tailieunhanh - Business Plans Kit For Dummies 2nd editon - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Planning for a Small Business In This Chapter Creating a plan for your small business Deciding where to focus your business-planning efforts Planning to grow your small business — or not The big guys like IBM, Ford, General Electric, Microsoft, and AT&T make the business headlines. | Q DD Chapter 10 Planning for a Small Business In This Chapter Creating a plan for your small business Deciding where to focus your business-planning efforts Planning to grow your small business or not he big guys like IBM Ford General Electric Microsoft and AT T make the business headlines. But the powerhouses driving the nation s economy are you guessed it small businesses. Places like Giovanni s Pizza Main Street Marketing Woody s Custom Furniture and Eye of the Needle Tailoring. Small businesses like these employ more than half of the . private sector workforce and create the majority of the nation s new jobs. What qualifies as a small business The official definition of a small business direct from the Small Business Administration SBA is any business that is independently owned and operated and that is not dominant in its field of operation. If your company employs fewer than 100 people and has only a few locations it probably fits the definition. For the purposes of business planning if your company s big enough to be publicly traded on the NASDAQ or the NYSE you re too big to be called a small business. On the other hand if your business consists of you and you alone you re self-employed and you get your very own chapter see Chapter 9 . This chapter focuses on the aspects of business planning that matter most to small businesses especially those that are just starting up or ones that are playing catch-up and writing business plans for the first time. If your business is already in full motion supplement the information in this chapter by turning to Chapter 11 to find out about planning for an established business and to Chapter 16 to gain advice for when and how to overhaul and update your business plan. a ii 194 Part HI Tailoring a Business Plan to Fit Your Needs Recognizing the Importance of a Plan Business planning is critical to the success of a small business. In fact according to the SBA planning ability is one of the keys to small business success.