One of the first things that one must do, as part of the cleaning business startup task, is to create a business plan. This plan is actually what a blueprint is to a building structure. It is the layout of the business that points it to the direction that it should be taking. May it be commercial cleaning or just a house, cleaning business strategies can be quite clear at first, but as time and clients come pouring in, a cleaning business owner can stray from the path that he, himself, drew.

The Foundations of the Plan

For business plans, there is no exact or standard format that everyone must follow. It depends on how you want to present it, and how you wish to write it. However, good business plans have three things in common: a marketing plan, a financial plan, and a management plan. All well-written, informative business plans always include these three things. A financial plan can be drawn up according to the figures and facts, management plans can be formulated by acquiring organizational skills and all, but when it comes to the cleaning business marketing plan, it can be a challenge to your resourcefulness as well as your creativity.

A thorough, easy to understand content is what your plan should contain. The purpose of your business plan is that if there are potential investors who wish to invest on your business, they will be able to have a clear picture of what your business is all about. If it’s clear enough for them to understand, it will give them the impression that you are most likely a good investment too – no tendencies of being a scam or a hustler. Also, if you wish to have financial assistance on your business’ start-up capital, financial institutions like banks would require the same plan from you for them to review. Thorough and clear content is important since most businessmen and institutions are busy people, reviewing several of business plans in a day.

Parts of the Plan

For your business plan, include a cover sheet, the top sheet that contains your business name, your name, your position, name of any business partners (if any), contact information, and the purpose of the business plan.

A table of contents for easy navigation of the reader is a must, financial projections, and supporting documents must be included. Remember a good business plan for your house cleaning business means good cleaning business marketing for you. This is part of cleaning business startup tasks that make or break you and your business.

No, we don’t have $700 Billion earmarked for small businesses. We can’t go hand out to our legislatures for financial assistance. We don’t make the 6:00 pm news as a “business in trouble”. We are small businesses who have to provide our own bailout.

How do we do this? We look at ways to support one another and our customers and our employees. We check our budgets, roll up our sleeves and get down to work.

1. Check Budgets

Are there areas where we can cut expenses? Can we bring our lunch to work and not eat out as often? Can we initiate “green” assistance by turning off lights, recycling paper, and keeping better inventory control on supplies?

We are all wasteful – we waste paper, water, time, energy, food, and everything else. If we just took a look at what we could reuse or save, think about the money we can save.

2. Roll Up our Sleeves

Can a project be completed at home or by someone else? If you have staff that you are responsible for, have you thought outside of the box to see if some of your business associates would be interested in “sharing” a worker or “renting” an employee. Maybe if you have 4 employees you can work with an associate company with no employees who may be looking for a temporary person.

3. Prepare

If this is the end of your fiscal year, prepare a budget that is as complete as you can possibly make it and be prepared to follow it. As you prepare the budget, talk to your staff, especially your supervisors and managers to get their input. This will not only help them understand the situation but provide them with the opportunity to possibly share a good idea.

4. Dust off the Business Plan

Many businesses write the required business plan and then file it away. This may be a good time to get it out and look at the research you did in preparing the plan to determine if you are still on track. If not, why not? If you are, did you plan for any emergency? This is the time you can update your plan to accommodate the current financial crises. This, along with your budget, may offer the road map you need to navigate through the next few months.

5. Think Out Side the Box

Is this a good time to look at a new product or service? Are you in a position that might help other businesses make it through the economic downturn? Only you know your business and what you might do to make a difference.

Will it be easy? No. Will there be a need to make hard decisions? Probably. But, if you are honest with yourself and your staff and your clients, hopefully you will find a way to make it all work. Good luck to all of us.

Once you have completed your research and made your business decisions, it’s time to write out your business pan.

First, go to http://www.microsoft.com and download one of their free business plan templates. After opening it, delete any section you will not be using.

By keeping only the parts you will need, you cut down on the amount of work deeded.

How through you are at writing your business plan depends on who’s going to see it? Will you be looking for a venture capital firm to invest in your business?

If so, then your plan will have to go deeper into details. If not then you can get by with a much simplified approach.

Use a professional writer to develop your business plan if you intend to seek financial assistance.

What goes into the plan? All of the information we’ve been collecting since we started our research.

Here’re the sections I suggest you have in your business plan:

1. Title Page

Just provide your basic contact details and the name of your business.

2. Table of Contents

List just the first page of every section.

3. Executive Summary

This section is where you give a high level overview of your business concept and strategy.

4. Vision Statement

Your vision statement should give details on the following:

a. Competition

b. Description of Products and Services

c. Pricing

5. Operational Plan

Your operational plan describes how you plan to run your business. Include information on all of the following:

a. Management

b. Employees

c. Policies and Procedures

6. Marketing Plan

In the marketing plan section you will outline your overall market strategy and how it will help your business.

Outline, at least, the following:

a. Financial expenditures for marketing

b. Marketing Vehicles to be used

7. Startup and Capitalization Expenses

Detail all startup and operating cost for the first year of business.

8. Financial Plan

Describes the financial health of your new company and how you plan to maintain and grow your revenues.

You will have to complete your marketing plan to finish the business plan, because the marketing plan is a critical step.

Implementing an effective marketing plan is critical to the success of your business. Make sure you do not skip this step!

A business plan is nothing more than a method to ensure you cover as many areas as possible. Not every plan needs to be fifty pages long.

If a simple plan serves your needs then use a simple plan. Starting a business isn’t rocket science; instead it’s mostly common sense.

When it comes to business plans and their importance, you will find that there are a number of different reasons why business plans are important. Perhaps, the best way to go about understanding those reasons is to closely examine business plans, namely what they are used for. Business plans are used for a number of different things; they serve a number of different purposes. In all honesty, it depends on the type of business that you are interested in developing.

Business plans are used by many to obtaining financing for their up and coming businesses. These potential business owners are ones who have business ideas, but they do not have the financing needed to make their dreams become a reality. Instead of giving up on those dreams, a large number of individuals turn to financial lenders or investors for financial assistance. This is where a business plan comes in. Financial lenders and investors don’t just hand out money to any ole person. They, as you likely expect, want to make sure that they will be getting their money back. The only way to do this is to back a business that is sure to be a success. The only problem is that financial lenders and investors aren’t mind readers; that is why they rely on business plans.

When examining a business plan, a financial lender or investor will likely go over it with a fine tooth comb. In fact, they may even want to keep your business plan for a while, to do a little bit of research. That research will likely help them determine whether or not your business idea could turn into a real, profitable business. If so, there is a good chance that you may get the financing that you need. That is why it is extremely important that you not only have a business plan, but a detailed, professional one. You will often find that your business plan is the deciding factor in whether or not you get the financing that you need.

In addition to using a business plan to obtain business financing, there are many potential business owners who use business plans as guidance. It is no secret that it is difficult to develop a business on a whim. Doing so may mean leaving out important duties or tasks; duties or tasks that may have a significant impact on your business. That is why, if you are interested in starting a business, you are advised to develop yourself a business plan. That business plan will help to make sure that you have all of your bases covered. Having all of your bases covered is one of the many keys to developing a successful and profitable business.

Guidance and financial backing are just a few of the many ways that business plans are used, but they are the two most important and most common uses. Regardless of what you use your business plan for, in the end, you will be glad that you developed one.

This article was authored by Ryan Bessling. This 32 year old, Internet marketer was able to quit his 9-5 “job” because of his The Business Plan Guide. He now wants to help others and show you how he made it in Internet Marketing from creating a great business plan!