It pretty much goes without saying that any business’s plan is a key to having successful operations. This single document essentially serves as the blueprints for both new and well-established businesses the same. For business owners that don’t already have a well-polished plan written up already might be wondering when they should find their consultant. Since all businesses absolutely need this to analyze their prospective clientele and execute a business strategy, the simple answer is — yesterday. Regardless, there are a few distinct points when hiring a business plan consultant or writing is paramount. When a business first begins, when objectives aren’t being reached, or when there any advances or trends in the industry’s market or economy, is the most crucial period of time to finding a consultant.
Founding
Initially, you should have a serious business plan ready just for these two reasons.
- Viability analysis – 50-70% of small businesses fail within the first year and a half. By conducting a thorough viability analysis before starting your business endeavor, you can lower the chance that you’ll run out of prospective customers. Your business plan consultant works to find places in the market for your business to take advantage of, while also searching for any lack of opportunities to take advantage of. A business plan consultant finds opportunities for your business to exploit. Your business consultant will help clearly point out whether you should be launching your business or not at all.
- Strategic analysis and planning – Most of a business plan consists of a variety of multiple different forms of analyses regarding things such as finances and market layout. Working with a consultant forces you to make a definite course of action and find the best route in taking it. When working with a paid professional, you can’t afford to just go with the flaw. You have to be prepared.
Seeking funding
As we’ve mentioned in our other blogs, investors and lenders generally require a well-organized and revised business plan for companies that are searching for a source of financial backing. This is another reason why it’s good to find a professional to assist you before begin seeking funding. A good business plan writer will be used to using the terminology and qualifications that financial backers look for in a formal business plan. So, this is why it’s good to find your business plan writer at the beginning of the business-building process.
Business is suffering
You know it’s time to revise your business plan whenever there is a sudden downfall of profits or if the business has still failed to gain consistent revenue. Your consultant can analyze your current course of business and offer valuable suggestions. Hired consultants should have a long period of applicable experience, offering up creative insight and methods of using new business tactics.
Regardless of whether you need a new business plan because of a lack of business or altering your strategy to keep up with modern practices, changes to your business plan should never be taken lightly. “Always keep the revision in perspective,” urges Tim Berry, president and founder of Palo Alto Software, “While you do want to review and correct constantly, you don't want to change a strategy unless you are sure it isn't working.”
Internal or external changes
Big alterations of a business, such as a change in owners, and large market shifts, such as new industry standards or innovative technology, serve as appropriate reasons to revisit your strategy. Other revisions, which can drastically affect a company’s existing business plan, need to be need to be effectively critiqued in a newly revised document. Although, Berry warns, you should only perform alternations if, “you see real changes in the underlying assumptions that formed the foundations of strategy.”
To decide on the best time to hire an expert, you need a consultant when there’s a call for revision or alteration to the existing business plan. This happens at the beginning of a business’s life cycle, when searching for a source of funding, when profits are down, or when there are a number of outside criteria that causes a company to alter its current tactics. Keeping your business plan up-to-date, while maintaining a focus on the long-term scheme of things, is the most optimal course to pursue.