Starting With a Plan Your brilliant idea isn't enough. You need a good plan of action.

Who needs a business plan? Isn't it enough just to have agreat idea? Your winning idea is a good place to start, butit's probably not enough to sustain your business over the longhaul.

Dana Philen found this out while completing a class project withthe Entrepreneur Invention Society (EIS) in which she had to notonly come up with an original invention, but write a business planas well. The Atlanta teen invented the Walk 'N Train dogcollar, which combines a choke chain with a regular collar.According to Philen's plan, her invention could be more than aclass project--it could be the start of a successful business.

Today, it is. Philen's unique dog collar is available atwww.walkntrain.com. She says her participation in theEIS program, as well as writing her business plan, really openedher eyes to the opportunities the world has to offer. AlthoughPhilen's business started as a great idea, she needed aconcrete plan to put that idea into action.

Writing a business plan is time-consuming, but it is also one ofthe most important things an entrepreneur can do. A business planmay be only one page or many pages long. Whatever the length, mostplans are made up of three basic sections.

Part 1: GettingOrganized
One of Philen's first orders of business was to give herinvention a name. "My Mom and I were talking about the collarand thinking of names when, between us, we got the name 'WalkAnd Train,' which I shortened to 'Walk 'NTrain'," says Philen, 13. She also needed to legallyprotect her idea-- Philen's dad helped her file for trademarkprotection on the name, and that was granted in 2000.

In the first section of your business plan, you should:

• Describe the business concept, including: your businessname, your goods or services, who owns the business, your locationand hours, and your company's purpose or mission.
• Describe your current assets, including: the owner'stalent and experience, business associates and advisors, tools andequipment, materials and supplies, and cash on hand to operate thecompany.
• Outline any legal requirements, including: permits,licenses or registrations; tax requirements; and patents,trademarks or copyrights.

Part 2: GettingCustomers
Philen's next order of business was figuring out how she wouldspread the word about the collars. She found her answer as she wascompleting this section of her plan. "As part of the businessplan research, I found out that the easiest way to get my collar onthe market was on the Internet," Philen says. "My momsigned up for a free Web page and asked my dad to figure out how tomake it work. He still mumbles something about HTML."

For the second part of your plan, you need to:

• Describe your target customers, including: their age,gender, occupation, etc.; the locations of these customer groups;results of customer service surveys; and market trends andconditions.
• Identify your competitors, including: a list of yourthree to five top competitors, their strengths, what you can learnfrom them and how you plan to serve customers better.
• Describe your marketing plans, including: youradvertising slogan, an outline of your sales presentation, your topadvertising methods, samples of sales literature (fliers, etc.) anda marketing timetable.

Part 3: ManagingMoney
To make her prototype collar, Philen and her mom took a trip to thelocal pet store, where they bought a regular nylon collar and achoke chain, plus some other parts. "We tried different waysto put it together, and then used my dad's soldering iron tofuse the nylon parts together," Philen explains. "Thefirst collar looked OK, but it cost a lot to make."

Philen needed to find a way to lower the costs of her supplies.After some phone calls, she found a manufacturer in Taiwan whocould make the collars for less. "This was just what I hadwritten in my business plan--find an offshore manufacturer to cutthe cost of each collar!" she says. "I sent the drawingsto Taiwan, and they sent back samples and prices. The prices werebetter than I could do, and the quality was terrific."

This was just one of the steps Philen recorded in this sectionof her plan. You should also:

• Describe your record-keeping system--explain how thesystem works, provide sample forms and supplies, and provide bankaccount information.
• Estimate your expenses, including: operating expenses(rent, phone, etc.), costs to produce your product and necessarystart-up money.
• Estimate your income, including: sources for start-upmoney, a sample price list, and your sales goals and cash-flowprojections.
• Create a budget that covers saving (short term and longterm) and paying bills.

Writing a business plan not only helps you see if your businessidea is feasible, but also provides a clear statement of what youintend to accomplish by starting your business. As you are writingit, keep in mind that you are mapping out your road to success!