“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”
—-Yogi Berra

One of the things I hate to admit is that I have registered at least a dozen domain names and then did nothing with them. I had all of the best intentions but, since I did not have a complete plan, I wound up someplace else. That place is known as “no-where.” I should have taken Mr. Berra’s advice, but I probably didn’t understand it at the time.

Not long ago, a spur of the moment inspiration from “no-where” gave me an idea for yet another domain name. I thought this name was just incredible, I couldn’t believe that it was actually available. So, in my typical, habitual style, I just went right ahead and registered that name. Then I wanted to kick myself for doing that again! I had no idea of what I was going to do with it. What a waste of time and money this type of spontaneous act can be!

I had to face the facts, no matter how much I dreaded the idea, I had to create an actual business plan for this new domain or continue to kick myself silly. A puzzling realization took over at that point, traditional business plans are far more complex than necessary for a small website operation. I needed to devise a formula from the old school business plan model to guide me in a more realistic way.

What I came up with is a technique for those of us who are just as independent as independent can be. The following method, I believe, can help you devise a plan based on the following assumptions.

—You don’t have any employees.
—You don’t have a production facility of your own.
—You don’t maintain an inventory.
—You are not trying to attract investors or bankers.
—You won’t have any additional insurance liability as a result of your business.
— There are no strict industry standards that you must adhere to.

Instead of all those concerns, which would be addressed in an old school business plan, you simply have a website operation that you make money with. So, the plan you need to create is actually just for you and not necessarily anyone else.

Why would you need to do that? You know what you have in mind and what you are currently doing, so why spend time on a plan to give to yourself?

The value of this lies in the process of researching and thinking about your business in a systematic way. The act of planning helps you to think things through thoroughly, study and research if you are not sure of the facts, and look at your ideas critically. It takes time now, but avoids costly, perhaps disastrous, mistakes later.

The first step in crafting your plan is to ask the right questions. You can not possibly find the answers before you have the questions.

Start with the following questions:

—-What’s the name of your business and why did you name it that?

—-Do you need to explain your business to someone else and if so, who, why and how?

—What business are you in? what exactly do you do for a living?

—Why is this business important to you, other than the fact that you plan to make money with it?

—What are you selling and why?

—How do you know that your business will succeed?

—Is there a lot of demand for what you sell?

—Is competition a concern and if so, why?

—Who are your competitors and how are they doing?

—What makes your business so special? How is it unique and better than your competitors?

—What problems will your business need to overcome and how will you deal with these?

—How will you market your business? (get visitors, etc.)

—What are the costs involved for the first year?

—How do you plan to finance your business?

—What is your schedule for running the business? (every day, on the weekends, two or three days a week?)

—Who are you going to do business with and why? (suppliers, programs, affiliates, etc..)

—How often will you be paid and how?

—Who will help you if or when you need it? (mentors, attorneys, accountants, etc..)

—Are you sure that every part of your plan is legal?

—What exactly are your goals, what do you want to accomplish?

The only other step is to work on answering those questions and refining those answers until you’re sure you won’t change things anymore. Other questions related to these questions will arise. Write them down and also work on those answers. After you have answered all the questions, all decisions made about your business must then be based on those answers. Plan your work then work your plan.

This is as simple as it gets. It may seem like a lot of work, but once it is done I know you’ll be glad to have it. The better the answers to those questions are, the more focused you will be. If you become discouraged, pull out that plan and look at it again. This is good evidence that you DO actually know what you are doing!