Poll: Do you have a business plan? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you have a business plan?".
View the poll results »
| | | | Ashutosh Mitra 
India
Local time: 19:28
Member (2011)
English to Hindi
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | It is essential... | Apr 8, 2011 |
Planning is very essential part of growth, and one has to grow if he/she has to stay in the business.. and can be in various forms...for us it can be planning for a target of words to be translated in a year...can be a plan of acquiring certain skills....adding another language..client base expansion...etc.etc.
| | | | Tatty
Local time: 15:58
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Monthly income | Apr 8, 2011 |
I set myself a target each month in terms of how much I want to earn. Usually it is a constant amount throughout the year, except in summer, when I cut myself a bit of slack. I don't put pen to paper though.
| | | | Theo Bernards (X)
France
Local time: 15:58
English to Dutch
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| I voted other... | Apr 8, 2011 |
Because I haven't written a business plan as such. I do have a fairly good idea where I want to arrive at with my freelance activities and all my marketing, finances, equipment and software is put in place in to pursue that idea. A formal business plan will perhaps come at a later stage, if I feel that it is time to take a different direction and if I need more than just myself to walk that road succesfully. At the moment I enjoy my daily activities too much to jeopardize that joy with a formal ... See more Because I haven't written a business plan as such. I do have a fairly good idea where I want to arrive at with my freelance activities and all my marketing, finances, equipment and software is put in place in to pursue that idea. A formal business plan will perhaps come at a later stage, if I feel that it is time to take a different direction and if I need more than just myself to walk that road succesfully. At the moment I enjoy my daily activities too much to jeopardize that joy with a formal business plan, which will ultimately also involve measuring if I meet the objectives set out in such a plan. That might just take the fun out of the game ▲ Collapse
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Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 15:58
English to French
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| No longer as such | Apr 8, 2011 |
Had to prepare a very formal business and financial plan spread over 2 years when I created the company in 1995. Now, I just set a general target and work towards it.
| | | | Ashutosh Mitra
India
Local time: 19:28
Member (2011)
English to Hindi
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | planning knowingly and unknowingly | Apr 8, 2011 |
Theo Bernards wrote: Because I haven't written a business plan as such. I do have a fairly good idea where I want to arrive at with my freelance activities and all my marketing, finances, equipment and software is put in place in to pursue that idea. A formal business plan will perhaps come at a later stage, if I feel that it is time to take a different direction and if I need more than just myself to walk that road succesfully. At the moment I enjoy my daily activities too much to jeopardize that joy with a formal business plan, which will ultimately also involve measuring if I meet the objectives set out in such a plan. That might just take the fun out of the game
Dear Theo,
Planning is not always written, most of the time we plan but unknowingly...as you have said that you have fairly good idea as to where to arrive your freelance activity...you know it because you have managed it that way...and in a way it is also planning.
| | | | | No and why should I? | Apr 8, 2011 |
I am a professional, not a company, and business plans are for companies.
| | | | Steven Capsuto
United States
Local time: 09:58
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Giuseppina Gatta, MA (Hons) wrote:
I am a professional, not a company, and business plans are for companies.
My plan is to do my job extremely well, pursue new clients if things get slow (which doesn't happen too often), and raise my rates every few years. That's as complicated as it needs to get.
This approach has been working fine for me for years.
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| I set goals for myself | Apr 9, 2011 |
My goals have to do with monthly income, hours worked, billing and follow-up, type of client, number of clients, fields of concentration, and time blocked for study and vacations.
I expect my monthly income to rise steadily, year over year - and it has. I am now very business-like with my billing and follow-up - I wasn't always. I am working smarter: fewer hours for more money, and more work concentrated in my fields of specialization. I am more selective about the clients I agree t... See more My goals have to do with monthly income, hours worked, billing and follow-up, type of client, number of clients, fields of concentration, and time blocked for study and vacations.
I expect my monthly income to rise steadily, year over year - and it has. I am now very business-like with my billing and follow-up - I wasn't always. I am working smarter: fewer hours for more money, and more work concentrated in my fields of specialization. I am more selective about the clients I agree to work for, and at the same time I am growing my base.
I find that when I don't think about these things, my income goes down and my time ends up not being used efficiently. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Simon Bruni
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:58
Member (2009)
Spanish to English
| My business plan | Apr 9, 2011 |
Is to obtain the most interesting work possible at the best rates possible while learning and enjoying myself as much as possible.
[Edited at 2011-04-09 08:06 GMT]
| | | | | I voted 'Yes' but.... | Apr 9, 2011 |
I only had a business plan for my first three years in business and only then because it was one of the criteria for a start-up grant I applied for from my local council. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered. I really can't say it helped me at all either. In fact, most of the time I forgot I'd even done it. You can put as much thought and planning into starting a new business as you like but that all accounts for nothing if you don't put in the work, get the clients, etc., etc so in my mind, a bu... See more I only had a business plan for my first three years in business and only then because it was one of the criteria for a start-up grant I applied for from my local council. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered. I really can't say it helped me at all either. In fact, most of the time I forgot I'd even done it. You can put as much thought and planning into starting a new business as you like but that all accounts for nothing if you don't put in the work, get the clients, etc., etc so in my mind, a business plan is redundant in my line of work. Anyone can say 'in this year I would like to earn this much, etc.', but that doesn't help you achieve it. It's good now to look back and see that I blew my business plan out of the water over the first three years, but no amount of planning can guarantee a successful career in my view. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 15:58
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
I know what I want to accomplished within a certain timeframe, may it be a month or a year, and act, rather work accordingly.
In recent years I have tried to write a plan and follow it through, only to realize that this is not "my world", because I usually stray away from that plan and do it - sometimes the other way, but have still arrived at where I wanted to be.
Once all of my equipment will have been replaced or bought newly in general, I will concentrate more on th... See more I know what I want to accomplished within a certain timeframe, may it be a month or a year, and act, rather work accordingly.
In recent years I have tried to write a plan and follow it through, only to realize that this is not "my world", because I usually stray away from that plan and do it - sometimes the other way, but have still arrived at where I wanted to be.
Once all of my equipment will have been replaced or bought newly in general, I will concentrate more on the fields I specialize in as well as on my other "job", writing. Presently I'm busy with both freelancing activities, and plan on continuing this way.
The only thing I have actually planned, so to speak, is that there must alwaysbe room/time set aside for the "unexpected". And, of course, for life itself.
Thus far I've pretty much met my goals/plans. ▲ Collapse
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