Tuesday's Top Three

Take a deep breath. Now, let it out with a huge groan. Yup! That's right. It's the time of year where I go back revisit and rewrite my business plan. {Insert a unanimous ewww! here}

I dread doing it every year. Though I grumble and groan about it, there's a reason why I subject myself to the torture year after year. Frankly put - my business couldn't succeed {and more importantly grow} without it! 

I wrote my first business plan about six months after opening my shop. Heck! When I opened my shop in July 2012, I didn't even know what a business plan was. It was only by chance I stumbled upon Grow Your Handmade Business by Kari Chapin {affiliate link} did I read about business plans and learn why they were so important. I purchased this e-book for my Kindle and make a point to skim over it every year before revisiting my business plan. It's that good!

My business plan helps me stay focused. While I may need it one day to show a bank or an investor, I really use it right now as the blueprint for my business. It tells me what I've done, what I'm doing, where I want to go and how I'll get there.

I've run across a handful of excellent posts/articles on tips for writing a business plan through the the last couple of years. I hope they'll help you as much as they've helped me in constructing my business plan!

                                 

1 /// How to Write a Freelance Business Plan - Start here! Regina from ByRegina.com offers a comprehensive how-to complete with an instructional walk-you-through-it video and free supplementary printables. Whether you are a blogger, designer, creative, etc., Regina gives you a great starting platform to begin creating your business plan.

2 /// Design a Business Plan for Your Creative Business - Amanda speaks directly to creatives in this post and offers some extra creative-centered points to add into your business plan. In my own business plan for PaperLark Studio, I merged Regina's suggested plan layout with Amanda's to better suit my needs.

3 /// How to Create a Marketing Calendar for Your Business - In the last year, my business has grown significantly. With the growth, I quickly learned that in order to keep up in 2015, I'd need to incorporate a marketing calendar into my business plan. In 2014, I {without a doubt} flew by the seat of my pants when it came to the marketing aspect of my business and probably lost some money because of it. Not in 2015! And that starts here.

If you'd like to see more awesome posts on blogging and business, be sure to check out my boards, The Etsy Shop and The Blogging World, on Pinterest.

Now it's your turn! Which blogs and/or posts about construction your business plan have been helpful for you?