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Whether you are running, or planning to run, an offline or online business the traditional basics of achieving business success apply. For instance, it is well-known that a business that has no plan is almost certain to fail. No matter how small a business is, it needs a plan. A business plan compels you to think before you act. It compels you to find out about your business area before you start; i.e. to research your business area or to establish its groundwork.

A business plan forces you to think hard about your competition and how you are going to beat them in the market. It forces you to establish whether your business idea is worth pursuing. Why start a business that is going to fail? Isn’t that stupid?

A business plan forces you to establish the expected costs and revenues of your business, and hence to determine profitability. Why run a business when, at any time, you cannot tell whether or not the business is succeeding? If you don’t know your costs or your revenues you cannot compare them together to tell whether your business is succeeding or failing.

An online business is no different from an offline business, when it comes to business planning. It needs a business plan! Yet, how many newcomers do we see trying to make it online without even understanding the concept of business planning? Is it then a surprise that too many fail?

This article discusses 12 fundamental principles that you must understand and use in your business planning if you are going to run a successful business. The principles are as follows…

1. The Requirements Principle

A business plan must comply with the requirements of funding bodies. This is particularly key when you are applying for funding, but is also necessary when you are not applying because the compliance act itself makes the business plan rigorous. Funding bodies always have requirements that a plan must meet, and some of these are: technological innovation, presence of technical risk, and presence of commercial potential.

2. The Objectives Principle

A business plan must have clearly defined objectives and it must accomplish those objectives. A business plan is a strategic business document, and fundamental to any strategic planning process is the need to have objectives which the formulated strategies must aim to accomplish.

3. The Motivation Principle

A business plan must have clear motivations which highlight its importance. The motivations of a business plan are the reasons for completing the plan. These reasons tell us why the plan is important.

4. The Background Principle

A business plan must be the work of someone with a relevant background (the founder, for a start-up business), and the plan must comply with its authors background. A business plan should be prepared by the person or team who is going to run the business. For a start-up business, this is critical because the planning process prepares the owner for running the business. If the planning is delegated to someone else then it is unlikely that the owner will understand the plan sufficiently to be able to implement it. In these circumstances, the owner abandons the plan and does his or her own thing with deleterious consequences for the business.

5. The Detail Principle

A business plan must be sufficiently detailed to inspire confident action when executing the business; yet it must be flexible. A detailed plan is easier to implement than a superficial plan. A detailed plan suggests that the plan has been thoroughly researched and thought over. Detail inspires confidence in the owner of the business (assuming that he or she prepared the plan). A detailed plan should be flexible to accommodate changing times.

6. The Conservatism Principle

A business plan must be conservative. This means that it must always underestimate revenues while overestimating expenses. The reasons for this are underpinned by risk. A business is always executed under uncertainty… we never have all the knowledge we would like to make business success certain. An immediate consequence of this is the tendency to underestimate cost, only to find that we run out of money at critical times of a business’s execution. We also have a natural propensity to overestimate revenues… to dream!

7. The Cash Balance Principle

A business plan must always have a positive cash balance. A negative cash balance means that you plan to run out of money… to be insolvent! If you cannot realistically get the cash balance positive, without padding figures, then this is a sign that the business idea is not worth pursuing.

8. The Insolvency Principle

A business plan must guarantee against insolvency… against running out of cash. There are four ways to do this: conservative estimates so that the business always outperforms its plans, detailed cost identification to minimise omitted costs, contingency planning to accommodate forgotten items, and a positive cash balance throughout the plan.

9. The Risk Management Principle

A business plan must manage risks by convincingly dealing with uncertainty, reducing it to as close to zero as possible. This is simply stating that a business plan must be thoroughly researched, including desk research and field research. The more thoroughly a plan is researched the more it rests on sound facts, knowledge, and understanding, and the less the uncertainty and risk associated with the plan.

10. The Evidence Principle

A business plan must rest on supporting evidence, and guess work must be minimised. Sound evidence increases the reliability of a business plan and reduces the risk associated with it. And the less risky a plan is the more likely it will guide a business to success.

11. The Rigour Principle

A business plan must be rigorous complete, correct, and reliable. This means that the plan must be derived from a systematic process that attends to all the issues that must be addressed. In particular, the plan must not be rushed. The issues must be sequenced and dealt with, each at the right time.

12. The Collaboration Principle

A business plan must be founded on collaboration (not confrontation) it must satisfy the collaboration principle. This means that a business plan must be based on the works of others. It must not be opinionated. It also means that a collaborative, rather than a confrontational spirit, must exist in any business planning team if the results of that team are to be worthwhile.

Final Remarks

This article has discussed 12 killer principles of business planning that any plan must satisfy if it is to be taken seriously. Five of such principles are: requirements principle, objectives principle, motivation principle, background principle, and detail principle. These principles are a must for anyone running an offline or online business. If your business is failing it is more than likely that your failure to comply with one or more of these principles is to blame.

