A written business plan is commonly required when an entrepreneur is applying for a commercial loan or seeking an equity investment in their new venture. Regardless of capital funding needs, creating a business plan is an often-underestimated step on the entrepreneurial journey—and it can be accomplished prior to committing valuable time, effort and money. Sponsored by the Turner Center for Entrepreneurship and Illinois Small Business Development Center, at Bradley University, at no-cost to attendees. Cosponsored by: SCORE, Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce, Morton Chamber of Commerce, SCORE Peoria, and Smart Start Dashboard Who should attend: • Anyone who is serious about pursuing a new business • Small business owners evaluating expansion plans • Entrepreneurs seeking to better understand their business processes and revenue models • Business owners seeking to borrow funds or take on equity investors Take away: There are many benefits to completing the exercise of drafting a written business plan. The greatest of these is freeing your mind to focus on execution. You may have heard that ideas are a dime a dozen, but what makes an idea truly valuable (potentially worth millions) is taking decisive action (execution)! We find the inability to act or make progress often indicates there is a decision (or decisions) that have yet to be made. A written plan is effectively a list of decisions that you, the business owner, have already made. Think of creating your business as a two-step process. First, transfer the ideas from your mind and onto the page. Second, take the plan from the page and put it into action. Eric Sampson, Director of the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Bradley University, advises individuals who want to start a business or expand existing businesses. Guidance provided includes developing business and marketing plans, creating financial projections, addressing business formation issues, and obtaining financing. Eric also assists owners and managers of existing small businesses to identify solutions to business related problems, to examine strategic opportunities, expand their product portfolios, and enhance or diversify their sales efforts. His areas of interest include supporting entrepreneurs and local small business owners toward capital funding options, market expansion and improved profitability, and supporting growth, hiring and competitiveness through innovation and effective strategies. Eric received a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Bradley University.