Business plans for the craftpreneur

They say you cannot know where you're going unless you know where you've been, but I believe you cannot know where you're going if you don't plan ahead! Most crafters do not have a business plan, and this can be a major setback as far as taking your craft business to the next level. It may seem daunting, but every craftpreneur should write a business plan; it will help guide you in the direction you want to go. Even if "going big" isn't the way you want to take your business, having a concrete plan in place will help you map out your business goals, as well as record the accomplishments you have already achieved. Ideally, a business plan should be written before the business is started, but since most craftpreneurs will already be operating their business before they decide to write a plan, I'll tailor this step by step guide towards writing a business plan after you've already started running your craft business.

Business plan roadmap

Every business plan needs the following parts:
1) Executive Summary
2) Business Background
3) Product/Service Description
4) Marketing Plan
5) Operations Strategy
6) Organization of the venture
7) Financial Requirements and projections
8) Key risks and conclusions
9) Implementation

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will address each section and guide you through writing your craft business plan.