How to Create a Business Plan (That Actually Works)
Let’s Connect!
Hello Future Entrepreneurs!
I've helped over hundreds of business build their dreams, and I’ve seen a lot of business plans. But let's be honest, most of them are useless. They sit on a shelf, collecting dust, while the entrepreneurs out there run on pure adrenaline.
A business plan shouldn’t be a complex document that you wouldn’t understand. It's your roadmap of desire, your blueprint to success, and a North Star that your team will follow. These exact principles are what I've used to build 787 Coffee. So let’s get into the practical steps YOU can take today to build a plan that actually works.
-Let’s do this.
1. Start with Your “Why” (Passion First)
First things first: you have to invest in a PASSION. We all spend most of our time thinking about business, solutions, and strategy. If you're going to dedicate those hours, shouldn't it be to something you genuinely love? It's really easy to get caught up looking at influencers and others who have what you want. My business philosophy is not an "outside in" approach; it's an "inside out" one. It all starts from within. Your job is to focus on developing your skills and getting after what you want. The most important key to success is CONSISTENCY, Consistency, Consistency. The money will come as a result of.
Practical Step: Get a blank sheet of paper and write down the sentence, “My business exists because…” Don't just think about profit. Think about the personal meaning behind it. Why do you get out of bed in the morning to do this? What personal fulfillment will it bring you? This is your fuel.
2. Keep It Simple (The One-Page Plan)
I live by the mantra, ‘Less is More,’ and that philosophy shapes every part of my business. When I approach any problem, I follow a three-step process: Quantify, Simplify, and Humanize.
Quantify: Every problem, I guarantee, has a number. Ask yourself: How many steps does it take? How many humans do I need on my team? How many sales do I need to reach? Find the number for yourself when you make your business plan.
Simplify: Don’t let YOUR BRAIN CONFUSE YOU. Things are simpler than you think they are. Use your available resources. We have all the world’s knowledge in the palm of our hands, and unless we give it direction it’s useless. When you get to the core of what you want or what you are looking for, the answers will come.
Humanize: There is truly not one path to success. YOU are a beautiful human being going through YOUR personal journey. Don’t compare yourself to others who are deemed faster or seem more successful. This is all EGO. Every successful entrepreneur I know and met prioritized more responsibilities to get where they are. This could mean missing events or birthdays when you first start out, and that’s OK. We all get stuck and challenged on this path of entrepreneurship. Give yourself credit for doing something the majority of people wouldn’t even attempt. Make shIT happen
Practical Step: Use the Quantify, Simplify, and Humanize method to take all your big ideas and condense them into a single, one-page business plan. This plan is for YOU, and you should be able to read it in under 60 seconds.
3. Focus on Human Connections
Our business plans shouldn't be focused on demographics. They should be focused on humans. As a young entrepreneur starting a business, you need to understand that your best customers are the ones who feel truly cared for. You have to treat people how they want to be treated, not the way you want to be treated.
When you really get it, you'll see that the product you create is a mirror of what your customers are looking for. At 787 Coffee, I built a community called Creative Fuckers. Our coffee shops are home for caffeinated humans who are doers, artists, entrepreneurs, and athletes. They are the highest performers in any industry, and we are them. We're in the business of creating memories, and for us specialty coffee is simply the excuse for that connection.
This is why I created a place for us to connect and grow together. To learn more about how I build culture and to get the tools you need to create a business plan for entrepreneurs that centers on humans, not spreadsheets, subscribe to our newsletter.
Practical Step: Instead of defining your customer as a “30-45 year old female in a city,” give her a name. Let’s call her Maria. What are Maria’s passions? What are her biggest frustrations? How will your business not just sell her a product but create a WOW moment that makes her day better? Your plan should center on how you'll serve YOUR people, and you can join our community to connect with other entrepreneurs who are doing the same. apply to our business seminars
4. Obsess Over Your Primary Objective
I’ve helped over hundreds of business owners, and the number one thing I teach is to become OBSESSED with your primary objective. A plan with ten goals is a plan with no goals. I LOVE COFFEE it is my passion. 5 a.m. is what I call “my time.” I wake up, and the world is silent. My ritual is either my mocha pot or a v60 pour over. Coffee is the first thing I do to start my day.
