The Business of Freelancing – Creating a Business Plan: How Will You Make Money?
Shane PearlmanThis is the third day of our series on The Business Of Freelancing. Every day this week we will have a new tip to help you make the most of your freelancing career.
If you missed the previous posts, check out Saving For Taxes and You Are In Business To. For more, check out ShaneandPeter.com.
Creating a Business Plan: How Will You Make Money?
When someone asks you, “what do you do?” or “what type of business is it?” can you answer in 30 seconds or less? It’s called an elevator pitch.
If you don’t have one yet, take a time out and write one down. Then learn it, drill it, live it. It will help you focus on your goals and trust me, you will get asked that question all the time. It is nice to have an answer that leaves people with a clear understanding of what you do and how you make money at it.
That’s actually the first part of a business plan. If you get audited, one of the first things the IRS will look for is a written plan on how you will generate profit. There are many templates online and some good free courses offered by SBDC and SCORE if you’re interested in learning more.
Some people spend years perfecting their plan, while others take 30 minutes and handwrite it on a napkin. It doesn’t matter how you do it, just do it, put it in your files, and take the time to run it through your head when things seem complicated.
NB. This information should augment, not replace advice from an accountant or lawyer. This information is mostly relevant to US citizens. While we would like to include information for more localities, because FreelanceSwitch readers hail from all over the world this cannot be accomplished.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post, Picking A Legal Form Of Business.
grafic7
September 26th, 2007
‘elevator pitch’ hmmm……… I’ve heard about it before!
That’s a must. Even though I’m not a us citizen I strongly agree that an elevator pitch is a must for any businesss plan.
keep writing.
Rajesh Shakya
September 26th, 2007
Hi,
Thank you for good article and some reference sites.
I had written about writing a simple business plan in one of my blog posts. I hope it will be interest to the readers.
http://www.rajeshshakya.com/how-to-prepare-a-simple-business-plan.htm
Regards
Rajesh Shakya
http://www.rajeshshakya.com
Eric
September 26th, 2007
The business plan I started with is pretty simple. It has 6 major sections of about a paragraph or two each:
* Mission statement - why is my company here?
* Talent offered - what am I an expert on that people will pay for?
* Marketing focus - why should someone pay me for my services?
* Target Markets - who should pay me for my services?
* Marketing methods - how will I tell people?
* Projected finances - what do I think I can make and how much would I spend for the next 12 months?
Copes Flavio
September 26th, 2007
Thanks for this, i found many ideas on http://www.score.org/business_toolbox.html