Success of your business largely depends on the quality of your business plans. You need to design a detailed, written plan that allows you to clearly see what your ultimate goal is, the reason for that goal, and each waypoint that must be passed in order to reach your goal.

You need a complete, easy to use, but successful tool in order to define your basic products, income objectives and specific ways in which you are going to achieve them. The need of a business plan is imperative and is also a way to attract investors, obtain financing and get financial credits, particularly in times when you are short of cash. In this situation, the amount of money you have at your disposal compared with the expenses that must be made.

Aside from an overall directional policy for the production, sales effort and profit goals of your product–your basic “travel guide” to business success–the most important purpose your business plan will serve, will be the basis or foundation of any financial proposals you submit.

Many beginning entrepreneurs have the wrong impression that a business plan is the same as a financial proposal, or viceversa, that the financial proposal constitutes a business plan. This is just a misunderstanding of the uses of these two separate and different business success tools.

The business plan is a detailed map, conceived for the long term, used to guide your business to the goal you’ve set for it. The plan details, the structure of your future development, goals, financial aspirations, are all part of the business plan.

The financial proposal is the request for money based upon your business plan, your business history and business objectives. You really need to understand the differences. They are closely related, but they are not the same thing at all. Writing and putting together a successful business plan takes study, research and a lot of your time, so doing it in one or two days is not possible.

Even if you are not a business school graduate, you can simply start with a blank piece of paper and a pen. Start brainstorming and get your ideas together as they race through your mind at very high speeds

It’s also a good idea that when you aren’t actually working on your business plan, to carry a pocket notebook and write down those business ideas the moment they come to you: for example, ideas for sales promotion, recruiting distributors, and any other thoughts on how to operate and build your business.

Later, when you’re working on your business plan, you can take out this very useful notebook and start evaluating your ideas, work on them, refine them, and integrate them into the overall big picture of your business plans.