“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.

This old adage is often cited by business advisers, and is particularly important for anyone starting or running a small business.  You may have the best recipes and be the best cook, or sell the most beautiful clothes, or be an amazing IT professional, but if you do not plan how you will run your business, you will start out at a disadvantage.  A written business plan does not have to be a daunting experience or a hundred-page document.  There are many examples on the internet, but the SBDC encourages you to refrain from using a “canned’ template or having anyone else write you plan for you.  If this is to be your business, it needs to be your plan.