What Must an Entrepreneur Do After Creating a Business Plan?: Next Steps

As new entrepreneurs, launching a business is exciting, right? We yearn for the thrill of financial freedom. Being our bosses, and, of course, the profits we expect to kick in.

Well, all that remains a dream if we have no concrete business plan.

We have to prepare for the steps that come before, and then once we have sat on it and confirmed that our business template is solid, prepare for the next steps. 

This article discusses what writing a business plan entails and the next steps after writing a business plan. 

Writing a business plan for an entrepreneur involves two steps: 

The research step is the most important. It arguably takes a significant amount of time, but we can derive some information that serves as a foundation for our business idea and plan with good overall intent. 

This is what to research for: 

Let’s say you have a product to sell to a specific age group. The aim here should be to understand the group of potential customers to whom the product is most appealing.

The advantage lies in knowing how urgently our potential customers need our product, how much it will cost, and if the product will stay relevant in the long term. 

Now that we know who our target customers will be, how do we talk to them? The next step is to identify customer channels. 

These channels can vary depending on what we have discovered from our target audience and their preference. They include phone, email, text, social media, online communities, and even in-person. 

How we interact with our customers determines whether we keep or lose them. We must give customers the best experience when interacting with us.

The advantage of a good customer relationship is having more demographic information on our target audience. It can also help you begin setting up a solid marketing plan.

Key resources include assets, staff, finances, brand, and so on. They help create value for our customers and plan for our capital and labor requirements. Make sure you take time to figure out how to keep your finances in line because your future self will be grateful.

After research, the next step is organization. It entails drafting the blueprint for the final take-off of your company. Organization is a key component in any business and is a well-known aspect of personal development in general.

We should determine who our manufacturers, suppliers, and subcontractors are.  

The information on our key partners is essential for drafting trade terms and conditions. It also helps determine our next step.

The key activities are what our business is involved in. They enable our business to identify new ways to gain a competitive edge over our rivals.

Knowing our competition makes it easier for our business to determine its sales and marketing strategy.

Our research and organization all come down to this aspect. It is where we explain our unique value and why we should be funded.

We need to write down our edge over competitors and our strengths and weaknesses. We can prepare a budget that includes a projected cash flow statement.

The following are the next steps to take after writing a business plan: 

We have deliberated on our idea and put it down on paper (business plan). Now we need to see how it works.

Some actual fieldwork with live customer interactions is necessary here. That means testing the feasibility while collecting live feedback on possible locations to set up your business.

After gathering information from the test, it’s time to review our approach to the market depending on the feedback generated, whether positive or negative. 

Reviewing our approach allows for an evolution of the business.

After live testing our idea and reviewing the changes, the next big step is to raise funds. 

Now that we have all the necessary information for our investors, once it’s approved, we can move on to the final step—the launch. 

As exciting as it is, launching a business is not always a bed of roses. That’s because starting a business is not simple. 

Let’s look at what must an entrepreneur must assume when starting a business: 

• Failing several times
• Often needing money
• We won’t work alone. We need help
• An uncertain future

As entrepreneurs, when we assume the above, we can learn and take corrective actions. In correlation to the assumptions, entrepreneurs also have daily stress, which begs the following questions:

The main reason we can attribute to the daily stress entrepreneurs experience is competition.

We will be constantly concerned with what our rivals are doing, what innovations they are coming up with, and how we can always be at an advantage.

The competition also comes as a form of risk to an entrepreneur. And there is a solution to that.

As entrepreneurs, we are risk-takers. One way to minimize risk is by analyzing and investing in risk management.

Risk management comprises building reputation, getting insurance, hiring qualified employees, and having emergency funds.

In summary, we have learned about writing a business plan and the next steps after writing a business plan. We hope you find this information useful as you prepare to launch your business.

As entrepreneurs, we should always have a proper plan and prepare well before undertaking any venture. In fact, We can sum it up by saying that failing to plan is planning to fail.