Become a Home Based Travel Agent

Tips for writing your 2010 Business Plan
By Cory Andrichuk

It’s never too late to start the process of writing your business plan.  Better late than never I say! 

As we ring in the 2010 New Year and a New Decade, there are feelings of joy, excitement, positive anticipation (how can you feel anything but after 2009), and then that funny uncomfortable feeling of planning and forecasting ahead.  Your phone should be ringing and your email INBOX zipping along with travel requests as consumers LOVE to plan for travel in January!  It’s great to be busy depositing travel arrangements, booking group cruises and tours to Europe and Alaska 6-9 months out, but it’s also more critical than ever to plan ahead in the new business climate… YES… to begin to think and write your business plan! 

Writing your business plan will help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your travel business. This planning and thinking process will help you determine if you should continue doing the same thing and/or pursue a new idea. It will help keep you on track as you grow your business. A business plan also helps you plan for financing and attracting future investors, partners, and key suppliers.  A business plan is essential to your success, period!

A business plan is a working document that outlines the process, procedures, and strategies you will use to implement and run your business on a daily basis in order to achieve your vision.  Stephen covey says… "To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you are going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction...”

Please find 7 tips below to getting started to write your 2010 business plan:

1. Define your objectives for producing the plan.

Ask yourself why you need a business plan in the first place? Who is going to see it? Why are they reading it? How are you going to use it? How will it help you run your business?

2. Allocate enough time and resources to thoroughly research your plan.

A business plan is only as good as the research that goes into producing it. For example, you will have to do research in order to find out more about: the travel industry, your potential customers, your potential competitors, and your potential sales and costs.  NACTA, ASTA, CLIA, and your local Chamber of Commerce are great places to find such resources to help you plan.

3. Show drafts of your plan to others.

It can be very useful to get feedback on your draft business plan from various people, including people in the travel industry and other professionals like your accountant, business partner, a travel business mentor or a business coach with travel industry experience. Surround yourself with a circle of trusted colleagues to help work on your weaknesses, rather than ignore them and pretend that they do not exist. A head in the sand strategy does not work!

4. Write your own business plan.

One common mistake made by entrepreneurs is to copy too much information from a sample business plan and simply change the names and some of the numbers. There are two big problems with this approach. First, the emphasis you place on various sections of the business plan must reflect what is important in your business.

Second, a good business plan should flow together like a good story; with the sections working together to demonstrate why your business will be successful. Business plans that borrow too much information from other business plans tend to be disjointed, with some sections contradicting others and some key issues being overlooked.

5. Outline the key points you want to make in each section before you start your writing.

Review your outline to ensure that your sections are consistent with each other, that there is no duplication, and that all the key issues have been covered.

6. Make sure your financial projections are believable.

For many readers, the financial section is the most important section of the business plan because it identifies your financing needs and shows the profit potential of your business. A good financial plan will also give the reader confidence that you really understand your business. Take care not to be overly optimistic or fail to take into account the full costs of running your business otherwise your business plan will not be credible.

7. Complete the Executive Summary last.

The Executive Summary can be the most important section of your business plan because people will read it first and it may be the only section they read. The keys to a good Executive Summary are that it should be short (1-2 pages at the most), it should highlight what is important in your plan, and it should get the reader excited about your business. Write the Executive Summary as the last task in writing your business plan. it sums up your work from an overhead look. 

Procrastination is the leading cause of disorganization, so let’s get you organized and on track to achieve and build greatness!  I offer a 1 to 1 personal business plan writing program to help you put the steps in place to write the plan that makes sense to you and your business.  Email me today for further details.

You can reach me at cory@brandUcoaching.com