EPISODE 045 | APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY

A very warm welcome! Today, we’re diving into the topic of business plans, and I promise you, in a wholly straightforward, inspiring and I really hope, exciting way. We’re looking at what they are, why they matter, and how they can help either clarify a new business idea or refine your current business.

A quick, straightforward 3-page plan, will help you outline your vision, understand your market, define your goals, and create a roadmap for achieving them. And this is exactly what I looked to create, before I took the plunge to resign from my corporate role.

So, whether you're starting fresh or looking to refine your business that’s become a little messy and less enjoyable, a simple and clear business plan can make a world of difference.

One of the reasons I was keen to share this episode is because just last week, I updated our own 3-page business plan and in doing so, I felt focussed and clear on where we are heading right now. And I’ll share a few aspects directly from our own plan later in the episode, as I think you’ll find this interesting, particularly as we have made a huge pivot less than a year ago and it now looks quite different than it did only a few years ago.

Right at the start of my business, now close to 18 years ago, I remember so clearly having so many ideas buzzing around in my head. I was passionate and enthusiastic, but also a bit overwhelmed. I decided to sit down and draft a simple business plan—not for potential investors, but for myself. I kept it short, focused on my vision, my market, and my goals. This exercise was incredibly grounding. It helped me see where I wanted to go and how I could get there.

And over the years, whenever I felt my business was drifting, or we faced challenges or we simply needed to feel clear in our direction again, I revisited and refined my business plan. It has always served as a steady guide, reminding me of my core goals and helping me stay on track.

In this episode, I am excited to share how you can create a business plan that’s concise yet comprehensive, practical, and inspiring. And I really do promise you, in spending this time, you really do feel clear and focussed again, and it directly helps you to make clear decisions, it’s a really powerful mini document, that will give you so much.

UNDERSTANDING THE PURPOSE OF A BUSINESS PLAN

Let’s first just clarify exactly what a business plan is. It’s a document that outlines your business's objectives and the strategies you will use to achieve them. It serves as a roadmap for your business, guiding your decisions and helping you stay focused on your goals.

Unlike traditional business plans that are often lengthy and detailed, the type of plan we're discussing today is concise, straightforward, and designed to be a practical tool for you, not a document for securing investment.

A well-crafted business plan is helpful for personal clarity. It forces you to think critically about your business idea, market, and goals. By putting your thoughts on paper, you can see your business more objectively and identify potential challenges and opportunities. This clarity helps you refine your idea, ensuring that it is viable and aligned with your long-term vision.

Moreover, a business plan is a powerful tool for refining an existing business. If your business has become messy and less enjoyable, revisiting and updating your business plan can help you realign your efforts and rediscover your passion. It serves as a reminder of your core goals and the steps you need to take to achieve them.

In Episode 038, we discussed assessing the viability of business ideas, it’s a great follow on to this episode. A business plan plays a critical role in assessing the viability. It helps you evaluate whether your idea meets a real need, understand your target market, and determine the financial feasibility of your concept. By creating a business plan, you can validate your idea and ensure that you are on the right track before investing significant time and resources.

Let's briefly revisit some key points from Episode 038. We talked about the importance of understanding market demand, the cost of bringing your idea to life, and the simplicity of your business model. A business plan allows you to delve deeper into these aspects, providing a structured framework for your analysis. By addressing these elements in your plan, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of your business's potential or any change you’re planning and make informed decisions.

KEY COMPONENTS OF A THREE-PAGE BUSINESS PLAN

Let’s look at the key components of a 3-page business plan. There are six important components to include:

1. An opening summary, which provides a brief overview of your business idea and goals. It's a snapshot of what your business is about and where you want it to go. Even though it's the first section, it's often best to write it last, after you've fleshed out the other details of your plan.

