The Idea

1. What is this new venture, exactly?

In the business world, a business plan grows around an idea for a new venture. A person or (more likely) a group of partners see a new way to meet an important need. The business planning process forces them to think through the details of how their idea will work. The final business plan should describe those details briefly but clearly.

Obviously, it takes time to get to that level of detail. It takes many cycles to get from the initial "cocktail napkin" idea through the layers of research, interviews, brainstorming, vetting, benchmarking, analysis, redrafting, and editing that clarify the idea and communicate it effectively to others.

Forward-thinking health departments know what their issues are. Ann Thomas and her staff in Dare County, for instance, are always thinking about new ways to approach the biggest health issues they see. Access to dental care for kids, especially those in rural areas and those without private insurance, was one of those health issues.