I have traveled the world, visited multiple coffee farms, learned the process of growing coffee from farm to cup, opened up coffee shops with no prior experience in the industry. All rooting from my obsession of coffee. This seed of an idea has now impacted the lives of thousands of humans around the world. All with the vision of creating a better future for YOU, because if you can change your world you will change THE WORLD.
Practical Step: On your one-page plan, define one clear, measurable goal for the next month. This is your North Star. Everything you do—every email, every sale, every decision—should be in service to this single objective. An example for a coffee shop might be: "I will Sell 100 coffee bags this month." Make it a number you can't ignore. Remember Quantify (break it sown to smaller pieces days, weeks) Simplify (create a strategy) Humanize (how will I get in my peak state to make it happen)
5. Break It Into Bite-Sized Actions (Paso a Pasito)
A massive goal can be intimidating. The only way to get there is one step at a time. I use a simple framework to break big projects into bite-sized tasks:
Practical Step: Use the ABCDE Framework.
A - Action: What is the specific task? (e.g., "Find three new suppliers.")
B - By Whom: Who is responsible? (Your name goes here.)
C - Cost: What is the budget? (e.g., "$500 for travel and samples.")
D - Deadline: When does it need to be done? (e.g., "Next Friday.")
E - Evaluation: How will we know if it worked? (e.g., "We will have three quotes and one fits our budget.") This makes your plan actionable, or as we say, “paso a pasito.”Area of Opportunity and How to Fix It.
Use your available resources, because you are not alone. There are tons of supporters that want to see YOU WIN. You just need a game plan a team can follow.
6. Know Your Numbers (The Hard Truth)
I'm blunt about coffee shop costs because these three numbers can wipe out your profit. You have to understand them completely if you want to stay in business.
Gross Profit-This is the money left over after you've paid for the cost of the product itself. For a coffee shop, this means paying for shipping coffee beans, the milk, the cups, and everything else that goes into making the drink. Your gross profit is what's left. It's not the money in your pocket, it's what you have to use for everything else.
Labor-This is the total cost of all the humans who work with you. It's not just their paycheck; it's also taxes, insurance, and other benefits. Labor is often the single biggest expense for a service business. If you don't control it, it can easily eat up your entire profit and leave you with nothing.
Rent-This is the non-negotiable cost of your physical space. It's a fixed expense you have to pay every single month, whether you have a good month or a bad one. If your rent is too high, it doesn't matter, you'll be working just to pay the landlord. Be brutally honest about what you can afford.
Being able to not only identify an area of opportunity, but finding a permanent solution to the problem developing a system is the most valued skill as an entre- and intra- penuer. People pay to have problems fixed. You must know how to get into the smallest detail and audit what you really need. Cash flow is your life source if you don’t know how to control what goes in and out of the bank you will close sooner then when you start.
Practical Step: No excuses. Grab a blank spreadsheet and get real with your numbers. Create three simple columns for Gross Profit, Labor, and Rent. Your first job is to project these costs for the next three months. Find out what they truly are, down to the last penny, before you open your doors.
You want to receive more brandOn VALUE, subscribe to YouTube Channel! click link below
7. Plan for Growth, Not Perfection
Life without growth will die. Growth culture isn’t a component of a company’s strategy, it is the company’s strategy. As humans, it is in our nature to want to grow and strive for a better version of ourselves. That’s why our most important job as leaders is to GROW LEADERS. If you start a business and you are the best at everything in your company, you will be in big trouble. You must first develop your own personal growth plan.
Perfection is a trap. It leads to analysis paralysis, where you’re so busy trying to make things perfect that you never actually start. Remember, paso a pasito avansamos un poquito, baby steps will get us there. It all starts with you, and as long as you stay adaptable and committed to your own growth, it will inspire your team to push for greatness as well.
Practical Step: On a single page, define one skill you want to master or one new habit you want to build in the next three months. This is your personal growth plan. Once a month, review it and ask yourself: "Am I pushing myself?" Don't be afraid to change it as you learn, because your personal development isn't about being perfect from day one; it's about being prepared for a rapidly changing business environment.
Don’t forget to energize your brain and turn that brandOn with 787 coffee! order online, link below
Finally - Test, Learn, Adapt
You are not as far as you think you are. Whether you're just getting started or you're already killing it and looking for an edge, you must be willing to Test, Learn, and Adapt. This is how you prepare for rapidly changing business environments and build both short- and long-term success.