Your aim with this section is to quickly communicate the essence of your business and its goals. You want to include your business name, the products or services you offer, your target market, and a summary of your business goals and vision. Once it’s finished, it’ll give you a quick insight into your business, which you can use when you are looking to explain neatly to anyone who needs to know about your business, whether that’s potential partners or employees, or perhaps family members and friends.

2. Company Description: This section covers your business concept, vision, and mission. It provides context about your business, what it does, and what it stands for. In a previous episode we looked specifically at your vision statement, another great episode to listen to after this one. It’s episode number 043. Again, I’ll leave a link in the show notes for you.

Your company description helps you to clearly define what your business is about and what it aims to achieve. In a few paragraphs, with the aim of keeping it concise, you want to describe your business idea, the vision you have for its future, and the mission that drives it. And also include your business structure and location if that’s an important part.

3. Market Analysis: Here, you delve into your target market and competition. Understanding your market is important to ensure there is a demand for your product or service. Remembering that successful competition is a good thing, it means there is a clear need. It is far harder to create a new market sector, ideally you are looking to create a brilliant solution which improves something that is currently being offered.

If you can clearly demonstrate that you have an understanding of your market and competition, this will stand you in great stead. Take time to identify your target audience, their needs, and how your business addresses those needs. Analyse your competitors and highlight what sets your business apart. When you have all this information gathered, when you know your market, this will help you to ensure your offerings and marketing are tailored to the needs of your customers, which is the number one reason for your business. You must provide a solution for a market that needs it and has the money to be able to pay for it.

4. Products or Services: This section within your 3-page plan describes what you offer, clearly articulating the benefits and features of your products or services. Make sure you describe your products or services, their key features, and the benefits they provide to your customers, and highlight any unique aspects that differentiate your offerings from others. This will help you to clarify what your business provides and why it’s valuable.

5. Marketing and Sales Strategy: Outline how you plan to attract and retain your customers. Think about your marketing strategies, including any online and offline ideas, promotional activities, and sales processes. And next explain how you will maintain customer relationships and encourage repeat business. This will help ensure you have a plan for growing your customer base and sustaining your business.

And finally 6. Financial Overview: I know this can be dry, but it’s of course essential, we must have basic financial projections and outline any potential costs we will need, even if they seem minimal, because they can quickly add up and you want to ensure you are spending where it’s most needed. This will give you a clear picture of your business’s financial status and future projections. You want to include basic financial statements such as income statements, cash flow projections, and a summary of any upfront investment that you might need, and highlight key financial goals and metrics.

Each component of your 3-page business plan serves a distinct purpose that collectively ensures your business idea or any changes you’re looking to make are well-conceived and strategically sound, to ensure you have a deep understanding. Once you have a clear, concise business plan, it will massively help you stay focused on your goals, ensure that you can make informed decisions, and it’ll undoubtedly help you when you come up against all the myriad of challenges that come with day-to-day running. It can sound a little overwhelming, but I promise you that by taking the time to put these sections in place and write your 3-page document, you will feel confident and excited about your plans.

As a quick summary of each section. You need to include:

An Opening Summary, which will help to keep you, your team if you have one and all external people aligned with your business’s overarching goals.

Company Description, which reinforces your business’s identity and purpose, and will help to guide your strategic decisions.

Market Analysis; this ensures you understand your market, and will help you to create offerings  that your customers deeply want and need, and will ensure you stay competitive.

Clarity of your Products or Services, this explains exactly what it is you offer and why it’s valuable, which will play an important role in marketing and keeping your customers engaged.

Following on from that, you have your Marketing and Sales Strategy section, which will give you a clear roadmap to help you attract and keep your customers, which is of course essential for your growth.

And finally Financial Overview, which will support you to manage your finances effectively and plan for future growth.

DRAFTING YOUR BUSINESS PLAN

OK, so we’ve looked at the key components of your 3-page business plan, let's now look at how to draft it, so that it aligns with your business goals and personal values while keeping it simple and focused.

First define what you want to achieve with your business plan. Are you clarifying a new business idea, refining your current business, or aligning your team with your vision?

