Business Plan Writer

Increases in technology and the continual downsizing of large corporations have meant that new businesses are being created all over the world at a phenomenal rate.

Unfortunately nine out ten small businesses fail in the first year and a large portion of those who do survive fail in the next five years. A business plan is essential for any new business to be successful. If you have a passion for business and planning this rewarding and lucrative industry could be your next work at home business.

Before The Start-Up – Let’s Not Get Ahead Of Ourselves

To be a business plan writer you’ll need more than just some software and a printer. Writing professional business plans requires a thorough knowledge of financial statements, extensive business experience, communication skills, the ability to act as a leader and some experience in writing your own business plans.

The Start-Up

Business plans are used for two main reasons. Firstly a business plan assigns responsibilities, sets goals and the method by which they will be achieved, outlines the exact feasibility of the business idea, establishes a plan by which the business will be marketed and finally projects expenses, turnover and profit figures. Secondly a business plan is essential to gain funding from either outside investors or a bank.

The first step in starting your business plan service is to create work space in your home. You’ll need a desk, computer, internet connection, printer, fax, copier and scanner as well as business stationary such as letterheads, business cards and envelopes. While not essential you might also consider purchasing business planning software to slightly automate the writing process.

Once your home office is established you’ll need to put together a package of services to offer clients. Typical fees range from $3000 - $6000 (USD) per business plan, this assumes roughly two weeks of work. Alternatively hourly rates usually vary from $40 - $45 (USD) per hour. To reach the widest array of customers its important to develop an array of packages from a fully researched two week business plan to shorter plans one hour consultations.

Finally don’t forget that its possible to run this business as an entirely online enterprise. If you do have some online experience and are considering running your business online be sure to do extensive research. Running a test pay per click campaign with Google Adwords is the best way to test the market and establish what sort of profit margins are available.

Making It Work

It’s important to ensure a steady and continuous flow of business. Ongoing marketing efforts are needed to ensure that you have clients lined up for the future.

Business planning is only one part of a business start-up; this means that your clients might also require the services of several other businesses such as accountants, lawyers and marketers. This presents many opportunities for networking and referral relationships.

Marketing

Market your business by getting a small business website developed with plenty of free content on business planning. Gather testimonials from your best customers and put them on your website, this creates an atmosphere of trust which is very important to any website. Register your website with local and niche directories and consider running a pay per click campaign to drive traffic to your sites. Pay per click providers such as Google Adwords allow your to geo target ads to a small geographical area such as a city or suburb making this an excellent direct marketing tool for businesses of all sizes.

Market your business offline by advertising in local business publications, classifieds and direct mailers. Consider offering business courses in your local community – these could be paid for or free. Teaching business skills or just business planning is an excellent way to generate additional income and provides the perfect platform to promote yourself and the services you offer.

Don’t Forget

Charge a 50% deposit before beginning work with any new clients. This will increase your cash flow on longer jobs and ensure some of your time and expenses are covered should the client not pay. Finally don’t forget to account for hidden costs such as subscriptions to business publications, you also might have to take out insurance depending on which county you live in.