Developing a Business Plan for Your Home Business

Developing a business plan becomes important for the home business owner...for keeping your own goals before you and for letting the IRS (in the United States) know you’re seriously involved in a business not a hobby making spasmatic earnings.  I attended two home business workshops recently.  At both the necessity for developing a home business plan was mentioned.

Also, if you go to a bank for any type of loan for your business, they generally will want to see that you have a busiiness plan.  This lets the bank/lending institution know you’re serious about what you’re doing.  For some, this is a requirment for the loan.

A business plan need not be a lengthy document, simply stating your weekly, monthly, and annual goals.  You might have a 5-year plan that maintains where you desire to be after that length of time. 

 A business plan also helps keep you on track. This isn’t to say you won’t vary this as you try new directions, find something doesn’t work as well as you thought, have new opportunities open up, etc.

My quiltmaking business, years ago, evolved from a dressmaking/alterations business.  When the demand for quilts grew at my mother’s country general store, she suggested I use some of my fabric scraps from sewing to make some quilts for her to sell.  (The lady providing them at that time couldn’t keep up with orders.)  So I took Mother’s suggestion and made some quilts.  Eventually, my business evolved into a quilt business rather than the dressmaking.  Yet I still was involved in a home business that dealt with sewing and could be operated from the home.