Business Plans For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Part III. Weighing Your Company's Prospects

In this part . . .

Whenever you tackle something new, whether it's going back to school, buying a house, changing jobs – or starting a business – nagging questions come up. Is the new venture really the right decision? Are you up to the challenge? Will things work out in the end? They're good questions, because they force you to be honest about the capabilities and qualities that you bring to the table.

In this part, we help you look in the mirror and make an honest assessment about what you see. We set out to discover all the capabilities and resources that you have. We try to determine which of them are strengths and which are weaknesses by looking at what you need to succeed in your industry – and what opportunities and threats you face. We help you focus on what your company does best by looking at the areas where you provide the most value to customers, and then we help you figure out how you can maintain and extend the competitive advantages you already have in the market. Finally, we turn to your finances and help you create an objective portrait of your company based on your income, profits, assets, and cash position, and then we help you use them to create a forecast and a budget.