Starting or building your business
Here are some resources to help you create a business plan and share responsibilities in your business.
Business Planning
Why do you need a business plan?
A business plan details the important aspects of your business and identifies where you are, where you want to be and how to get there.
When to use a business plan
- Starting a new business
- Running the performance of an existing business
- Expanding a business
How to write a Business Plan
- A basic business plan is a good place to start your business planning.
- Basic business plan template– Business.gov.au
- For more detailed business plans templates:
- Business plan– Business Queensland
- Detailed business plan template– Business.gov.au
When should you review and update your business plan?
Your business plan is a ‘living document’ and should change as your business changes. It is helpful to set the review of your business plan at regular intervals (quarterly or annually).
These questions may help you review your business plan:
- Does the plan still match your business goals?
- Are there changes in the trends of your market/audience?
- Are there other factors impacting on your business? (e.g. technological or financial changes)
- Is the plan still relevant and useful in guiding your business?
Tips and tools
Want to find out more about business planning?
Video: Writing a business plan – topics covered:
- Why it is important to create and review a business plan
- The information to include in your business plan
- Using a business plan to achieve your business goals
Business Essentials: One Page Business Plan - Workshop - Indigenous Business Australia. Workshop for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have a business idea and want to break down the key elements or building blocks of their idea in describing their business model.
Online seminar: Business planning – Business Queensland – hear business experts from the Mentoring for Growth (M4G) program provide information, tips, and resources on business planning.
Governance - your rules, values, culture, membership, leadership and decision making.
It is useful to think of governance as being about how people choose to collectively organise themselves to manage their own affairs, share power and responsibilities, decide for themselves what kind of society they want for their future, and implement those decisions.
To do that they need to have processes, structures, traditions and rules in place so they can:
- determine who is a member of their group
- decide who has power, and over what
- ensure that power is exercised properly
- make and enforce their decisions
- hold their decision-makers accountable
- negotiate with others regarding their rights and interests
- establish the most effective and legitimate arrangements for getting those things done.
(Source: The Australian Indigenous Governance Institute)
The Australian Indigenous Governance Institute (AIGI) is an is an independent, Indigenous-led centre for governance knowledge and excellence.
Tips and tools
The Indigenous Governance Toolkit is an online resource developed for Indigenous nations, communities, individuals and organisations searching for information to build their governance.
The Toolkit covers all the basics and has examples of ideas that work from other groups, tools to help you get started, and useful guidance to sustain your efforts.