Next, collect all the information about your business, including market research, customer insights, financial data, and any previous plans or notes. Having all this at hand will make the drafting process smoother.

Also bring together your vision and mission statements, and the core principles that drive your business. It’s really important to know that all of these can evolve. They don’t need to be perfect at this stage. Make sure that if you are at all stuck on something, that it doesn’t stop you from creating your first draft. Write what resonates most with you right now, and you’ll find that once all the other elements are in place, often any unfinished sections will become clearer.

To get started, Start with a Rough Outline, including each of the six key components: Opening Summary, your Company Description, Market Analysis, a description of your Products or Services, Marketing and Sales Strategy, and Financial Overview. And then write down bullet points or brief notes for each section. And although it's the first section of your plan, you’ll find the opening summary is easier to write after you've fleshed out the other details. This way, you can provide a concise overview of your entire plan, so it works neatly as an overview for your 3-page document.

Take your time to draft each section. Don't worry at all about making it perfect initially; just get your ideas down on paper. Focus on clarity and relevance, ensuring each section aligns with your business goals and values.

Write in a straightforward manner. Avoid unnecessary details and keep each section focused on the main points. Remember, the goal is to create a practical and usable document.

And once you have a complete draft, take a break and then revisit it with fresh eyes. Refine and edit each section for clarity, coherence, and conciseness, and remove any redundant or irrelevant information.

A helpful tip is to schedule blocks of times ahead, when you’ll look to gather all the information you need, and once you have all of this together, set out a time block of a few hours, so you can bring the whole 3-page document together in one sitting.

And don’t focus on perfection here, if you do, you’ll never have it finished. A rough idea is far more effective and helpful than a document that you intend to be perfect and inevitably never gets done. You also don’t want this exercise to take significant time away from getting started with your new idea or refining your business. So use common sense, and dedicate a sensible amount of time, and if you feel at all overwhelmed, just focus on what you know right now, and just add bullet points for ease.

A business plan is a living document. Save it in an easy to find file, and look to review and update again in the future, as your business evolves. Use it as a tool to track progress, adapt to changes, and ensure you stay aligned with your long-term vision.

And as you have kept it simple and focused, it will always be easy to understand and use. It’s so important that you have a concise plan, one that allows you to quickly update and refer back to, to make sure you are on track and quick to adapt when that’s necessary. It also makes it easier to communicate your vision and goals to others, whether they are team members, partners, or stakeholders.

PRACTICAL EXERCISES & TIPS

Just to make sure we keep this light and absolutely actionable, because I genuinely want you to feel excited about creating your 3-page plan, I’d love to share a few practical exercises and tips to help you draft each component.

For the Opening Summary, Write a brief paragraph summarising your business idea, goals, and vision. Use bullet points to outline the key elements you want to include. Keep refining until it captures the essence of your business. To help you, look to answer these three questions: What is your business? Who are your target customers? What are your primary goals?

For your Company Description, Create a mind map to explore your business concept, vision, mission, and values. This visual exercise can help you see connections and ensure your description is comprehensive. It’s important to Focus on clarity and conciseness, and aim to describe your business in a way that someone unfamiliar with it can easily understand. So no jargon or complex descriptions. You want simple and to the point.

For your Market Analysis, Highlight what sets your business apart from your competitors and how you plan to address market needs.

When you are writing a description of your Products or Services, list each and detail their features and benefits. It’s always a good idea to have as few, highly refined and focussed offerings as possible. You can always expand and grow at a later date, but as you are starting out and/or refining an existing business, simplicity and streamlined offerings are so important.  As you are writing them, focus on the value your offerings provide to customers and emphasise any unique selling points.

For the Marketing and Sales Strategy section, consider which marketing channels (social media, email, content marketing, collaborations, etc.) will be most effective for your business.

