Is a business plan really necessary? Or is it just a show-piece to impress bankers and business associates? Well, a well-prepared business plan, usually drawn up by a management consultant, does help to impress bankers. But it is useless if management do not understand concepts behind preparation of a business plan.

A business plan is just a static snapshot of what business is like if all assumptions about environments and competitions remain static. But this is not case in real world. Consumers' expectations, market's supply and demand, competitions and other environmental factors change all times. We have to modify and adapt our business strategies and operations continuously to meet changing market conditions.

The true value of business planning lies not in plan, but in concept and planning process. The same thinking process can be used again and again to develop appropriate strategies to take advantage of changes in market place. Preparing a typical business plan would involve following thinking process.

Step 1: Mission and Objectives - What do you hope to achieve in long run? - Is this something you enjoy doing for rest of your life? - Identify your mission with a purpose and not a product. For eg. to promote good reading habits among people is better than being just a top bookseller. It gives you flexibility to expand your business beyond bookselling to include publishing, educational seminars and others. - What are steps or intermediate objectives needed to reach your ultimate goal.

Step 2: Competitive Analysis - Define your market in terms of size, market potential, growth rate, competitions, market segments and others. - What are emerging opportunities and threats in your market? - Who are consumers? Any peculiar buying behaviours? How can you reached them effectively? - What are your strengths and weaknesses? How best can you use your strengths to overcome threats and take advantage of opportunities? How can you counter threats and your weaknesses with help of strategic partners? - Who are your major competitors? What are their strengths? How can you capitalize on their weaknesses?

The main idea behind networking is to gain respect of other businesses and individuals for contribution you and your company can make. You rarely gain any alliances from an Opt-In list that is made up of different businesses or individuals trying to push their products or services onto each other. It's nothing but a nameless, faceless barrage of ads. And, for all virtual legwork required in newsgroups, very few connections that you might make there are far outweighed by time you will spend doing it. I do have to admit that with different types of electronic meetings that are available today, they are comparably better than newsgroups or opt-in's, but still cannot compare to Real Networking.

Here in a simple form, is an example of my networking:

The scene: Local Health Club. Admittably, a good place to meet other individuals who might have a chance of being in position to be a part of a successful network cycle for me.