You learned what the Small Business Administration says a
business plan is and applied that definition to yourself. You also learned that
writing a business plan is similar to putting together a puzzle. It is not
something you do it all at once. You begin knowing what it will look like when
you are done. Then you start with the easy pieces, knowing the hard pieces will
get easier after the easy pieces are done (part three).
You learned that your business plan will include a business
description; and that you already know how to describe your business in casual
conversation . You started writing down the words you use to describe your
business for later use, when we will translate those words into formal business
plan language (part four).
Having made it that far, you read our proposed business plan
outline for a one-truck expediting business. The outline probably presented
several unfamiliar items but you know from part three to be patient and start
with the easy pieces. You learned that one of the easy pieces is your business
plan's executive summary. You also learned how your executive summary can
distinguish your document from the others sitting on your banker's desk and
motivate your banker to say yes to you (part five).
Before moving on to the next outline item, you started a
project that you can do in your truck or at home. You gathered a couple months'
worth of old receipts and statements to begin the process of writing a budget.
You learned that a budget is the most important part of your business plan and
that a willpower decision must be made. Either you are going to control your
paperwork, or your paperwork is going to control you. If you are still with us,
we presume that you made the decision to control your paperwork and you have
begun to list your business and personal budget items (part six).
Before we move on to talk about your business plan’s table
of contents, take a moment to give yourself a pat on the back. While it may
seem like we are just getting started, you have already completed important
business planning work. More importantly, you have overcome a challenge that
many do not.
By making up your mind to have a written business plan and
proceeding this far, you are making sure that you and you alone run your
business; not your banker, truck dealer, carrier, accountant, creditors,
friends, family or anyone else. Your business is exactly that — your business.
With a good business plan in hand, you set the goals, you call the shots.
If you have not been following this series but would like to
catch up, the previous parts are online at www.ExpediteNow.com.
After the executive summary, the next item in your business
plan is the table of contents. There is not much to it. Like your executive
summary, it will be written after most other items in your business plan are
complete. Like the table of contents in a book, your business plan table of
contents lists the plan’s sections and page numbers.
The different people who will read your plan, or portions of
it, will have different interests. Your banker will be interested in your pro
forma profit and loss statement. We will talk about that later. Your insurance
agents will be interested in the assets you wish to insure and the goals you
are trying to achieve. Your family members may be most interested in the
disaster recovery information your plan will contain. Your table of contents
enables your people to quickly and easily find the information they need.
Notice the words, “your people.” You have probably seen it
on TV comedy shows. A character will say, "Have your people call my
people." It usually gets a laugh because the person saying it is not
important enough to have people like Donald Trump or Oprah have people. The
Donald’s and Oprah’s people bring skills to the table, provide advice, perform
designated tasks and work in their boss's best interests. In contrast, the
comedy character is hopelessly lost.
Do one-truck expediters have people? The ones with business
plans do. Where celebrity billionaires have people that are full time
employees, the people expediters have serve other clients too. Still, they are
your people. They bring skills to the table, provide advice, perform designated
tasks and work in your best interests.
We are getting a little bit off the table of contents topic,
but let's explore this for just a moment. As a one-truck owner-operator, you
have people that bring skills to the table, provide advice, perform designated
tasks and work in your best interests — that is, if you make it so.
You may know some truck drivers who wanted to be
owner-operators but failed soon after they started. You certainly know the
type. Without clearly defined goals and a plan to achieve them, they wander
into a dealership to buy a truck. The dealer happily provides a truck,
accessories and probably financing too. Truck insurance of some sort is somehow
provided so the “businessman” can drive the truck off the lot and on to bankruptcy
and having the truck repossessed.
That kind of owner-operator does not have people. He or she
has predators. The vendors and service providers have seen it again and again.
An unprepared truck driver walks in who will almost certainly fail. They may
try to help or coach the driver, but when the driver does not listen, they
provide products structured such that when the driver fails, they will still
make money.
They do that because they know that if they do not sell this
driver their goods and services, the driver will simply go down the street and
their competitors will. Non-refundable application fees, front-end charges,
down payments, above-market interest rates and more all come into play, so the
vendors will come out whole even if the driver fails.
Contrast that to a first-time truck buyer who approaches the
very same people with a business plan in hand and a business owner's attitude
in his or her heart. That would-be owner-operator is not looking for a truck.
He or she is looking for people that bring skills to the table, provide advice,
perform designated tasks and work in the business owner's best interests. The
business owner knows exactly what kind of goods and services he or she needs
because it is spelled out in a written business plan.
If you have a written business plan, you are not going in,
hat in hand, begging people to put you in a truck. You are going in looking for
people to serve on your team. If vendors meet your standards and rise to the
task, they get to play.
Having a written business plan helps you know what kind of
team you need to put together to achieve your goals (banker, dealer,
accountant, insurance agents, other vendors, family members, etc.). Your
business plan spells things out for your people. Your table of contents helps
them move quickly to the information they need.
With the executive summary and table contents now discussed,
we can move on to the next item of your business plan outline; your business
description. This is a major section in your plan that includes several smaller
sections. We will discuss each in turn.
Following the outline presented in part five, the sections
are: business name, business form, business owners/managers, business type,
business location, business history, mission statement, current situation and
goals. There is nothing special about the order in which these appear in your
plan but it is important to include them all.
We are out of space here so will pick this up in part eight.
In the meantime, keep working on your budget as described in part six. Also go
back to part three, review your notes and think again about your business
description. Your notes will be helpful in part eight.
Finally, if you have not already done so, it would be a good
idea to create a place for your business planning papers (these articles, your
notes, statements, receipts, etc.). Office supply stores sell something called
an accordion file. They work great in a truck and cost little. As you continue
your business planning work, you will assemble many more pieces of paper. An
accordion file will help you keep them well organized and all in one place.
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Phil Madsen is the senior field editor with ExpeditersOnline and Expedite NOW. He and his wife Diane are a straight-truck expediting team. In 2003 they left their white collar careers and became expediters to increase their income, simplify their lives, spend more time together, share a business project, and see the country. They are pleased to say, “It’s working!” Phil can be reached at ATeamTransport@yahoo.com.
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