A business plan is an essential roadmap for agency success. Writing a detailed business plan will help you determine exactly how much business you need to write and retain to sustain the financial goals of the agency. Your plan should detail your Marketing processes, the Operation and management of the office, and Financial projections to achieve the plan.

Agency owners can improve results by keeping their business plan current. Let’s face it, Allstate often introduces changes that affect your business; you need to be able to react quickly and implement new strategies.

There are many resources available to assist business owners in strategic planning. One source we found useful is the Small Business Administration. The SBA website will walk you through writing a business plan step by step.  In addition, your local SBA may be able to provide demographic information specific to your market.

SCORE is another organization with helpful information on business planning, including its Business Plan Assist  program which connects small business owners with a Score mentor. Also, visit www.SCORE.org for online resources and business plan templates.