Preview draft General guidance prepared for NovusPointe, awaiting Christopher West’s approval before publication. Not legal, tax, accounting or financial advice.
Many people start a business plan by opening a template and filling in boxes. A better starting point is a short set of questions. If you can answer them in plain language, the plan almost writes itself; if you cannot, you have found the work that matters most.
1. What problem are you solving, and for whom?
Describe the customer and the problem in one or two sentences, without industry jargon. If the description only makes sense to you, keep refining it. A clear answer here guides every later decision, from pricing to marketing.
2. How will customers find you and decide to buy?
Write down the actual path a customer takes: where they first hear about you, what they need to see before they trust you, and what makes them choose you over another option. This becomes your marketing and sales section.
3. What does it cost to deliver, and what will you charge?
List what it takes to deliver one unit of your product or service: time, materials, travel, software, and anything else. Compare that with what you plan to charge. You do not need perfect numbers yet, but you do need to know which costs exist.
4. What has to be true in the first ninety days?
Pick the handful of things that must happen early: registrations, a first customer, a supplier agreement, a location. Writing them down turns a plan into a schedule you can act on.
5. Where will you get help?
Identify the professionals and public resources you will rely on. Legal, tax and accounting questions belong with qualified professionals. Public resources such as the SBA's planning guide and South Carolina's Small Business Development Centers are listed on our Helpful Business Links page.
If you can answer these five questions in plain language, the business plan almost writes itself.
Bring your answers, even rough ones, to a consultation. They make the conversation faster and the next steps more specific.
