You wouldn’t make a cross-country trip without a map. When you begin your self-employed journey, you create your own map: a business plan that describes what you want to accomplish and how.

You’ll definitely need a business plan if you apply for a loan. But even if you’re self-funding a solo venture, creating a plan is essential to setting your direction and staying on course.

A business plan helps you define your objectives, assess the risks of your business, think through marketing and selling strategies, and determine your financial needs. You don’t have to create your plan from scratch. There are a mass of books, Web sites and tools to help you work through the process.

For instance www.bplans.com by Palo Alto Software offers planning articles as well as sample plans. You can use the free Plan Wizard to match sample plans to your business. The site also provides information on how to calculate costs, how to research a business plan and how to present your finished product. Or you can purchase “Business Plan Pro,” a best-selling software package.

This Web site offers two in-depth articles to help you devise a business plan and a marketing plan: “Write A Winning Business Plan: How Solo Entrepreneurs Can Create A Biz Plan That Sets A Course For Success” or “Create A Marketing Plan That Works.”