Ben: Uncle Bob. Sandy and I are talking about starting a business. What do you think?
Uncle Bob: I think that's great! What kind of business are you interested in starting?
Ben: I've been thinking about setting up a little company that makes smartphone apps. But we're not sure. I really don't know anything about starting a business.
Uncle Bob: It sounds like a business plan would be very advantageous for you.
Ben: But I have a business plan. I just told you – I'm going to make apps!
Uncle Bob: No, Ben. That's a business idea. A business plan is very different. A business plan is a written document that lays out a lot of specific information about your business.
Ben: I guess making a business plan would help me think through all of those details. I'm more worried about the financial aspects of starting a business, though. It can take a long time to make a business profitable. How will I keep the lights on?
Uncle Bob: Your business plan should help you with that in a couple of ways. First it should predict what your operational costs will be and how many sales you need to make your company profitable.
Ben: So if I write a business plan, what do you think the outlook for my business will be?
Uncle Bob: A good business plan will answer that question far better than I can, Ben. Let's get some more coffee.
Ben: That sounds good!
班：鮑伯叔叔，珊蒂和我一直在討論創業的事，不知道您覺得這樣好不好？
鮑：我覺得這個想法很棒！你感興趣想創業的是哪個行業？
班：我一直想成立一家小公司，生產智慧型手機應用程式，但還不確定，我真的對創業一無所知。
鮑：聽起來似乎有個創業計畫會對你很有利。
班：可是我已經有創業計畫，我剛剛告訴你了，我要生產應用程式！
鮑：班，那只是個創業點子。創業計畫是一份書面文件，裡面列出有關你的企業的許多明確訊息。
班：我想創業計畫可以幫我徹底思考所有的細節。但是，我比較擔心的是創業在財務方面的問題。可能要很長一段時間才能讓企業獲利，怎樣才可以繼續維持下去？
鮑：你的創業計畫應該要能在兩個方面幫助你解決問題。首先，你的創業計畫應該要能預測營運成本是多少，並預測要銷售多少產品才可以讓公司獲利。
班：那如果我寫了創業計畫，您覺得我的企業前景會如何？
鮑：一份好的創業計畫會比我還更能回答這個問題，班，我們再喝點咖啡吧。
班：好主意！
