With the beginning of every startup, you need a plan to carry it towards success. Here’s why you need to create a business growth plan from the beginning.

So, you want to build a successful startup business… okay, great!  How do you build a business without a growth plan?

Benjamin Franklin said it best: When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. You need to consider where you want your business to go so you can take the best steps to get it there.

All start-ups need to have a business plan created as soon as the entrepreneur chooses an idea to grow- it’s a crucial component of your start-up checklist.

There are so many benefits planning has on your success; don’t make the mistake of skipping this step. Keep reading to find out the 7 major reasons why you need a business growth plan.

1. It Covers Your Bases

Entrepreneurs are distinct “ideas” people. You’re likely great at seeing the big picture and knowing what kind of business will be successful, but the small mundane details of running a business are under your radar.

By creating a business growth plan, you are forced to consider every aspect of your business. From the accounting to the creation of systems, to the office space maintenance.

There’s so much more than budgeting and product management that you need to stay on top of. Having a plan allows you to cover all your bases.

2. It Monitors Your Progress

The first business growth plan you create should detail your current strengths and weaknesses.

Then, include the milestones you want to achieve at what time in your business’ lifespan. You could create 5-year goals, 10-year goals, etc. There might be profit goals or status goals.

Every time you do a business cycle check-in, you can assess what strides moved you closer to those goals and which ones you’re falling behind on.

You can ensure you’re hitting targets on time and achieving your goals if you have a business plan.

3. It Keeps You Focused

Running a business has so many different moving parts, it can be a challenge to stay on top of everything.

A business growth plan outlines who is in charge of what responsibility. Each time you check in with your plan, you can assess if important tasks are being completed when they were supposed to be.

It allows you to focus on your own important responsibilities because you’ve delegated everything else.

Your plan should also include a timeline of when you plan on scaling up, hiring new employees, approaching investors, etc. Planning your time in this way keeps you focused on growing successfully.

4. Potential Investors Will Want to See It

When you’re making your pitch to a room of potential investors, showing you have a long-term plan that is detailed and in depth will build their trust.

Investors want to see exactly what you will do with their funding, where you’re currently allocating resources, and how their contribution will help you grow.

Obviously, they also want to know when they’ll see a return.

Your business growth plan should outline all these things so that potential investors have all the information they need and view you as an organized entrepreneur.

5. Banks Will Want to See It

Most start-ups make use of a bank loan to kick-start their business and fund their first important expenses.

However, you will not receive a decent loan from a bank if you cannot demonstrate your complete financial profile. This is something you need to include in your business growth plan.

You plan should state your profit and loss forecast, history of profits and losses, sales forecasts, etc. The bank will want to see how viable your growth plan is before they loan you the money.

6. It Shows Commitment

You may have a handful of employees at the beginning of your start-up, or maybe just one or two. Your business plan should show where each of your employees plays a role in the growth.

Including your employees in your growth plan, and discussing it with them, builds loyalty and trust. It shows your employees that you’re committed to this start-up and their work is valuable to you.

You can also use it as an opportunity for performance reviews to see if your teams are meeting their targets and completing tasks on time. It holds everyone accountable and creates incentives to work well.

7. It Provides an Exit Plan

An exit plan is a guide explaining what happens to your business when you leave.

You could be leaving by choice, perhaps when you reach a profit milestone and are no longer needed to run things. Or, it could be the case of your untimely passing.

Your exit plan decides who takes ownership of your business when you’re gone, if your family inherits any part of it, or if you want it to be shut down completely.

Including an exit plan in your business growth plan ensures the success you’ve grown and created is done with how you choose.

It also makes things easier for those left to make this decision after you’re gone.

What to Include in a Business Growth Plan

Here are some of the key components of a successful business plan:

• An assessment of your current strengths and weaknesses as a company

• Your short and long-term goals and targets

• The details of running your systems and accounting

• At what point you will hire more employees and/or create teams

• At what point you will approach investors

• A full explanation of your financial information

• At what point you will have your loans paid off

• An exit plan

There are many more aspects of a business growth plan you need to include, these are the main ones that are guaranteed to be beneficial.

Ready to Launch Your Start-up?

It may seem overwhelming to include all these different components in one official document, but it doesn’t have to be.

Check out my contact page for direct and customized guidance to launching your startup and creating your business plan.