by Charles Roring in Manokwari West Papua
Maybe you might say, "Well, I just started working at home. My business is still a small one. I sell wooden toys to children in my town. I don't think I need a business plan."
If that's what you have in mind, then you are wrong. Home business has many advantages and disadvantages. You need to know this when you plan a business that is suitable to your condition. Failing to plan your home business means planning to fail. You need to make a business plan. Don't think that business plan is like a 300 page Phd research report. Just make it as simple as possible. A three to five page business plan will be enough for new starter.
When you have written your business plan, you then focus on it to make your work at home a profitable endeavor. Don't worry if you cannot achieve the selling target which you had stated in the business plan. You need to make evaluation and revise some of the statements in it. If necessary make some revision for a better plan and improved work performances.
Even when the whole world community is facing multi dimensional financial crisis, you still need a business plan as a road map for success. I often talk to business owners whether they read their business plan after writing it. Most of them said no. It's a big mistake if you don't read it. How can you define your target market? How can you estimate your market size and pricing structure. These are all discussed in the chapter of marketing strategy in your business plan.
For instance, you open a coffee shop in the first floor of your house or next to your main house. You need to inform people by distributing some brochures. How can you estimate the number of brochures that you need to distribute to town dwellers?
If you make a business pan, you will think not only the distribution strategy of your brochures but also your products.
Some people do not know how to write business plan. It is not a big problem. Open your search engine, whether it is google, yahoo, or alta vista. There are many new websites that offer free samples of business plan to their visitors. You can download them and make your own based on the structure of these samples.
