Suzy here. I’ve read almost as many business plans as I’ve had hot dinners. And if all that taught me nothing, it taught me that no business plan can ever tell you if a business will be successful, or if setting it up is the right thing to do.
But they can be incredibly useful for testing your thoughts, and making sure all your bases are covered. So, let’s dive in!
Is a business plan essential?
In a word: no. Plenty of people have launched businesses without a plan. But without one, it’s much harder to keep going.
In the wonderful world of self-employment, there are people who are planners, and people who are… erm, not! I know plenty of people who’ve launched their businesses without a plan. And by “business plan” I mean a formal written document.
It gets harder to think of those who are still happily trading 2 years later, having still done zero planning. And now I don’t mean a formal written document!
The chances are, even if you feel like you don’t have a plan for your business, you’ll have all the component parts of it scattered about across notebooks, computer docs, post-it notes, voice memos you left for yourself… and so on.
This article is about how to bring those scattered pieces together in one place (or actually, three places, but I’ll come on to that), in way that can help YOU to:
Make sure your business idea is actually do-able
Structure your time effectively and set some milestones to aim for
Talk to your coach about your business goals
Make preparations for deadlines, such as your self assessment tax return
Bring in trusted experts and outside help, if and when it’s appropriate
Further into the future, your business plan is what will unlock a world of possibilities for you, if you ever wanted to:
Pitch your business to investors
Borrow money to help you scale up
Turn your business into a franchise
Once upon a time, you had a brilliant idea…
Before we work through what needs to go into your business plan, let’s just take a moment to recognise where you are right now: you had an absolute gem of an idea and the drive to turn it into a real life business. That in itself is an awesome achievement!
Your decision to go self-employed may have stemmed partly from negative experiences in traditional employment. (If you’d find it helpful to talk this through with an ADHD coach, you can find out how to book sessions here.) But your business idea probably came from a passion or a desire to make a difference.
Our big focus is on your business’ purpose, and the impact you want to create.
You might not be super clear on this right out of the gate, but we’ll get there.
Yep, a business plan can feel like a BIG task. But hang in there.
We know how overwhelming it can be to stare at a blank page, not knowing where to begin. Lots of people find the idea of writing a business plan intimidating - it’s definitely not just a neurodivergent thing. However, we also know that ADHD entrepreneurs find this stuff extra challenging - and so, these tips throw the idea of ‘one massive document’ in the bin, replaced with a bunch of smaller, manageable tasks split over three headline documents.
Document 1: your working business plan - this is an internal document that outlines what your business does and who it is here to help. It's where you show your workings out, rather than focusing on the final answer.
Document 2: your ideas playground - this is where you can keep a note of all those amazing ideas (and let's be honest, as ADHDers, we always have new ideas!) about things you want to do in the future.
Document 3: The ultra concise unapologetic business plan that can be shared with others.
In this guide, we'll break down the steps to create a business plan from scratch, in a way that works with your ADHD brain, not against it.
Something to think about…If writing is not particularly a strength for you, is there someone who could act as a scribe, taking notes as you talk to them about your business plan? You could even dictate your thoughts into a transcription app like Otter, and then pick a Generative AI tool to help you start turning it into a business plan.
Bullet points are your friend. There’s no target word count to hit. Use the words you need, stick in drawings, diagrams, mindmaps, virtual whiteboards or post-it notes… all valid, and none of them will make your business less likely to succeed!
Here we go :)
We’re going to look at 5 parts of business planning:
What your products and (or) services are
How your business will make money (including financial forecasts)
Who your customers and how you’ll sell to them (marketing plans)
Who your competitors are and how your business is different (market research)
Who you are and why you’re brilliant (plus any other team members you have or plan to take on to help you)
1. Your Products and Services
Let’s start with something easy. What does your business DO?
Revisit the reasons why your business exists: who are you helping, what are their problems and how does your business help to solve them?
Keep it concise and clear. If you're feeling overwhelmed, start with a few bullet points to get your thoughts flowing.
Try this >> Can you describe exactly what you business does, who for, and why, in less than 60 seconds?! This is your “elevator pitch”!
