How to Create a Healthy Culture
Betty Brennan
President and Founder
Taylor Studios, Inc.
Is your company healthy? How do you know?
According to Patrick Lencioni’s book The Advantage if your organization is...

Ben Franklin is credited for this well-known quote: "If you fail to plan you are planning to fail."
For some small businesses a business plan can be very simple but planning and foresight are still critical for business success. For other plans a great deal of detail is required. Are there significant financial challenges? Are you entering an intensely competitive market? What about zoning or other location issues? Do you have the skills needed or can you hire the right people? A good business plan not only describes the business and how you will achieve your goals but anticipates and addresses the challenges you will face.
There are two main benefits to writing a business plan:
1. It’s your playbook! Developing your business plan should be a process, not a task. It should be a dynamic document that evolves with your business.
2. A business plan will be required by anyone who is a potential source of funding. In some cases a short, concise plan will be sufficient but the key points must still be covered.
Here's a brief business plan outline with questions to guide you. The links to the left connect you with resources that provide a great deal of important information for your planning efforts.
1. Executive Summary (write it last)
2. Detail on products and services
3. Objectives
4. Your market
5. Marketing/Sales Plan
6. Operations/Personnel
7. Revenues and costs
8. Financing (if applicable)
It is very important to review your business plan and engage in strategic planning regularly.
Betty Brennan
President and Founder
Taylor Studios, Inc.
According to Patrick Lencioni’s book The Advantage if your organization is...
Don Elmore, Director
Illinois Small Business Development Center at Champaign County EDC
What are the right steps and what’s the right order when you register your new business? These steps are not difficult and most of them are free, but it’s easy...