"The business plan was the most difficult thing I've
had to do while preparing to begin my business, but I was less
stressed by the time I got it done," explains Judy Proudfoot,
45, who, from her home in Alexandria, Minnesota, designs and sells
handpainted clothing using a unique watercolor painting technique
with acrylic paints.
"Composing a business plan makes you really focus on your
goals and to think six months or more ahead. It's a challenging
thing to do when you're first starting out," Proudfoot
says, "but it gives you a clearer picture of what it's
going to take in order to accomplish what you want to
accomplish."
Proudfoot became involved with the Foundation for International
Community Assistance (FINCA) before launching her business, so help
in preparing her business plan was always just a phone call away.
Based in Washington D.C. (202-682-1510), with regional offices
nationwide, the national foundation provides start-up capital,
instructional training and ongoing support to entrepreneurs.
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"The people at FINCA gave us a four-page worksheet to help
us organize our financial information, and they provided a couple
of charts regarding money matters," she says. "Then they
turned us loose to prepare our business plans on our own, with the
understanding that we could always call whenever we had questions
or needed additional support."
Proudfoot also uses the business plan as a touchstone. "I
refer back to it monthly. It lets me compare projections to reality
and discover what works well, and what needs to be
changed."
Marion Fletcher,
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