Our guess is that some readers will see this heading and their eyes will immediately glaze over. Others will get excited and begin mentally rubbing their hands together in anticipation. If you are a born organizer, writing a business plan will seem easy. If not, we encourage you to keep an open mind as we walk you through the process.

Let’s begin with Why. Why write a business plan? Why not just jump in and get started? Well, that ’ s exactly what many entrepreneurs do. First they establish the business; then, when they begin to see the value, they work on their business plan. We ’ re not arguing for a hard - and - fast approach, but we do recommend that at some point, fairly early in the process of getting your business off the ground, you give yourself the gift of completing a business plan.

A business plan is useful if you ever want to borrow money, or if you decide to seek investment capital. However, the main benefi t of a business plan is that it helps you assess your overall business situation,

Make strategic decisions, and plan the tactical steps that will enable your business to be profi table and grow.

A business plan is not a static document. You don’ t write it, put it in a drawer, and forget about it. A business plan is an outline of your best thinking at any given time. For a business plan to truly serve you, you write it, then review it at least quarterly for as long as you own your business. Thus your revised business plan refl ects all you learn as you operate your business, and all the decisions you make as a result.

Formats for business plans vary. Here is a basic outline of the four essential elements:

1. Executive summary . This is a page or two that summarizes the high points of all the other sections.

2. Organization . Here you will write your mission statement, one sentence that describes the purpose of your business. Outline your business philosophy and your goals. Briefl y detail the history of the business and its legal status (individual owner, partnership, corporation). Describe the management team, which may be only you, or may include employees and/or contractors.

3. Marketing plan . In this section, describe your marketplace niche and your potential customers, competition, products, pricing structure, and delivery systems. Outline your marketing strategy, based on the promotional methods we described in the chapter, “Get the Word Out ”

4. Operational plan . Here you describe the day - to-day operation of your business and your plans for expansion. This may include your anticipated investment in new software, hardware, education, and staffi ng. Your fi nances will be part of this section. What are the anticipated start - up costs for your business, if you have not already expensed them? How will you raise any needed capital?

If you have borrowed money for your business, what is your repayment plan? How much money do you need every month, both personally and for your business? What are your fi xed and recurrent expenses? How will you meet those expenses as you build your business? Complete your fi nancial forecast for the next six months and for the next year.

Allow plenty of time to write your business plan. It is not something you can do in one sitting. If you are married, involve your spouse. This

Is a plan that affects your personal as well as professional life. If you work with a mastermind group or have friends whose advice you value, ask for their input. You can begin writing in any section, but leave the executive summary for last.

Jillian has developed software specifi cally for the Internet business plan. You can access it on our web site, Www. YourInternetCashMachine .com (see the Resource page).

INCORPORATION

As we said earlier, we are not attorneys, and we cannot give you legal advice. The following comments express our best understanding of the issues, and you should seek the advice of your own professional legal counsel before taking any action. That said, we believe incorporation will provide you with a number of benefi ts.

The fi rst benefi t is protection. If you set your business up as a corporation, it will be recognized as a legal entity unto itself. You must take care to keep your business completely separate from your personal business life, so as not to pierce the corporate veil. If you do that, should you ever be sued, the lawsuit would affect only the corporation, and not you personally. All of your personal assets would be safe and protected. Many business owners establish several corporations to create a legal wall between their different business activities and assets.

Corporations also enjoy some benefi ts not available to individual business owners. For example, some health, life, and long - term care insurance is available to corporations only. Insurance benefi ts can be provided from before - tax income. A corporation can also provide other benefi ts to its employees, such as educational benefi ts. In practical terms, that means if you employ your college - age children, you can pay their college tuition in before - tax dollars.

There are several types of corporations. C corporations and S corporations are the traditional ones, and limited liability corporations (LLC) are becoming increasingly popular. Some states, such as Delaware and Nevada, are considered to have particularly business - friendly corporate laws. A lot of information is available on the Internet, so do your research and understand the issues before you make a fi nal decision. When dealing with an attorney, we recommend you select someone who specializes in business law and who has clients with Internet businesses.

In planning for the future, knowledge is power. Our fi nal guest expert is Mike Mograbi, the best - selling author of 378 Internet Marketing Predictions. Mike lives and works in Lebanon, and we asked him to prognosticate from a global perspective.