Set important milestones. Determine a few important things that have to happen in your business and when they have to happen. Write down the dates and deadlines. These are your milestones. Just as with that to-do list people never complete, plan too many milestones and you'll get lost in them, and the list won't have much importance. Focus on a few of the most important business milestones. Write them down and review them periodically.
Do your basic numbers. Sales forecasts, expense budgets and cash flow are what drive your business. The bootstrapped business doesn't do less of this just because no investors are looking over its shoulder. In fact, bootstrapped businesses must keep a closer watch on their numbers because minding the cash flow is that much more critical when you don't have deep pockets.
Do the monthly reviews. Your business plan will be wrong, but that doesn't mean it isn't vital to your business. Compare actual results with what you planned, and course-correct as necessary. It's like steering a vehicle, with lots of small corrections. Your plan should never be done. Keep it alive. Manage your business with it.
Do these five points sound like something bootstrapped businesses don't want? I hope not. In fact, I can't imagine trying to run a business--funded or bootstrapped--without some sort of planning. If you're committed to your business, commit to planning for its future. Taking time to plan at the outset will increase the chances your business will not only survive but thrive.
Tim Berry is the "Business Plans" coach at Entrepreneur.com and is president of Palo Alto Software Inc., which produces the industry's leading business planning software, Business Plan Pro, as well as other popular planning applications for businesses. He is the author of The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan and co-author of 3 Weeks to Startup with Sabrina Parsons, both published by Entrepreneur Press.
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