Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License

Why write a business plan?  As long as you know the foundations of selling, understand the principles of marketing, and possess a strong advertising & promotional campaign, you’ll be OK… right?  You’ll have a successful business, right?  These elements are extremely important to all businesses, but they only cover a piece of the “big picture” of business planning.

We, at Sage Wedding Pros, are very passionate about the fact that having a business plan is key to creating a sustainable business.  A solid business plan is comprised of the following:

  • Company Analysis (strengths, goals, philosophy, vision)
  • Marketing Plan (product, pricing, placement, promotion, sales plan)
  • Operational Plan (how your company runs)
  • Financial Plan (where you’ve been financially and where you want to go)

A solid business plan is a work in progress and something that you update periodically.  It is the roadmap for how you do business.  Everything you do in your business, every decision you make, comes back to your business plan. These are the things that most of you encounter every day in the wedding industry and how they link back to the Plan:

  • Meet with a client
    (Marketing Plan: What are your sales goals? & Company Analysis: What is your mission statement?)
  • Answer the phone
    (Operational Plan: Who are your employees and how do you train them?)
  • Write a blog post
    (Marketing Plan: What are your promotional tools? Who is your target market?)
  • Buy Office Supplies
    (Financial Plan: What is your budget? & Operational Plan: Who are your suppliers?)
  • Write a client proposal
    (Company Analysis: What are your philosophies on customer service? & Marketing Plan: What are your sales goals? & Financial Plan: What are your income projections? & Operational Plan: What are your procedures for collecting payment from customer?)

Do you see how the business plan pulls all the pieces together?  It brings cohesiveness to everything that you do in your business.  It ties your branding to your company vision.  It bridges your advertising with your earning needs.  It binds your operations to your image.

Next time you step foot in your office, take a moment to think of “the big picture”… how are you going to bring all the pieces together?  (Pssstt… a business plan!)