One of the most common questions we hear from potential entrepreneurs is “Where do I start?” The short answer is Plan Your Business. You don’t need a formal, extensive business plan at the earliest stages, but you do need to have a clear idea of the business idea. That is, you should know what a typical workday will look like, who your customers will be, how they will find and buy from you, where you want the company to go, and the like. Planning your startup will also give you a good idea of how much money you will need to get your venture off the ground and force you to think through any potential obstacles in your way. Here are a few options to get your business planning started.

There are hundreds of free business plan templates available on the web. They all cover basically the same topics, and most include the broad areas that you need to consider to really plan your business. However, many first-time entrepreneurs have trouble actually making a plan from these templates, and for good reason.

In general, those outlines are useful once you already have a pretty clear plan in mind and just need to organize it for the bank or investors. They do not help you decide what to look for, or how to evaluate your idea, or even really explain what each section means. For most startups, the ready-made, fill-in business plan forms are not the best option.

There are also several good business plan software programs out there, but they have a similar problem to the templates. They are excellent tools for putting your developed ideas into a logical, presentable order for investors and banks, but don’t really help with the actual planning process.

A fairly recent addition to the small business outsource community are planning consultants. For a fee, these folks will tell you, step by step, what you need to do during the startup process and beyond. While this kind of hand-holding can be very tempting, it is also very expensive…costing money that would be better spent on marketing your new venture!

One popular consultant charges $750 per session and leaves you with a “homework assignment” of the next three steps to starting your business. Can they help you improve your business? Probably, because they should be experienced with the startup learning curve. Will they give decent advice? Possibly, though since it is an unregulated industry just about anyone can claim to be an expert. Will using a planning consultant make your business a sure success? Definitely not. YOU need to become the expert yourself in order to ensure long-term success for your startup.

Rather than relying on business plan templates or disconnected consultants, look for opportunities to learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurship for yourself. Most successful entrepreneurs will tell you that learning to plan effectively is an important key to success. And, since experience is the best teacher, you are better off finding resources that will teach you more than just what needs to be done, but also how to be an entrepreneur.

Those who know how to start a dollar store recognize the true value and importance of their dollar store business plan. They know their it sets the course for their business in the years ahead. Yet to maximize the value of a the plan it must be used on a regular basis. It must become a part of the process to not only establish a dollar store, but to measure successes and to recognize where adjustments must be made to the business operation. Your business must be thoroughly reviewed and updated on at least an annual basis. In this article I present some of the actions that will keep your business plan producing the best possible support for you and your dollar store business.

· Those who know how to start a dollar store recognize the need to thoroughly examine every aspect of their business plan at least once per year. Examine your plan on at least a quarterly basis. While it is a powerful tool to continually move your business forward there is often not enough time to complete a line-by-line review during those quarterly examinations. However since January sales levels are typically much lower than other months of the year it is the perfect time to schedule a thorough review and update of your business plan.

· Start by assessing how your business performed during the previous year. Use the performance data and current market conditions to set everything in-place to have an even better year ahead. Walk through your business plan step-by-step and then, being as neutral and impartial as possible to evaluate how your business performed during the previous year.

· Use your final assessment to determine where you did extremely well, and where there remains work to be done. Modify your business plan accordingly. Be sure to identify the actions required to accomplish exactly what you have planned for the year ahead. Don’t forget to include money commitments, if required.

· Rewrite your business plan so it is updated to accurately reflect exactly the plans you have for the upcoming and future years. Those who know how to start a dollar store invest the time to make changes in their documented goals and actions. They also commit the resources required for the actions noted. All of these come together as their newly revised and updated business plan. Then they start moving toward every-better business results.

To your success as you discover how to start a dollar store!

What kind of competition do you have for your donut business? How does your business and your product measure up to theirs? Evaluate what your competition does so you can copy what works for them and discard what does not. In other words, learn from those who are trying to get your customers. How do competitors define the product (donuts) in your area? How much market share does each have?

In the competitive analysis of your business plan you will want to look at donut businesses similar to yours including national chains that also operate storefront businesses. If you operate a trailer and move between fairs and festivals your competition is not necessarily other donut businesses (although those count too) but those next to you selling other vending items. Granted, it will be difficult to research these other businesses on wheels before hand. When you get to a fair and set up observe everything the other vendors do that attracts customers and everything they do that has no effect.

Also consider how likely other competitors may enter the market at a later date. Investors will want you to research how saturated the market is and what the barriers are to people who want to make donuts like you do. Do not let your emotion get in the way of your analysis. It is easy to assume that your product will be superior to everybody else’s, but there is much more to consider. Taste, size, price, and service are all important things to look at but are only part of the picture. Try to learn the internal business practices behind the scenes to gage the strength of your competition. Are they creative, motivated, and financially secure? Do they have high employee turnover? These are keys to success as well.

Investors do not want to know why you are a little bit better than the competition. They want to know why you are way better then the competition. Try to view your donut business through the eyes of a customer and if possible be a customer of other donut businesses to gather your information.