The New ebay: The Official Guide to Buying, Selling, Running a Profitable Business

Appendix

Creating a complete business plan

You can use the internet to download any number of business plans that apply to small businesses in general. Particularly useful for Australian small businesses is the template available at the Australian Government website www.business.gov.au/businessplan. You can also download the MyBizPlan app to create your own business plan on your iPad. Business plans can be extensive, requiring many hours’ work, but the more effort you put into creating a comprehensive business plan, the higher your chances of running a profitable business that has adequately planned for future challenges and growth.

Creating a strong and clear business plan is not something a lot of your eBay business competitors will have done. Investing your time up front is practically guaranteed to save you a lot more time further down the track. Don’t be tempted to dive headfirst into running your eBay business. Although you may achieve sales immediately, remember that the name of the game for all business is operating at the highest profit margin over the long term.

Following is a summarised business plan that borrows heavily from the Australian Government website but incorporates eBay-specific factors you’ll need to plan for. Consult a business adviser if you need additional help in completing your plan, and remember if you need to make assumptions when completing the template to be as conservative as possible to avoid inconsistencies in the future. The good news ...