A complete, thoughtful business plan is one of the most valuable tools in helping you reach your long-term goals. It gives your business Answer , defines your objectives, maps out strategies to achieve your goals and helps you to manage possible bumps in the road. Preparing a business plan will help you work out the goals you want to achieve, and the strategies to achieve them. This means you can focus your resources and energy on what you need to do, rather than spreading yourself too thin. The planning process also helps you to consider possible bumps in the road and put a plan in place to better manage them if they do come up. Once you've got a business plan in place, it's a good idea to regularly Answer and update it to: remind yourself of your goals and priorities assess whether your strategies are Answer adapt to any new Answer in your environment make the most of new opportunities as they come your way