You have an idea for a wildlife enterprise that you believe has the potential to succeed.  Whether it’s a new venture or an added activity to your on-going business, the prudent entrepreneur develops a business plan before starting a venture.  A business plan will help address important questions and issues before starting your enterprise, rather than waiting after-the-fact and risk losing money or your business altogether. 

A business plan provides an outline which, when combined with the resource inventory, habitat plan, and marketing strategy, provides an orderly framework for starting and expanding your enterprise.  It allows you to effectively evaluate the viability of your enterprise. 

Basically a business plan is a road map for your business.  It provides direction for the landowner as well as individuals/entities outside the wildlife enterprise.   The business plan has two purposes:  (1) to assist in making business decisions to achieve goals and objectives, and (2) discusses feasibility and viability to lenders, potential investors, and business partners. 

In this section of the module, the components of a business plan are outlined.  A worksheet is provided for entering information relevant to your wildlife enterprise.