Writing my business plan.....

[JETNewbie]

need to knuckle down & do it. Any tips on where to begin?

Thanks

 

[TheClearance]

Executive Summary

 

[businessfunding]

Begin by downloading a template - most banks & many accountants websites have them

Where to begin on the document; presumably with the bits which are obvious or clear to you.

It is a circular document so be prepared to go back many times as it evolves.

 

[consultk1]

There are so many pieces to put together, coordinate and do before starting a business. Many entrepreneurs are either overloaded with information or confused as to where to start from!

A business plan is a formal document that put these ideas together in a logical sequence. Just like a blue print is necessary for building a house, a business is THE first step in starting a business. It is a realistic and a workable plan that outlines various aspects of business including industry performance, market statistics, and financial summary and so on.

Alan Lakein once said, "Failing to plan is planning to fail."

Many entrepreneurs write business plans only when they seek financing or start-up capital for their business. I have always felt that a business plan is an essential document to any business whether or not it is seeking capital. Yes, investors and bankers need a business plan to understand your plan, but more important than that is you being sure as to what you need and where you want to go!

However, in order to write down your business ideas there are several aspects that you need to research upon. Most of this information would be available on the internet or with industry and trade associations. Once the plan is written, it will give you a complete picture of the business including its potential weaknesses, opportunities, strengths, threats, legal and financial considerations and so on. This will help in completely understanding your business and defining its framework before you go ahead and jump into it.

Here, we've summarized the key sections that you'll find in a business plan.

The Nine Key Sections of a Business Plan

1. Executive summary

This is one of the most critical aspects of your business plan. I have seen many clients whose plans were rejected by investors just because the executive summary was not well written. An executive summary is a one (or two) page summary of your entire business idea, the industry, market, competition, management team, risks, financial projections and the implementation plan. Ideally, the executive summary should be written last after the entire business plan (including its financials are ready)!

2. Business/Company Overview

This is the first section of your main business plan. This should start with an introduction and a brief business overview. This should include details on the history of the business, type of entity, mission and vision statement, objectives, ownership structure and a brief summary of the financial proposal/funding request.

3. Products and Services

This section explains to the reader, the products and/or services you propose to sell. Here you need to give the detailed product(s) information, features, benefits, value proposition, competitive advantages, how and where your product/services will be produced/rendered.

4. Industry overview

The industry overview section of the business plan demonstrates the viability of your business idea by discussing the size and growth of the industry. We generally recommend our clients to use the 'funnel approach' when writing this section of the business plan. Under the funnel approach, the industry overview of the entire country is given first, followed by the region/state and then narrowed down to the performance of the industry in the cities/towns where you propose to have the business. Any industry permissions (such as pollution certificates, permits, licenses etc) should also be discussed here.

5. Marketing Strategy

The marketing section of the business plan is one of the most important sections of the business plan. Even if you have the best product in your entire industry, you need to plan on how it should reach the customers and where they are! Here you should describe the target market segment, competitors, and the key value proposition.

You also should discuss what will be your pricing and promotion packages and how these will appeal to the target customers. You might also have to factor in the latest trends such as social media, networking and the mix of each type of these tactics and how they will affect your sales.

6. Operations Plan

An effective management team is the key to driving any business from where it is now to where it wants to go. In this section, provide a profile of your management team, your manpower plan, your production plan, and an overview of day-to-day operations. It is very critical that this section is written well since people will bet on the jockey than bet on the horse.

7. Financial plan

Many entrepreneurs that I have worked with fear this part of the plan and somehow or the other try to avoid it. This is THE most important part of the business plan since investors or bankers will not invest if the business plan is not financially viable. This section should contain financial projections for at least three to five years and should include income statements, working capital statements, cash flow statements and balance sheets.

Many business plans that I have reviewed do not contain an analysis of these financial statements. Ideally a simple ratio analysis, industry benchmarking, charts and graphical representations go a long way in making this section appealing to the investors.

8. Project Appraisal and Risk Analysis

Nine out of ten plans do not have this section. From a readers' perspective I can't stress how important this section of the plan is. This section will discuss the key risks that the business is exposed to and how these risks are proposed to be mitigated. For example, if you are planning a restaurant and assumed that 100 customers will come in everyday, this plan will analyze the sensitivity of your assumption of 100 customers on various factors such as profitability, cash flows etc - What if only 80 customers come? Will I make sufficient profits to repay my loan?

9. Implementation

Again, this is one of the most commonly ignored sections in a business plan. Having read your complete plan, the reader would like to know the next steps in making this business idea a reality. In this section of the business plan, you should discuss the key milestones in the near future, how you are going to achieve them, who (among your management team) are responsible for each of these milestones and so on. This would give the business plan a complete finish from being just a concept to making it a reality!

 

[JETNewbie]

Many thanks for your replies - really helpful & much appreciated!

 

[Gideon104]

Hi,

I am just reading The 'Sunday Times Business Enterprise Guide: How to prepare a Business Plan' by Edward Blackwell. I highly recommend it since it asks all the right thought provoking questions and gets you into the mindset to write a plan.

That's where I've made my start and the book has helped me so much! I would make some other suggestions, but it seems other peoples' posts have covered just about everything I would want to say!

All the best and good luck,
Gideon

 

[Jonah E]

Hey there,
Looks like you are in need of some great ideas- so get started
The very first step in organizing a plan for your business is to think for the idea of business. If you’re done with your funding process and every thought process regarding funds, then you already have completed this first step.

Next step, it’s time to seethe daily based operations of running your business. How are you going to deliver your products or services to your customers and how you will get the potential customers for your new business? What makes you different from your competitors and other companies?

Make a business marketing plan which should include these question's answers on it. When starting a business you should always keep in mind that home based business marketing is way different from the marketing of a traditional business. You might have to do more research, legwork and make face-to-face connections with people in order to get success.

Then create a business expense sheets on which you will be estimating your income and expenses. You’ll have to do some research work on how much money you should be owning while doing business so that you can create your financial information much accurately.

Next, once you start writing a business plan, you will have to include this information. You should never imagine that the person who is reading your business plan knows anything about the industry.

start things step by step and make profits

 

[Gilesfuchs]

Because of the internet, a huge amount of valuable information can be gleaned from your desktop in the comfort of your own home. It's a good place to start. Simple online searches can reveal a lot about potential customers and suppliers, as well as your competitors.