Talking Cents

Tips on writing a business development plan for a small business

Every business’ main goal is to grow and expand. To do so, it is important that you set things in motion with a well detailed business development plan. This plan can include having set goals for growth and explain how you will be able to achieve them. It will focus on achieving both your short and long-term goals, to ensure nothing is left behind. Here at M.A.S Partners, the leading small business accountants in Sydney, we understand the importance of an effective business development plan, and work with hundreds of different businesses to develop theirs. As such, we have provided some tips that will help you with the process.

Inclusions

When creating your business development plan, you must be clear, specific, and realistic as it will act as a roadmap to your business’ growth. Since it is a road map, you must include opportunities for growth, where you identify where your growth will come from such as adding new products; a funding plan, where you determine how you will fund your business such as from angel investors; your financial goals, increasing your revenue and profit yearly; your operational needs, where you identify what your business needs to change to achieve said growth, such as hiring more people, or buying from different suppliers; your sales and marketing activities, where you lay out plans to make your marketing more effective; and your team needs, where you delegate some of your workload onto your team so you can focus on growth.

Common Mistakes

There are many mistakes businesses may make when creating their development plan. Our vast experience in small business accounting has led as to avoid such common mistakes. When creating a business development plan, owners often focus on the short-term rather than the long-term. The overall goal of the project is to grow in the long-term. Where short-term growth will be great, it is nothing compared to the big picture. Additionally, many owners will underestimate both the costs of the development, as well as how much growth they will actually get from the development. It is important that you have a big enough budget to cover all the costs of the growth, as the last thing you want is to be limited. Furthermore, with a larger budget, you may be tempted to capitalise on many different growth opportunities. However, it is important to pick a few growth opportunities that work for your business and expand from there.

Consider hiring a small business accountant

Here at M.A.S Partners, we help all our clients develop their business through our small business accounting services, as well as advisory. Many business owners are inexperienced, and do not understand the steps they need to take in order to grow. By hiring a small business accountant, you receive expert advice, whilst having your finances effectively handled stress free. Our small business accountants understand what your business needs. We know that every client is unique and provide specialised advice that will help your business develop through our small business accounting services. For more information on our business accounting, click here.