It’s time to adjust your business plan for inflation
A good business plan guides you through every step of starting and running your business. You will use your business plan as a road map for how to structure, operate and grow your new business. It’s a way to think through the key parts of your business. Business plans can help you get financing or get new business partners. Investors want to feel confident that they will see a return on their investment. Your business plan is the tool you’ll use to convince people that working with you—or investing in your business—is a smart choice. If you have any questions, contact our office at 413.475.7283 or fill out our quote form online today!
There’s a lot of talk in the media these days about inflation, and since it’s part of normal economic cycles, it’s worth exploring as a business owner. The resulting effect of inflation on business is in the value of cash, revenues, expenses and assets. Business owners should have a plan for inflation cycles. The plan should include metrics that you will use to measure success and any actionable next steps that should happen and at what time during the cycles.
There is no right or wrong way to write a business plan. The important thing is that your plan meets your needs. Most business plans fall into one of two common categories: traditional or lean startup.
Traditional business plans are more common, use a standard structure and encourage you to go into detail in each section. They tend to require more upfront work and can be dozens of pages long.
Lean startup business plans are less common but still use a standard structure. They focus on summarizing only the most important points in the key parts of your plan. They can take as little as an hour to make and are usually just one page.
Traditional business plan format
When writing your business plan, you don’t have to stick to the exact business plan. Instead, use the sections that make the most sense for your business and your needs. Traditional business plans use some combination of these nine sections.
- Summary
- Company description
- Market analysis
- Organization and management
- Service or product line
- Marketing and sales
- Funding request
- Financial forecasts
Lean Startup Format
You may prefer a narrow startup format if you want to explain or launch your business quickly, your business is relatively simple, or if you plan to regularly change and refine your business plan.
- Key Partnerships
- Main activities
- Main resources
- Value proposition
- Customer relations
- Customer segment
- Channels
- Cost structure
- Revenue Streams
When building a business plan, there are many moving parts. Many decisions are made about gathering information and other decisions. Any errors or assumptions in that information can have drastic effects on the profitability of the business. Reliable, accurate books are key.
At Encharter Insurance we are here to help you with a business insurance quote or any claim. Call us at 413.475.7283 or visit our website at encharter.com to discuss your business insurance and deductible needs. We can offer coverage from many insurance companies so you get the insurance for your budget and needs!
Source: https://lucrumconsulting.com/how-to-plan-for-the-impacts-of-inflation-on-small-business/ and https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your -business/write-your-business-plan
Read more
