Any newbie or existing business in the market should have a business plan idea to survive in this cut-throat competition. A Business Plan is a road map or a bunch of strategies for any startup or business to provide a clear passage towards progress. It ensures business growth, and the company follows a path to its Goal by achieving the objectives as milestones.

Here are 6 Questions every Small Business Plan should answer before you execute it.

1. What is the competitive advantage?
   While creating a small business plan, considering Competitive Advantage should be a positive aspect if you have it. It becomes a negative factor when your competitor has it over you, and it cannot be ignored. Competitive advantage is a term used to showcase a company’s advantage over its rivals. The advantage could be its Resources, Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks, or Trade Secrets.Competitive advantage simply provides a company with an upper hand over its competitors. Analyzing the competitor’s advantage points is necessary before you enter the market; it helps to identify the risks that could affect you. It also provides an analysis of the market and its trends. That’s why including Competitive Advantage in your business plan or marketing plan is important.
2. Is the Business Growing?
   For every company, earning profit is the primary motive, and customer satisfaction is the secondary; to achieve both simultaneously, a company needs to accomplish a growing stage. Business growth is only considered when it reaches a stage of expansion.Every business has to go through a lifecycle that starts from entering the market and ends with leaving the market and also has to face multiple stages in the life cycle; introduction, growth, evolution, maturity and plunge.A business has to reach its growing stage to compete in the market. To identify it, a company should ensure that they are upgrading with time. Its analysis should be done from time to time, and every time should ask, ‘Is the Business Growing?’.
3. Are Customers Willing to Pay?
   This question covers both the aspects of business growth, profit, and customer satisfaction. If a customer considers buying your product and likes it, he is satisfied with it, and then he’ll be a source of income for you. But what if your potential customers are not considering buying your product or if your product is not qualified enough to compete in the market? Here you need to come up with a Marketing Plan.Studying this is very important to know more about your potential customers, whether they will become your customers or you’ll lose them. So, you should consider running a survey or a study about your potential customers to identify them; this will provide you with the data on whether you should launch your product or select a different market.
4. How to do Staffing?
   Starting a business might be a difficult task, but if we think about growing the company, it is more difficult than starting a business. One person cannot do all jobs; hence, being realistic here, staffing should be done for different positions.Staffing is a process of identifying requirements for work and recruiting, selecting and training people for the same. A company needs to be staffing when they have an opening or as they grow. By filling the required places, it becomes easy for a company to grow. Staffing can be done manually by the Recruiter and HRM, or a Staffing Agency can be hired to do the work. Hence, we’ll not be wrong to add staffing as an important factor for a small business plan.
5. Is the Product Innovative?
   People don’t like the same product for their whole life; they keep changing and keep upgrading. To stop your customers from leaving, you should keep upgrading your product. In this case, customer retention and customer satisfaction are necessities, and necessity gives birth to innovation.Customers will give a small time frame to upgrade your product; otherwise, they’ll switch to your competitor. Innovation keeps your product or service a step ahead of your competitors. It gives you an advantage only when you are willing to take the risk. Innovation is a risk; whosoever takes it can take a leap and close the gap.
6. Are the Objectives and Goals realistic?
   Objectives and goals are considered to be the most important factors as they are the guidelines companies follow to be successful. But what does being ‘realistic’ mean regarding objectives and goals?Realistic Goals and Objectives are those which are sound and achievable. Setting up realistic objectives can lead to achieving the goals of the company. Setting your goals in the unseeable sky not only makes your investors run away but will demotivate your workers to work for some unachievable goal.

These were the six questions a person should ask before and while creating a small business plan. These are the major internal and external aspects that could either make the company or completely erase it from the market.