13-03-2008
Business plan should not be entrepreneur's first step
News by Adfero for Simply Business - independent providers of public liability insurance, business finance, landlord insurance, buy-to-let mortgages & commercial mortgages.
Small business owners have a variety of things they need to consider when they start operating: business finance, premises, company insurance and employers' liability are among these.
However, the chief executive of the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) has now suggested that before making these choices - and indeed before putting together a business plan - potential small business owners need to think about an array of other factors.
Ian Robertson said the first consideration should be deciding whether the owner's skill or product could sustain a business.
He said the entrepreneur should have "nothing to do with business plans at this stage".
Instead, the person should focus on what it is they - and the public - want.
Mr Robertson said entrepreneurs should understand their channels to market, their target market and potential competition.
"Once you have gone through the process you can start to put some formal plans together," he advised.
The NCGE is of the belief that universities should broaden the way in which they teach entrepreneurship.
Last year, the organisation called on educational institutions to adopt a "wider view of entrepreneurship".