Siouxland Magazine - Volume 4 Issue 6

Do I Need To Plan My Business?
I get this question a lot. I always wonder why people are
afraid to take the time and effort to plan their business.
That boils down to who they think the plan is for. If they
think it is for a lender or an investor, then I could see
that. But the plan is for you. It is your business.
I have yet to meet a client who can’t talk for at least
a half an hour on why they want to do their business,
where they want to do their business, how they want to
do it. You get the idea. If you can talk about it you can
put it into writing. A business plan is simply a who, what,
where, when, why, and how of your business. It is also
a road map of how you are going to take your business
from point A to point B and what it will take to get there.
If you have ever taken a trip of any length greater than
3 days you would want to plan it out. Which roads are
we going to take? Is there any road construction we
need to avoid? How much gas will it take? What is our
budget? What lodging do we need? How many meals
will we eat and what can we afford? Etc… The point is,
we make it this huge issue when it doesn’t have to be.
Lean Business Canvas has been around a long time and
is a short version of what we have just covered. It is in
my opinion not enough. It works with lenders though.
What I ask most people is to plan this as if it was for only
you and cover all the details that matter for a business.
It is important to know what you are putting money into
and how it is going to pay you back. We need to be
flexible and know that things don’t always go according
to plan. It is good to have a backup plan and understand
the possibilities of each.
SBDC – Taking Care of Business
By Todd Rausch
significant other (if they have one) and go through this as
a team to get all of the ideas out there and to work on the
details together. A lot of time people find it is far easier than
they thought.
The truth is if you try to do it without a plan it seldom works.
The plan sets expectations and how you will meet them.
It also makes us think through the process of running a
business, as well as the costs.
I recommend reviewing every quarter the first year,
semiannually the second year, and annually after that. It
is not something to fear, it is something to do and then to
execute to put you on the road to success. I will be happy to
help you. Just reach out. Together, we can do it.
America’s SBDC Iowa provides free, confidential, customized,
professional business advice and consulting in all 99 Iowa
counties to entrepreneurs.
Todd Rausch, Regional Director for the Small Business
Development Center at Western Iowa Tech Community College.
712-274-6454 | Todd.rausch@witcc.edu
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Siouxland Magazine | Collaborating / 41
We give out templates that ask seemingly repetitious
questions. The process though is to get people to
think about what they are trying to accomplish. A
business plan is not a 30-second elevator pitch, rather
it is a detailed account of how you plan to build your
business. No one would build a house without a plan or
a road or anything at all. Yet, people will want to spend
hundreds of thousands of dollars on a business with no
plan. It makes absolutely no sense to me.
How can we help? I typically do the financial forecasts
for my clients, but not until they have given me their
plan. I require a plan to do the forecast. We also help
with templates, reviewing plans, offering suggestions,
etc. But really, I ask people to sit down with their