Test: This means trying something new. Launch that new product. Try a different social media ad. Don't just think about it—do it. Your business plan gives you the framework to take calculated risks.
Learn: After you test, you have to learn. Listen to what your customers are saying and, more importantly, what they are doing. Look at the numbers. Did your new product sell? Did the ad bring in new customers? Be honest with yourself about the results.
Adapt: Based on what you've learned, you have to be willing to adapt your plan. If something isn't working, fix it. If something is a huge success, double down on it. This continuous cycle of testing, learning, and adapting is the key to staying ahead.
The first SpaceX rocket didn't make it to orbit. Elon Musk was financing both Tesla and SpaceX, and put all his money where his mouth is. He had to change his strategy, and just like that… an almost tragic case study, became a story of resilience and triumph. You don’t have to be an Elon Musk to test your business; you just need to understand that adaptability is part of the business cycle. It's what will keep running an efficient operation in the long run. Not everything will go according to your business plan. That would be unrealistic if it did. All you have to do is look at your plan, modify it, and test a new strategy until it works.
Practical Step: Find one small thing you can change or test in your business this week. Maybe it's a new post on social media, a different way you greet customers, or a minor tweak to your product. Set a deadline to track the results, and then ask yourself, "Did it work?" Based on that answer, you'll know what to do next. This is the simplest way to start the Test, Learn, Adapt cycle, and it will put you on track to being the next big disruptor.
Make sh’IT Happen.
This is it now you know how to create a roadmap of desire built on your personal passion, a solid blueprint of your numbers, and a North Star that guides your obsession. A true plan isn’t about perfection. It is all about the journey and the road you take as a young entrepreneur, and with the actionable steps to help you get started it’s about taking action, and staying consistent day in and day out. There will be challenges along the way, but now you have the tools and the mindset. The only thing left to do is start.
-Thank you for Reading!
Let's get to work. 💯
Want the insider playbook that's helping thousands build wealth without traditional degrees?
Every two weeks, I share the exact strategies, mindset shifts, and real-world tactics that successful entrepreneurs use to create financial freedom—including interviews with millionaires who started with nothing but ambition.
Join 15,000+ game-changers getting the SoyBrandon newsletter. No fluff. No theories. Just proven methods that work.
[Subscribe free here →] Because your breakthrough moment could be in the next email.
3 Easy Steps to Making Money in Business
These three steps are the core of how any business, from a side hustle to a major corporation, actually makes money. They're the difference between hoping you'll be profitable and knowing exactly how to build a sustainable business. So, what do you do with this information?
Step 1: Find Your North Star
Stop getting distracted by what everyone else is doing. Your journey starts from within. Get a single page and write down your "why"—your personal passion. Now, turn that passion into one single, measurable objective for the next year. This is your North Star. Everything you do, from this moment on, is in service of that one goal.
Step 2: Build Your One-Page Blueprint
A complicated plan is a useless plan. On a single page, list your mission, your North Star objective, and your three biggest numbers: Gross Profit, Labor, and Rent. Don't guess; find the hard truth. This one-page blueprint is your daily guide, a simple reminder of what's most important in your business.
Step 3: Start the Cycle (Test, Learn, Adapt)
Perfection is a trap. Pick one small, bite-sized task from your plan—that's your Test. Do it now. Look at the result and be honest about it—that's your Learn. Based on what you learned, make a change to your plan or your strategy—that's your Adapt. This continuous cycle is the only way to grow.
Want more straight talk and case studies on building a lasting business? Follow along and learn how to build a brand that doesn’t just make money, but makes history.
Let’s simplify the concepts:
Alex started his business from his college dorm room, creating custom, embroidered hats. He started with just one design, which he validated with his friends (Step 1). He priced each hat to make a $15 profit (Step 2) and used Instagram to post photos of people wearing them, which generated his first few sales (Step 3 & 4). After shipping each hat in a hand-stamped, recycled box (Step 5), he used his profits to create a second design and offer a new product line: branded tote bags (Step 6). Today, "Eco Thread Co." is a full-time business that employs several people and ships worldwide. Alex is living proof that following these six steps works.