Business Plan 101: Start Here - Why You Need A Business Plan
Why Is a Business Plan Important?
A blueprint/map/guide/foundation of your business
What you do and services you provide
Your financial goals
Your business expenses
Identify and explore your strengths and value
Tells you where to find your ideal client
How you can help them
Your vision for your business
If you don’t have a foundation of where you want to go, you’ll just do a little bit of everything and get lost and confused
This is why many therapists feel lost, confused, and overwhelmed
They’ll create a Psychology Today profile, a 2-3 page website, tell their friends and family, and post on local social media therapist groups they’ve opened a business…yet no one comes
When you have a map, you have a better plan on where to get to your final destination (rather than driving around aimlessly)
Feel more confident
When you know your value, strengths and how you can help clients, you’ll feel more empowered to run a business including
Setting boundaries
Setting a fee
Saying no to opportunities that don’t align with your vision, goals, and values
Focus on serving who you want to serve
Help you avoid costly mistakes
You’ll have your finances and accounting down in writing
You’ll know how much you need to make every month to make a profit
You understand deadlines for quarterly taxes and save monthly
Business Plan Tips
Don’t open and grow a business alone
Ask for help
Find a colleague to be an accountability partner
Refer back to this plan anytime you feel overwhelmed and unsure what to do next
This is a living document
It will be edited over and over again
There’s no wrong way to write a business plan
If you can’t devote hours to it, write up a general outline with bullet points
Even if you don’t finish your business plan in depth, have a general idea of each area
There’s generally 2 types of business plans
Lean startup business plan
Short and sweet (1 page)
Traditional business plan
Long, detailed and in depth (more than 1 page)