Whether you are still developing your business idea or already know exactly what you want to do, it is important to define the best distribution channels for your product, for your customers, and for you. The distribution channel is the way your product gets to your customer. Traditionally, businesses relied on a single distribution channel. These days, the most successful startups use multiple routes to reach a broader customer base.

For some products, the route to getting it into customers’ hands is self-evident. For specialized, service-only ventures, you or your employees will personally deliver to the client, either on-site or at your place of business. Examples of these types of businesses are cleaning services, auto detailing, personal coaching, consulting, personal training, and training. Restaurants and other food service ventures also fall into this category.

Selling retail products, on the other hand, allows multiple options for distribution — online sales, brick-and-mortar storefront, direct sales through sales reps, festivals or shows, etc. Consider the distribution routes used by your closest competitors. Are they using the most effective channels? Is there any way to modify or improve on the standard methods that will still be appropriate for your product? Will you start with one channel, such as brick-and-mortar and then move into other channels, such as online?

Your target customers also play an important role in the distribution channels you select. If you are selling directly to the end user, you probably have more options than if you are targeting distributors to market your product. Think about it from your target market’s perspective. What is the easiest way for them to access your product? Under what circumstances are they most likely to be looking for what you offer? If your product is new to the market, consider where your target market currently purchases similar products. If it is easier for your customers to buy from you than your competitors, they will come.

Your own work style and personality are also relevant in considering distribution channels for your product. If the idea of spending your days chatting up strangers is distressing to you, then a brick and mortar storefront is probably not the best option. If spending countless hours in front of your computer sounds agonizing, avoid any wholly web-based options. Be honest about your preferences — one of the greatest advantages of starting your own business is the freedom to choose how you get work done. Don’t sabotage yourself by choosing a business that requires you to be out of your comfort zone for every sale.

No matter what your business idea is, there is usually a way to adapt your idea to a distribution channel that works for you and for your target customer. Take a chef that loves to prepare fine dining food but doesn’t want the large crowds of a restaurant. This chef could base their business on a catering model or a personal chef model.

Many modern startups have a broad range of choices about how to distribution their products. Consider all three factors — your product, your customers, and yourself — before deciding the best routes for your business. If possible, consider developing multiple distribution channels within your startup, even if you only start with one initially. The more ways your product can get to your customers, the bigger your potential market.

You have a dream of starting and managing your own catering company. You have the drive and a flair for cooking delicious food that is to die for! Now you are doing research about how to run a catering business and you are thinking about if you really have what it takes to manage your own catering business.

As a small business owner, you will have more responsibility and work longer hours than you did as an employee. It’s almost impossible to truly separate your personal life from you business life. Running a small business is a lot of hard work and far more than just a full time job — it’s a lifestyle.

One part of your job will be getting clients and then the second aspect is preparing for and managing the catering job itself. Once the job is booked, there are a lot of details and organizational skills required in order to complete any catered event.

First you will need to get the event basics from your client: What type of event is it? How many people are expected? How formal or casual is the meal? Does the client have a theme in mind and know exactly what type of food they would like to have served? If not, you will be expected provide appropriate menu suggestions based on the event and the client’s budget.

For larger or more formal events, clients usually request a “tasting” to sample the items from the proposed menu. The client is expecting to not only sample the food, but to see the caterer’s presentation skills.

If you and your client are in agreement about the menu, this will be a wonderful experience for both of you. However, some times the food or menu does not match the client’s expectations or perhaps the client has simply changed their mind. Either way, having a few alternative suggestions is always a great idea, plus your client will feel secure in both your abilities as a caterer and the success of her event.

The number of people attending and the formality of an event will help you determine the amount of catering staff will be required for the event. Many catering companies use freelance staff, so it is a good idea to have a list of recommended people you are comfortable working with that you also know are professional and reliable.

For many people, when they think about how to run a catering business, they focus on the food preparation and cooking responsibilities. In fact, many people start catering businesses simply because they love to cook and do not mind doing all the cooking themselves.

As your business grows and you book larger events or multiple events in a short period of time, it is definitely much better to hire additional cooks and also servers who you have trained to make sure the level of serve offered meets your standards.

In addition to meeting with clients, food preparation and staffing, there are a few other details ever caterer must take into consideration. For example, how will you transport the food and equipment to event? Is you current vehicle large enough to handle the job or will you need to consider alternatives?

Prior to the event, you will need to order the ingredients, cooking and serving utensils. The amount of time required to shop for and prepare the food needs to be taken into consideration and you will need to create a schedule to properly manage all of these details. Most caterers are also responsible for at least minimal cleaning after an event, so keep this in mind when deciding upon your staffing requirements.

Now you have a better idea about how to run a catering business. Running a catering business is not difficult, but it does excellent organizational skills and a realistic time line for each event. Creating and managing your own catering business will give you amply opportunity to be both creative and a strong entrepreneurial manager.