Business plans for a self employed person can take on some new dimensions – but for the most part, they're the same type of document that a larger company would need to create. What are the differences? For one thing, you're not likely to need a personnel plan. While this is an SBA requirement and the staple of any start-up's business plan, if you only use contractors or part-time, non-employee help for small side tasks, you will only use the P&L to account for these expenses. As a solo freelancer, your plan will not require any year-by-year headcount or payroll tax allotment, must less raises, social security or 401k matches, etc. This should simply the financial pro forma, though you should bear in mind that all of the other major tables (revenue forecast, break-even, balance sheet, etc.) are still required. Other considerations:
• How will you market yourself against larger firms?
• What companies or individuals are you competing against?
• What are the shortcomings and the advantages of being self-employed for your business model?
• When do you project break-even and what is your timeline for loan repayment?
• What is the market need that you fulfill?
The business plan for a self-employed person's business should also spare no detail in its description of the services or products you personally provide. That section of the business plan is too often overlooked as an obvious place to be light on detail, but in order to give a lender full disclosure about your company and a solid grasp of what you bring to the market, make sure that you list out every service you provide with a full description. If relevant, photographs, testimonials, or commentaries can be employed to carry your arguments along and supplement the descriptions. If you want help piecing this document together or would prefer to outsource the entire task to a qualified consultancy, you should call MasterPlans. We have been writing business plans since 2002 and we have 25 people on staff whose sole mission is to create great documents, whether they're working on plans for major corporations or simply helping a solo practitioner like you. Call toll-free: 877-453-2011.
