Business Records

April 13, 2006

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If you're preparing a business plan for an existing business, you'll find the financial and operating information developed over the business's life to be absolutely essential. This historical information can provide much of what you need for a written business plan. Your business's track record of operations is probably memorialized in a number of ways. You keep books, keep customer and supplier information, file government documents, pay taxes, and perhaps even have some employees with payroll records and personnel files. If your recordkeeping efforts are even more sophisticated, then you may also have cash flow projections, spreadsheets, and other documents that contain information you can use in drafting a plan.

No doubt you have also developed a feel for how your business is doing. This subjective perception should play a part in your consideration of ongoing operations. For example, you may feel that you aren't really being compensated at a level that is appropriate to the amount of time you put in. A business plan that calls for you to continue working long hours better establish, in your mind, that the benefit derived from implementing the plan will satisfy you.

But what do you do if you aren't currently in business? You don't have a business history to examine. However, it's probably safe to assume that you have some knowledge regarding the type of business that you are considering. If you're simply striking out on your own in the same line of business as your former employer, what you learned as an employee may be right on point for your new business. You may also find what you need by researching your industry using the vast amount of information available on the Internet or at your local library.