Lots of people don't like doing a business plan. It's a daunting task- all these scary headings and forms to fill in. One great way to make a start is to mind map a business plan first. It's like being a kid in art class again!

Get down on the floor

Get some large sheets of blank flip chart paper or the back of a roll of wallpaper will do. Find chunky coloured marker pens. Sit at a big table or get down on the floor for this task.

Put a circle in the middle with your coaching business in the centre. Then draw a line coming out of the circle in green and call that branch "marketing". Draw a circle round. Do the same, using different colours for each branch: my skills and experience, products/services, finances, business objectives, my business vision and so on. You probably have some headings of your own. Then for each branch, staying with its own colour, draw lots of little branches off, giving each one its own name (use a keyword or symbol.) So for marketing, the little branches might be: press coverage, advertising, contacts, promotion, my marketing strategy, website etc. And for "finances", branches will include projected income, projected capital expenditure, fees, bank loan etc.

Brain Dump

Drawing a mind map is a bit of a brain dump and is a very creative process. Just bung down all your thoughts until you can't think of any more. Then go off for a coffee, come back and you'll probably think of a few more ideas. Stick them down. If one branch becomes very crowded you can take a fresh piece of paper and do a separate mind map just for that heading.

Once you have done your own business plan as a mind map, you'll find it much easier to write a full business plan. And mind mapping is a great way to plan any aspect of your life, as well as being a useful technique to share with your own clients who are working on life, career or business planning. In addition mind mapping is a fabulous tool for studying, as an aide-memoir.

You can find out more as well as see lots of colourful examples of mind map in The Mind Maps Book by Tony and Barry Buzan.

Marianne Craig MCC
ICF Master Certifed Coach