A business plan isn’t a one-time task to be checked off and forgotten. It’s a document that evolves with your business, guiding your decisions and strategies as you grow. For a trade business, a business plan describes how you intend to lift your business off the ground and covers aspects such as:
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A business plan serves many of the same functions as a map. It:
Properly written business plans work wonders. In fact, 71% of the fastest-growing companies have a business plan. If your trade business develops a clear business plan, it's 30% more likely to grow successfully!
To succeed, a business plan should include the following.
Start by outlining the basic details of your trade business, including:
Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business. If you’re unclear about your finances, your business won’t survive the next 12 months.
Your financial plan needs to include the following:
To remain active in the long term, consider how you will manage the following:
Monitoring your competition has several benefits:
This can be as simple as taking the time to review how your competitors market themselves; what language do they use? Where do their ads appear? Search for their social media pages, where they rank on Google and any offline marketing strategies they use.
A marketing strategy outlines how you intend to find work and generate leads.
In this section, describe the size of your market and include how you intend to leverage online and offline channels to get new customers and retain existing ones.
Make sure to identify any regulations or laws that you need to follow and confirm whether or not this has been completed.
Use this section to identify:
When writing a plan, remember to:
Essentially, don’t leave anything to people’s imaginations or guesswork. This is crucial for you internally, as it’s your job to lead and guide your team and externally when applying for funding.
With that said, here are seven mistakes to avoid.
A comprehensive business plan template is a valuable tool to avoid critical mistakes.
By leveraging a well-designed template, you can rest assured that you’ve covered all essential aspects of your business strategy, from market analysis to financial projections.
Business plan templates provide a structured framework so you can organise your thoughts and ideas cohesively, reducing the risk of overlooking critical elements or inconsistencies in your plans.
Never overlook the type of business structure that’ll suit your venture best today and in the long run.
Why?
Knowing the types of LLC, whether it’s a single-member LLC, multi-member LLC, or series LLC, can profoundly impact your business’s legal and financial aspects.
Failure to consider these options might lead to unnecessary complications or missed opportunities for tax benefits. Take the time to understand the differences and select the most fitting structure for your business’s success.
While a Limited Liability Company (LLC) offers valuable protection for your personal assets, it’s not an impenetrable shield. An LLC separates your business and personal finances, meaning creditors typically can’t seize your home or car to satisfy business debts.
However, there are exceptions: personal guarantees on loans, involvement in wrongful acts, or failure to maintain proper separation between your personal and business finances can pierce the LLC’s veil, exposing your personal assets.
Not researching your:
can have severe consequences for your business.
On the first level, you fail to capitalise on any valuable market opportunities. These could be opportunities to:
Taking the time to analyse your customers’ specific needs and pain points can make all the difference.
For instance, HVAC businesses may need to account for the heightened demand during winter. In this case, they may need to provide specialised support for clients needing emergency repair for boilers and heating units.
The company for long-term success by:
On the second level, you’re giving competitors an open window to take advantage and overtake you by having your eye off the ball.
And, lastly, you won’t be internally prepared to deal with things like:
A comprehensive marketing strategy is crucial for any business to reach and engage its target audience effectively.
Savvy businesses understand the importance of leveraging diverse marketing channels to amplify their brand visibility and drive customer acquisition.
A multi-faceted marketing approach blends:
This holistic strategy enables any trade business to:
It’s tempting to make the financials look healthier than they are, but it’s the equivalent of brushing the problems under the carpet.
If your financial plan is unrealistic, you’ll:
When you set vague or ambiguous business goals, you’re essentially working towards nothing.
This is because:
It’s like walking in the dark.
This causes:
The lack of clear, measurable objectives and strategies not only stalls immediate tasks but also jeopardises the organisation’s overall strategic direction.
You might make the best business plan — except you lock it away and never look at or update it again.
A business plan is only as relevant as its ability to help you meet today’s challenges and opportunities. There’s little value in working off a plan that’s three years old. Imagine trying to run your business according to a pre-Covid plan during the height of the pandemic. It just wouldn’t work. A business plan should evolve as new information becomes available. Ignoring valuable feedback or fresh insights can lead to the persistence of outdated strategies that no longer serve the company’s best interests.
Using a job management app, like Tradify, makes tracking your businesses' growth and processes automatic. With features like real-time data analysis and reporting, you can make informed decisions that drive your business forward. Collaborative features, like shared timesheets and notes, also mean you can share important updates across your team.
In the long term, failing to update a business plan can stunt the company’s growth and diminish its relevance in the industry.
A business plan is a document that guides your business throughout its lifecycle. It outlines the overarching aims and objectives, strategies to achieve them, and threats that can prevent success.
Let's streamline the rest of your business. Tradify is a job management app used by thousands of tradespeople building better lives and businesses all over the world. It gives you all the features needed to manage and grow a successful trade business, including:
Start your 14-day free trial. No credit card required. No pressure. Or take a look at Tradify in action during one of our weekly 30-min live walkthroughs.