrong goals and objectives for your plan that let you down. There are the best ways to earn from something, so neglecting the best ways and choosing to use the less can be a wrong goal as far as the plan is concerned. Always choose goals that will help you earn beat from the business. These are the right goal. An example of bad goal is only benefiting from honey from bee keeping. Come on you can benefit from wax, propolis, venom and many more. Choosing to consider only honey is a bad goal as it limits your business.

3. Focusing on too many goals at once, instead of just one or two.

You’ll side with me that few clear goals are easier to chase and achieve. This is what exactly you should do when starting. I know you’ll have many goals but sieve them and remain with the core ones that will move your business miles. Chase those. Having fewer goals with keep you focused, untiring and you’ll most likely achieve them.

4. Forgetting to include an action plan with the steps you will take to reach those goals.

These are commonly known as objectives. Some people set goals and forget to set the right objectives to gear them towards the set goals. It makes less sense to set goals with no objectives as you are most likely not going to achieve those goals. If you intend to raise funds with your plan, then you’ll find it hard to convince the possible funders on how you are going to achieve your goals as you don’t have a clear plan on how you are going to. Sometimes having this not set means your goal can’t be achieved. So, watch this.

5. Not being specific.

Oftentimes, this happens in business and its main cause is an initial problem in the plan. Know what exactly you want at the very beginning with your plan. Let your goals be specific and to the point so that they are easy to chase even if you are not around. for example, if you want to increase sales, then say what specifically you plan on doing (e.g., “I’ll work on making my product more appealing”). This will guide someone on what exactly to do and many more methods can be devised to help you achieve that easily.

6. Having a complex business plan.

Most times, a business plan is written not only for yourself but can also be used as a guide to other people and also as a means of convincing business partners to join you in your hustle. With these aims of a business plan stated, it’s clear that making it complex and hard to understand is a drawback to the business and yourself that is looking for business success. Keep the business plan simple and easy to understand.

7. Setting unrealistic deadlines for yourself.

This is a grave mistake among Mistakes we make when writing business plans. Deadlines are good as they let you do your business tasks on time. Unrealistic deadlines are a whole bunch of stress. From chasing a deadline, you can’t meet, to entering into time for other tasks and facing to meet customer needs. This alone can lead to business failure. So, whenever setting a deadline, make sure it’s achievable.

8.Not Including a timeline of when certain tasks need to be completed.

As the saying goes,” time is money” some tasks must have a time limit so that everything is clear and organized. Some tasks precede others and not to delay the them, those that are preceded must be timed to keep the whole process clear and organized.

9. Trying to make their plan perfect before starting.

This is the major reason why most plans remain on paper. People want ideal conditions to start and they forget ideal doesn’t exist. You can’t get it all right at the start. Some things are ironed out with the hustle in its babyhood. Just get the major requirements and get going and the minors will come with time. Waiting until you have all the time and money to start your plan will delay your start as you’ll never get around to it because there are always other priorities that take precedence over all your plans.

10.Not having a cash flow forecast.

Everyone does business with the main aim of Making money. Along the way, a lot of needs come by that require money especially after the initial set off. A cash flow forecast shall show ideally how you’ll generate money to pay off workers, yourself and for business expansion. If you lack it, the you don’t know how much money you expect to get from your hustles and it makes the expansion and future of the business blurred. Remember most investors want to know how much they expect from the investment to conclude if it’s worthwhile. And this is what shall help do that. Check your plan. If you lack it, then go include it.

Conclusion

The best way to avoid these Mistakes we make when writing business plans is to start with a plan that has one or two simple goals. Start small by breaking up each goal into manageable chunks and taking actionable steps towards achieving them every day. This will help you stay motivated instead of feeling overwhelmed!

If you feel like your goals are slipping away or that they’re not aligned with the direction of your life, it may be time to create a plan. A successful goal is one where there is alignment between what we want and how much effort we invest in achieving them. Make sure your goals align with who you really are by asking yourself these questions:

What do I need right now?
What will make me happy?
And why am I doing this anyway?

By answering these three fundamental questions about what matters most to you, you can more easily prioritize which tasks matter most and get started on making those things happen instead of waiting for all the pieces to fall into place. You don’t have to wait until everything is perfect. Waiting until everything is perfect is a startup killer. Everything will simply never be perfect and in the end, you’ll never execute your plan. Boom, it’s dead. Isn’t it? So, I think by avoiding these mistakes while planning, you’re already a mile away from your fears and almost achieving your goals. Feel free to contact us for anything that seems unclear.