Can you believe it? The year is almost over – there are just under two months left. Not only is this the busy time of year for retail affiliates, like me, but it is also the time where I begin writing my business plan for the next year.
This year, I must have written at least three plans because I kept changing my mind about what I wanted to do.
Finally, I have clarity which is something that will help make 2015 my most successful year yet. So, here is a summary of the basic process I go through in order to create my business plan.
Evaluate the Past Year
I like to look back at the past year and see if I really accomplished what it is I set out to do. Some years, I fall short. Other years, I accomplish what I wanted and then some. This past year I think I am going to fall somewhere in between. I didn’t really know what my business focus would be and I kept changing my mind. As a result, I lost a lot of ground.
Set Some Goals
My next step is to set my yearly goals. I think about what I want to accomplish both personally and professionally. Then, I take each item from my list and set a few long term and short term goals associated with each. Once I have my goals in place, it is time to put together my business plan.
Writing the Business Plan
My business plan isn’t fancy. It’s just a few pages and the language isn’t professional sounding at all. Since the plan is just for me, I don’t need to make sure that it is perfect. It just needs to get the job done. If I wanted to show the Business Plan to a bank to get funding, for example, I’d have to spend more time on it.
Free Business Plan Resources Online
I have a big, fancy book on how to write business plans and it’s so overwhelming I never even opened it. On the other hand, I find the free resources that the small business administration at www.sba.gov offers to be easy to use and very effective. Another site with some great business planning resources is www.entrepreneur.com , the website associated with Entrepreneur magazine.
So, for the coming weeks, I will be evaluating my past year and making plans for 2015. I will be making money mostly with my website properties. This is also the year when I will be delving into self publishing, both on the Kindle and by creating eBooks and selling them from my website.