The recession has hit two groups disproportionately: the over-50s and the under 20s. The over 50s are increasingly turning to self-employment as employers are often blind to their talents and experience and find jobs increasingly hard to find and eBusiness, trading on the internet, is ideal for those with skills to sell.

But our generation is the last generation for whom the computer and the internet were an ‘optional extra’ for our formative years.

So does my eBusiness, with its low start up costs, its access to a world-wide market, really need a business plan? Wouldn’t it simply waste time and effort better used to launch a business?

Well, if you’re simply going to sell off the junk in your loft and garage on eBay then a business plan would be a waste, but if you’re thinking about earning a sensible living this way then you’d better give your business plan some serious thought. And that’s the point: the process of thinking out the business plan is probably as valuable as the plan itself.

In working on the business plan of a youth organisation providing youth clubs to a deprived group of children it seemed enough to make shelter, organised games and access to the internet but what was the real purpose of the organisation. Well their results are confidential but one could suppose that providing 1. positive role models to young lives, 2. a sense of stability in a chaotic world, and 3. a view beyond their immediate cultural surroundings, might figure in any list of objectives.

We came to see that the pool tables, the computer terminals, the leadership were the ‘inputs’ to the system, the ‘outputs’ the organisation was trying to achieve were quite different, and our recruitment policy moved away from seeking active, fun-loving young people towards more mature motherly types likely to stick around for the long term.

The Business Planning process helps the entrepreneur to focus, to ask the right questions.

1. What is my business? What does it do? Who does it do it for? To what end?
2. Who are my competitors? How strong are they? Have they left a gap in the market I can fill?
3. How will I sell my goods or my services? How will my customers come to me?
4. When my business takes off, how will I exploit it? What will that cost?
5. How I deliver my goods or my services, where will I buy in my products, store them? How will I organise my business, keep my books?
6. How much money will I need? Where will I get it?

On this last point, if you’re using your own money, think of yourself as your own banker and ask when will I make a profit, and what is the cost of failure?

So, even if you never write down your answers the process of thinking them through will make your start up better organised and targeted.

Better to ‘waste’ a few days in some basic research than to waste a few months on following the wrong trail. It may be your own money, but you can only spend it once, and when it is gone…

Before you can began rolling on the fast track with your new business, it takes planning. Don’t skip any of the original 10 step business plan we’ve listed below. Some things are absolute necessities in advance of your opening date for business.

Let’s make it easy and simple. Listed below is a 10 step plan you need to undertake well in advance of your new business opening date. This is only the beginning list but you’ll discover and add more in coming days and weeks.

Your own business expertise and experiences will obviously come into play as you work on your complete business plan. For now, let’s get underway and begin to work through the following list of important business decisions…

1. Decide on Service and/or Product you plan to market/sell.

2. Select Accounting Firm or CPA if required

3. Hire Competent LEGAL COUNSEL

4. LOCATION is an important key to your success

5. Know your FINANCES, Money Source, before making any investments

6. Determine Employee Requirements – background; education; professional; etc.

7. Recruit a Mastermind Team

8. Is a new building required before you can open for business?

9. What licenses are required, certifications, etc.?

10. What is your opening Date for business?

Shooting from the “hip” or without a plan is a disaster waiting to happen. Even the smartest entrepreneurs are NOT willing to take such risks. Are you going “solo” or is this a franchise with a long-term history of success? 90% Vs 10% success rates may give you a reason to make the investment for a franchised business.

Weigh the odds. Research the history, do your due diligence. Don’t let anyone rush you into making a decision because someone else wants the same territory and is waiting with money in hand, ready to roll and cut you off at the pass. Don’t believe it without proof and then only if you are sure this is your choice.

Everyone dreams of owning their own business. Making BIG dollars, driving fine cars with all the goodies, BIG houses in beautiful places to vacation at will, club memberships at the finest golf courses, places for fine dining and meeting the upper crust of society.

Where’s the problem? For most of us, it takes 25 to 30 years of hard work without any guarantees that we’ll ever reach the pinnacle of success. Far too many businesses bite the dust than hit the big time. Taxes, employees, thieves, bankrupt customers are the main culprits of business disasters.

Not a pretty picture but awareness is extremely important. The more YOU know what can happen the better prepared you’ll be. Watch out for any employee with too much “power” in your business who likes to take charge.

Many services you need to run your business are better outsourced than handled internally. Hire reputable people in all areas whether in house or outsourced. Pride yourself on building a company with competent staff, well paid, good benefits simply because it’s your key to a successful business long-term.

Given the drastic changes in technology as well as the market place, businesses are changing and progressing really fast. The only way to match this pace is to have a strategically oriented plan in place that will help you create a direction for this change. You may not be able to control the pace but you can at least chalk out the road on which it progresses!

Hiring a business consultant can prove to be extremely helpful in such situations. While most of us assume that hiring business consultants is just an additional expenditure that business owners must avoid, this is a misconception. Business consultants are seasoned experts who are familiar with the several situations pertaining to an organization and its growth. Their experience and expertise can come in extremely handy especially in the present day recessionary scenario.

Here are four reasons why hiring a business planning consultant can be a great move for your organization.

Fill in for full time staff

As part of your expansion process, you may have handed out pink slips to several employees whose services are not needed full time. You can easily ask business consultants to step in and fill in for them on occasions where you need their services. This way you can save money and avoid hiring staff on a full time basis. Also, hiring consultants ensures that you are investing in quality and expertise that will lead to the welfare of your business.

Hiring and firing

Your business is not doing so well and you need to downsize but the challenge lies in figuring out who to keep and who to get rid of. As the business owner, you may be accused of having a biased opinion and not be able to look at the multiple aspects surrounding the issue. However, hiring a business consultant can help you avoid such problems. Being outside the organization, the business consultant will be able to analyse the utility of every staff member more accurately and therefore take better decisions.

Better equipped to understand better

You are handling your own business but a consultant has the rare privilege of handling multiple clients. In simple terms, you are figuring out the solution to one problem but a consultant may be battling the same situation in different businesses across categories. This gives him or her, a stronger ability to identify the solution and several other impacts of the problem that may be hidden from your eye.

Fresh perspective

There are situations when the solution to the problem is just round the corner but we are so obsessed with the impact that we rarely notice the simple details. However, bringing a consultant on board will infuse a fresh perspective to the entire issue making it easier for the solution to be identified.