Many times I have seen businesses of all sizes articulate their goals in terms of money. I am not suggesting here that you focus on the money. In fact, it is important to focus on the value that you  will deliver to your prospects to turn them into customers.

Money is a fact of life and is neccessary for all of us to pay the bills. So to say we have a business means we have to take in revenue that is more than the expenses that we have. We all have to pay the bills and in my opinion it is disrepectful to expect people to do things for free even if they are a friend.

In your business plan the need to identify where and how the money is going to flow is paramount. Money is the lifeblood of your business. Cash flow is like air to a business. Even tremendous success can suffocate a business if the success brings a shortage of cash flow through the business.

To start, identify how much you will charge for your product or service. How many customers will you have and how much your costs will be to deliver the product or service. Then detail your monthly expenses and put it all together in a spreadsheet or even on paper if you must.

This financial plan will tell your business story. It will tell you how long you have until your cash runs out. It will tell you the breakeven point in your business. It will tell you how many customer you need to have before you can hire help in the business. And it will tell the story about how your growth will change your company and over how much time you will need to manage the growth successfully. It can highlight the best possible scenario, and outline the negative case so you can identify alternative courses of action before it is too late.

Perhaps most importantly, it will reaffirm that you are in the right business, with the right product at the right price and making the right decisions for how you go forward in this business endeavour.

The financial plan is like a picture. Done right it is worth more than 1000 words and it shows how deeply you understand your business and your clients.