Advantages and Disadvantages of Business Plan

Every business starts with a business plan because starting a business without a plan is like going on a chilled winter night without warm clothes and since starting a business involves money and where there is money one cannot take chances of going ahead without a plan. In order to understand it better let’s look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of business plan –

Advantages of Business Plan

1. The first and foremost advantage of business plans is that once the company has business plan ready then only it can take it forward and present it to prospective investors who in turn if they like the plan will finance the business plan and we all know how important capital is for starting a business because without capital no business can start.
2. Another benefit of business plans is that it helps the promoter in getting things right because if plans are in mind only then it can lead to confusion as mind has dozen of ideas but once the plan in mind is put into paper in the form of business plan than it gets more clarity and the owner can concentrate on one plan only rather than thinking about dozen of plans.
3. Another advantage of the business plans is that it helps in prioritizing the work and also putting the right people for right job which in turn increases the possibility of the business plan being a success as the owner can keep track of milestones of business as envisaged in the business plan.

Disadvantages of Business Plan

1. The biggest disadvantage of the business plans is that it involves time and expenses and as far as small businesses are concerned they neither have money and expertise to make a proper business plan which in turn can lead to business suffering more rather than gaining from the business plan.
2. Another drawback of it is that due to the presence of business plans the owners may lose flexibility and become rigid also they will keep sticking to the business plan even if it detrimental to the interests of the business. So for example, if business plan has envisaged 10000 units of production but due to change in consumer taste sales of only 5000 units can be done and if the owner sticks to the business plan then it will be a loss making the decision. Hence a good business plan is one which has the scope of flexibility in it.
3. Another disadvantage of business plans is that though plans are good to see and hear but execution of those plans has many problems and uncertainties right from procurement of finance, production related uncertainty, marketing and selling challenges and many other problems and it is next to impossible that plans are carried out in exact fashion as set out by the top management or the owner of the company.

As one can see from the above that making a business plans has its own advantages as well as disadvantages and any person making a business plan should keep above points in mind as making only a plan does not ensure the success of the business.