For several months now a friend of mine has been toying with the idea of starting a spray tanning business. She’s never started a business before so she asked if she could pick my brain. I told her yes, of course, but also let her know right off the bat that she needed to first sit down and draft a business plan.

A business plan, I explained to her, forces you to think about the details. What sort of business do you want to run? How many employees with you need to start a tanning business? How much money do you need for supplies? At what point will you break even? Once she had a business plan in place I was able to go over it with a fine tooth comb and offer suggestions for improvement.