Are you determined to start your own business ASAP but don’t know what your first step should be? Let me help you with that: You need a business plan! Does it sound boring? Scary? Well, it doesn’t have to be a traditional old boring business plan. And no need to be scared either because you don’t have to show your business to anybody! Those times are gone for you. You’re the boss now! Or will be. Very soon.

What Is a Business Plan?

Simply put, a business plan is a document where you write your business goals, your strategy, and the steps you plan to take to achieve those goals. The best way to create that plan is by asking yourself questions about your future business. And don’t worry if you aren’t sure about all answers: Creating a business plan can help you come up with solutions you hadn’t thought of yet. It is the perfect brainstorm for you to plan the steps to start your freelance business!

Questions You Need to Answer to Write a Business Plan

So let’s have a look at the questions you should be asking yourself to create your first business plan:

• What services or products will you offer? Will you sell physical products? Online services? Online courses?

• Who is your target market? Who is your ideal client? Try to go as deep as possible with details.

• What does your ideal client need? Which problem will you solve? What value will you offer?

• How will you reach them? Where do your ideal clients usually spend their time? Do they read blogs? Which ones? Do they use social media? Which one?

• How will you monetize your services? Have you thought of money yet? Well, you should start doing it!

• What does your competence look like? Do you know any company which offers similar products or services?

• In that case, how will you stand out? What makes you better than your competence?

• And the question that can become a real headache: Which great business name will you choose? This is a fun one, but don’t let searching for the best name ever stop you from going forward. If you don’t come up with a name right now, just use yours. You could use something like “[YOUR NAME]’s Blog” or “[YOUR NAME]’s Shop”. Just use the first name that comes to mind. You can change it later.

• If you are stuck and don’t come up with any idea, there are many apps that can give you some ideas for your name, like Looka. It helps you find a business name and searches automatically for available domains. You don’t want a company name without the same domain name, right?

What Tools do I Need to Write my Business Plan?

Believe it or not, you won’t need anything special to write your business plan, other than some alone time to focus and brainstorm! What does that mean, you ask? That you could be making a perfectly valid business plan on a piece of paper with beautiful colors. Or use an online app to simplify your life. Or an Excel file. Pdf file. Google doc… YOU name it.

3 Useful Tools to Write Your Business Plan:

• If you are a pen-and-paper fan like me, go ahead and get those beautiful markers of yours!
• If you’d rather have a digital file, open a Google Sheet or an Excel file and save it to Dropbox or any other drive on the cloud. This will allow you to access your business plan from any digital device.
• And if you need an easy step-by-step guide, fill out this free interactive business plan I created for you. It might be the quickest option, and it will let you brainstorm what you actually want. Besides, it won’t take you more than 20 minutes of your time.

What Is the Next Step after my Business Plan?

So, now that you’re ready with your business plan, you may be wondering what’s next! Well, it is very easy, actually: You need to translate that plan into action steps! But first, go out for a walk, grab a mug of coffee or tea, or let it rest for a couple of hours if you need to. Then, look again at your business plan. Would you like to change, add or delete something? Repeat this step until you are happy with the results.

And only then, start working on your action plan!

• Write down all the single steps you need to take to achieve that goal of yours.
• Assign a due date for those steps.
• Block time slots in your calendar to perform those steps.
• And don’t miss a date!

When you’re ready, I’m sure you are going to feel proud of yourself, and you should be!!! This is the first step to freedom. And you want to plan the steps accurately for one of the biggest changes in your life, right? You got this!!

And if you need a helping hand, let me help you with the Work for You Planner! It will guide you to set the right goal and the steps you need to start freelancing sooner than you think. Just give yourself a chance!