When you awoke this morning, you found yourself buzzing with a fantastic idea for starting a new business and you hadn't a doubt in your mind that you could turn it into a huge success. Now what? All those great ideas floating around in your head and you're excited about making them happen, but at the moment you don't feel nearly prepared. What is the first thing you should do as you contemplate your plan of action?

The best suggestion I can make that will certainly pay off in the long run and probably will be the most effective strategy at this stage in the game would be to start writing things down. Even if the thoughts that occur to you seem insignificant at the moment, keep your ideas in a simple notebook so that when you're ready to prepare your plan, all your ideas are ready to go and in one place. It is amazing how quickly you can forget something that you thought would stay with you forever, so keep notes on all your ideas. I can't count the times I didn't write something down immediately upon thinking of it and later couldn't remember it no matter how hard I tried. Now I make it a point, even if the idea occurs in the middle of the night, to quickly jot a few words down on a paper kept beside my bed. Even if it's just a few brief terms, those few words will jolt your memory and bring the idea to the forefront when you're ready to address it.

The next step would be to start preparation for a business plan. Whether you are applying for a loan, seeking investors or are going to present your idea to other business associates you need a well thought out plan. No one will take you seriously unless you have a planned strategy. Furthermore, your plan will not only be utilized for presentation purposes, but it will in addition make your idea a reality. This crucial and important step of preparing a business plan, allows you to see your ideas take form, and what better way than in a precise and organized plan? I promise, once you see your plan in print, you'll be provided with the impetus needed to forge ahead.

At this point you are probably thinking that you have no idea where to start your plan or even what it should include. A good place to start, as with any other objective, is to construct a summary of what your plan will contain. Create a table of contents that includes whatever you think your plan should encompass. In all likelihood your plan will contain an objective, an executive summary, your product, marketing strategies, target market, competition, financial analysis and profiles of the key decision-makers. There may be other aspects that should be included in the plan but for now, the above mentioned are the primary ingredients for a good plan.

You might also consider seeking the counsel of an attorney to be sure your plan and business venture is legal. What a disappointment it would be if you put a lot of hard work into your plan and later found out that some important legality was missing, requiring you to start from scratch. In addition, the services of an accountant are of vital importance. Unless you are prepared to construct spreadsheets and graphs explaining how you intend to use your money and what projections you have for the future, you might want to hire someone who knows all the financial ins and outs of a business.

I believe you now have a good beginning for organizing your new startup venture. When your plan is complete, make sure there are no typos or grammatical errors. Perhaps you might want to have someone you trust review it before submitting it for consideration. In any event, good luck with your new venture and may your business become a huge success.