Writing a Business Plan

Looking for a new strategy
Looking for a new strategy

When I started The Pet Wiki, a little over a year ago, it was nothing more than a hobby. I didn’t really set any specific goals. I was just out there to have fun. I took the two things that I loved, creating content and animals, and put them together. All was good.

Things are still good, but now it’s time to get serious. When I left my job to become an entrepreneur, I had some vague ideas on how to make the venture work and how to make it profitable. Now it’s time to put them on paper.

The web is a funny thing. The entry bar for anyone who wants to create a website is very low. It’s a bit higher if you want to create a MediaWiki site, and it’s even higher if you want to customize that wiki site. That said, I don’t have the need for outside funding. I am writing this business plan in order to be able to set goals for myself and for my business. I now have enough data collected that I can try to make more accurate projections.

These are the things that I’m looking for:

  • Number of visitors
  • Number of contributors
  • Number of page views per visit
  • Number of pages indexed by Google
  • Number of links to The Pet Wiki Pages
  • Projected revenue

These are all things that are measurable. These are all things that allow me to set goals. These are all things that are really dull. They may be a lot less fun than actually programming or tinkering with the site in other ways, but they are all necessary.

A personal business plan is not something that needs to be 10 pages long. A couple of pages will do. It’s also not something that is set in stone. Modifications can be made as needed. I think of it as a start of a living document. It’s like mapping out your path on a trip. I know where I’m going.

Now that I have my milestones, it’s time to hit them.