A business plan is the initial stage of a business. This is the business card of your future project. How to write a business plan? Step-by-step instructions in this article will help in this matter.
Business Plan Goals
Writing a business plan may be different independing on why it is needed. One of the most common goals is to present it for investment. Such a business plan for the project is the most complex. Often, third-party individuals are involved in writing it - experts in their field who will create a suitable business plan for investor approval.
It happens that the head instructs to writethe business plan of the company, for example for opening a branch. In this case, too, often turn to outside experts in the preparation of such plans. In the end, the performer may only need some adjustment to the needs of the company.
Well, when a business plan is needed to openown business, its best to write from cover to cover on your own. This process, though difficult, is exciting and very interesting. After all, own business is the real brainchild of an entrepreneur. And therefore, his creation is treated very carefully and thoroughly. The article provides instructions for drawing up a business plan for your business.
Initial idea
Basically, those who decide to open theirenterprises have already chosen and are well aware of the scope of their activities. But there are entrepreneurs who want to have their own business, but still do not clearly know what exactly they will do. They are in search of a business idea. It is difficult to overestimate its value. The idea should be consistent with the interests and desires of the entrepreneur himself.
This may be a favorite thing that a personready to do even free of charge, or a business that brings already guaranteed income. In any case, choosing a niche for yourself, it is important not to be distracted by anything else anymore and not to dream of inaccessible peaks, but step by step to put your real idea into reality. A business plan will really help in this matter.
How to write a business plan? Step-by-step instruction
So, imagining what the future business will be,You can proceed to writing a business plan. There are special planning standards. Therefore, if it will be submitted for investment, you should select the appropriate standard and stick to it when writing.
To figure out how to writea business plan, step-by-step instructions and generally accepted standards will serve well as they are approved by people professionally versed in these matters. An entrepreneur will be able to sort out his own, perhaps not yet fully formed, thoughts and bring his business to life.
A standard business plan consists of the following chapters:
Summary.
General provisions.
Market analysis.
Marketing and strategic plan.
Costs.
Production plan.
Investments.
Financial plan.
Summary
Here, in brief, the essence of the case, a description of the business idea, information about its objective necessity in the market, the timing of implementation, the payback of the project and competitiveness should be displayed.
Of course, this part is moredesigned for potential investors. It is they who, after reading the summary, conclude whether it is worth further studying this plan or not. Therefore, if it is intended to be presented to the investor, it is necessary to carefully describe this part, possibly returning to it again and again, introducing corrections after drawing up the following chapters.
However, this part is also important for its own needs, since it helps the entrepreneur to better see the whole process of organizing the case as a whole.
General Provisions
Если резюме пишется примерно на одну - максимум two pages, then this chapter can be written in more detail. That is, in fact, the chapter “General Provisions” contains the same information as the summary, but in a more expanded form invites the reader to familiarize themselves with the project as a whole.
It describes the characteristics and implementation of the project, its life cycle, the possibility of additional development and the forecast of changes in the product with a possible change in market trends.
The service business plan in this chapter should containinformation about what a particular service is and how it will attract customers. For example, the business plan of a beauty salon describes all the intended services, their characteristics and distinctive features. An attractive feature here will be the legend of how celebrities pass inside the procedure cabin or how individual specialists provide these services to them, how specialists were trained directly with the brand of product they work with.
Market analysis
In parallel with writing a business plan or before drawing it up, it is necessary to conduct a market analysis. This is an extremely important part, because the success of a future project directly depends on it.
Having chosen a market niche and a target audience, they conductcareful analysis to determine how relevant the business plan of the project, the initial proposal and its idea. If the analysis reveals an excess of supply, then it is worth going back to the idea and try to correct it in such a way that it corresponds to the situation on the market. If there is an increased demand, then everything is in order, and you can safely proceed to further action.
Market analysis is carried out in different ways. But if there are problems with its implementation, there are companies where you can outsource market analysis.
Nevertheless, the entrepreneur is recommended toto sort out this issue, since any third-party organizations will give only an objective average result, not completely taking into account the business plans of small business and all the nuances of the business idea of the project's author.
Marketing and strategic planning
This plan includes bringing the product tomarket, its development, pricing, sales and distribution, and advertising. To derive the product, it is advisable to build a Gantt chart, which will display the dates of implementation of various activities. Based on market analysis and competitiveness, a strategy is calculated, how the market will be won and what tactical actions will be required for implementation.
Pricing is based on economiccalculations and expected revenues of the company. Sales and sales can be represented in the form of a diagram, where the whole process will be visible in stages. For example, from the receipt of goods to the warehouse and to the receipt of money for the goods and its implementation.
Costs and production schedule
This chapter includes the purchase of the necessaryequipment, repairs, rental of premises and other costs. In the production schedule it is necessary to reflect how many people are required for the project, their work schedule, salary and related payments.
Business plans for small businesses will be for the investormuch more attractive if there is a ready-made team that will work on the project, as this proves the ability of the entrepreneur to realize his plans. Therefore, it would be appropriate to emphasize such a fact in the business plan.
Production plan
If the company is a production, thenhere it is necessary to describe the production process, as well as the partners and suppliers who will be involved in the business. For example, a farm’s business plan in this chapter should include equipment for milking, bottling, packaging milk and marketing mechanisms through specific suppliers.
Financial plan and investment
The most crucial part of the whole business planis definitely a financial plan. Moreover, if the project is intended to familiarize the investor, then after reading the summary a serious investor is likely to look at the financial plan. After all, this is where the real ability of an entrepreneur to implement business ideas will be visible. This is the essence of business.
The financial plan provides all the information about possibleproject expenses and revenues. On the basis of the marketing, strategic plan and costs, a table is compiled for several years, which displays the required investments and their repayment schedule, all costs and possible incomes.
The final part of the financial plan must be the calculation of the profitability of the future business.
Now the reader knows how to write a business plan. The step-by-step instruction provided in the article is a short tutorial that demonstrates the importance of understanding goals and the need for business planning.
