Continuing my tales of setting up shop. This week I’ve been working on my business plan.
Now last week I made the mistake of buying an EIN for my business…without actually needing one. Unfortunately, still haven’t heard from the shady business to get a refund. [Side note: their website mysteriously disappeared last week. I didn’t think they could get any shadier after I decided to just absorb my mistake. But then they go and disappear!]
Anyway, back to my business plan! So far I’ve worked on the company overview and started a draft of the product/services offered. I’m trying to focus on each section of the business plan 1 day at a time. If a section takes more than a day that’s fine. I’ve given myself until the end of December to have the business plan buttoned up.
The business plan consists of 7 sections. I’m using Shopify’s template for guidance.
Here are the 7 sections:
- Executive Summary
- Company Overview
- Product or Services Offered
- Market Analysis
- Marketing Plan
- Logistics and Operations Plan
- Financial Plan
This exercise of writing my business plan is helping me focus and streamline what I want the bookshop to be. It’s also helping me decide what is actually possible for me to accomplish as a sole proprietor.
On top of working on my business plan, I worked on my first post for my social accounts – to announce the shop opening in 2024. Apparently, I can’t hold myself back from spending a little money each week on the business. I decided to try making the post into an advertisement for a week, to see how it would perform. It’s done a great job, so far, of attracting new followers outside of my personal circle. But then I haven’t told many of my family or friends about the shop yet.
As my newly finished vision board says, “Slow down, you’re doing fine.”
Next week we can continue the journey and I’ll give a sneak peak at the Company overview!
Currently Reading:
