First of all: Your plans will change over time, so you are not expected to set them in stone. You'll use a pencil or, better yet, use your Mac to write things down. There are various reasons for writing or not writing a business plan. Businesses have succeeded and failed with or without a business plan. There is no guarantee. Business plans provide a sanity check for you and your investors. When it comes to starting your own business, you will need a roadmap, a business plan. You will need a business plan to outline how you intend to make it or “get it done” for you and your family. This section covers the basics of the business plan. It is better to consult more authoritative and specific business plan books or seek out professionals. There are too many variables for any potential business for this book to cover. There are three levels of writing business plans: Basic plan (completed over the weekend and 1-2 pages long) for startups. This is where you take a weekend or more to write an outline of who, what, where, when, why and how you intend to make money. It will take a few paragraphs for a few pages. Once written you can start the following Monday. This plan is for those who have a simple idea that will be easy to start, such as a freelance writer or personal trainer. You can start a business with just a few hundred dollars and putting in some time and effort. Bootstrap plan (4-6 weeks to complete, 5-20 pages in length) for larger startups and established companies. A plan like this requires more thought, research, and more startup money, into the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars that will need to be invested. While startups can use this level of business plan, it is also used by establishments...... middle of paper ...... for your questions about the data, not how it looks. This is the next area to discuss. In the Summary or View area, you can rearrange the results to fit your message or the look and feel of your business plan. The summary cell can reference a results cell, but it can display information completely differently, especially if you include graphs or mix various sources of data results to get to your message. "The Million Dollar Idea." One of the I Love Lucy shows titled The Millionaire Idea is where Lucy and Ethel go into business together selling Lucy's Aunt Martha's salad dressing. The problem is that they didn't calculate how much they would get. Ricky walks in as he does for them and realizes that after all their work they would only earn a few cents. Making a business plan helps you understand this and prevents you from wasting precious time, money and reputation.