And for your Financial Overview, Create a basic budget and financial projection. Include expected revenue, ongoing costs, and any initial upfront costs. These are in addition to costs associated with your offerings and general overheads. Take time to consider all the costs that will be associated with your new or refined business. And start with rough estimates and refine them as you gather more information.

Business Concept: We provide strategic support to big-hearted creative business owners and entrepreneurs through our weekly podcast episodes, newsletters, online resources, our Masterclasses and our upcoming Creative Business Membership programme. More on that in an upcoming episode and where I’ll be sharing my whole business plan and additional examples, to make sure you have a clear guideline and where I can read yours and provide direct feedback.

Target Audience: Creative entrepreneurs and business owners, based predominantly in English speaking countries, not exclusively, but namely the UK and USA, in sectors like interior design, fashion, floristry, flower farms, event planning, jewellery, lighting, art, ceramics and homeware.

Primary Goals: To nurture and expand our existing audience, foster a vibrant community, and help creative entrepreneurs achieve a healthy work-life balance, enjoy their roles and businesses and gain financial independence.

Vision: Empower creative entrepreneurs to build successful, profitable businesses they are passionate about, while maintaining integrity and balance in their lives.

Mission: Create and share inspiring and practical educational content, where our own success is measured by the success of our students.

Now it’s your turn. Look at your schedule, and dedicate a specific time each day, over the next two weeks to bring the information together. If you are consistent, this will help you massively to maintain progress and momentum. Even if it’s just 30 minutes, this daily habit will help you steadily move forward. And break down the drafting process into manageable tasks. Focus on completing one section at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Make sure you keep all your research, notes, and drafts in one place. For me, Google Docs is by far the best to organise all your documents. And if you are yet to use Google Docs, perhaps this will be your first folder, which you can begin to add to.

And when it begins to feel a little laborious, because there will definitely be times when it will do, remind yourself why you started this process, and keep your vision and goals in mind to stay motivated. It’s a good idea to set a realistic deadline for completing the first draft of your business plan. Choose a date that gives you enough time to thoroughly work through each section without rushing. Write it down and hold yourself accountable.

To wrap up today's episode, let's quickly recap the key points we discussed. We started by understanding the importance of a simple, concise, and actionable 3-page plan. We explored how this can clarify your business ideas, refine your existing business, and/or guide your decisions and strategies.

We broke down the essential components of your business plan, which include:

• Opening Summary: A brief overview of your business idea, goals, and vision.

• Company Description: An outline of your business concept, vision, mission, and values.

• Market Analysis: Insights into your target market and competition.

• Products or Services: Detailed descriptions of what you offer and their unique benefits.

• Marketing and Sales Strategy: A plan for attracting and retaining customers.

• Financial Overview: Basic financial projections and budgeting for initial costs.

We also highlighted the significance of maintaining daily routines to keep your progress on track and the value of setting a realistic deadline to complete your first draft.

And now, it's time for you to take action. Start drafting your business plan using the outline and tips I’ve given you. Remember, this plan is a living document that will evolve as your business grows. It's a tool to guide you, keep you focused, and ensure your efforts are aligned with your long-term vision.

As always, I’m here to answer any questions and I also love to hear when you find episodes helpful. It can feel a bit strange sometimes recording these episodes and sending them out there, so hearing back makes a huge difference. You are always welcome to leave a comment or send me a DM on Instagram. I’m at @philippacraddock or you can contact me via email using the address hello@philippacraddock.com. And if you haven’t already, please hit the subscribe button. This really helps, particularly as we are now starting to have a few guests. So much work goes into our podcasts from a small team, and if you find the episodes helpful, do please subscribe and take a moment to leave a review. I read every review we receive and they mean more than perhaps you can imagine.

Thank you so much for your support and for joining me today. I hope I’ve managed to keep this light hearted and exciting, and you feel motivated to write your 3-page guide, one that will help you transform your ideas into a clear, actionable business plan that sets you on the path to success.

Until next time, with huge love,
Philippa x