Suzy’s Top tip: if there’s anything complex about your idea, test how well you’ve broken it down by testing it out on some difficult groups… like small children, or elderly relatives! If you can get them to understand, you stand a brilliant chance across the board…
2. Making money
This part of your business plan will help you to be financially prepared for the best- and worst-case scenarios.
Even if you’re not particularly motivated by money, your business will need to make enough of it to cover your costs, and some profit too - because that’ll be your wage.
If the sound of “financial forecasts” makes you feel a bit sick, consider this part of business planning as a way for you to see how your hard work could potentially pay off! Working out how much money you’re likely to make, and over what time period, is also a very useful way of avoiding falling into debt.
There are two approaches I really recommend. One is based on your potential, and one is based on your need.
Potential: Begin by estimating the money you think your business can generate over various time frames: a month, a quarter, a year, 5 years. Now you need to stick some actual numbers in to see how realistic that is!
Need: How much money do you need to bring home a month? Add 20% ish (more if you’d pay more tax) to get to your target gross income. This is how much your business needs to clear each month to meet your needs. Now, divide that by the number of days you’ll be working in a month. And then divide it by how many hours in a day, or by the number of products you’ll make/sell in a day. How does that number feel? Google it, see if it stacks up.
Allergic to spreadsheets?!
Try this >> Brixx is a financial forecasting tool that makes it easier to create reports and charts, record your bills and expenses, and track the profit of your company.
LivePlan is super helpful for business planning, with automated financials and equations built-in.
Pulse is an app designed specifically to help small businesses manage their cashflow.
It might take you a few goes before you find a finance app you LOVE, but once you do, you can simply download your financial forecasts and paste them straight into your business plan. Aaaaand relax.
3. Your Customers
Marketing may be the aspect of business ownership that gets you most excited. Or it may be the part that makes you want to shut your eyes and just hope that it goes away. Either way, we think our Technicolour Tips for making a marketing plan can help!
You probably have a pretty good picture of who your target customers are, but could you put it into words?
Knowing who you’re trying to reach is really important to make sure your sales and marketing activities are going to be effective. You don’t want to be spending any time, energy or budget on tactics that are not remotely relevant to the people who will buy from you.
One of the challenges for ADHD entrepreneurs is maintaining consistency. If you can keep your marketing messages clear and stick to your target audience, that consistency will lead to recognition and trust, which are crucial for success. Including some of your core marketing messages in your business plan is a good way to become more disciplined about what you want to say, and who it’s meant for.
4. Your market
This is the part where you have to accept the fact that your business is not the only business out there doing what you do. Dammit!
Companies of all sizes have competitors, and knowing who yours are will help you to differentiate what it is you offer to your customers.
Market research and competition analysis sound like hard work, but in fact, these activities can be done entirely on your phone, from wherever you feel most comfortable. And you don’t need to do it all at once… but you might find it easier to blast through and get it done.
As you search online for other companies and compare factors like the price of their products, any reviews they’ve received and the branding they use, you’ll need a way to record what you’ve found out - particularly if you’re spreading out your research time over a week or more.
Try this >>
Keep a document saved on your desktop to put all your market research and competition analysis notes in
Dictate your notes into a voice memo that you keep adding to, then use an app to transcribe the whole lot
Ask a trusted friend to help you by reviewing or summarising your notes before you incorporate them into your business plan.
5. Show off your brilliance
At the Technicolour Project we believe it’s important to acknowledge your neurodivergence in professional contexts. WITHOUT APOLOGISING. You have a distinct way of thinking and approaching problems, and that can be a valuable asset. So stick that in your business plan!
ADHD might have its challenges, but it also offers fantastic opportunities for creative thinking, innovation, and periods of intense focus.
Whether you already have a small team, are considering taking on some extra help with your business, or if you’re happy being a company of one, include a section in your business plan that emphasises your strengths and your experience.
Even if you're new to entrepreneurship, consider your transferable skills, life experiences, and any training you've completed. Struggling to feel confident enough in your abilities to write them down? ADHD Coaching can help.
Remember, you don't have to conform to the traditional business planning approach. Instead, you can thrive by being more you. We’ll show you how.
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