It is a document that highlights all the characteristics of the future organization, analyzes possible problems and risks, predicts them and methods by which they can be avoided.
Simply put, a business plan for an investor is the answer to the question “Should I finance the project or throw it in the trash?”
Important! A business plan is drawn up on paper, taking into account some procedures and rules. This presentation of the project to some extent materializes your idea and shows your desire and willingness to work. Also, putting it on paper makes it easier for investors to perceive the idea.
Making a business plan yourself is not that difficult, you just need to think about the idea carefully. Before you grab a calculator and calculate your income, there are several steps you need to take.
If after such a superficial analysis you don’t want to abandon your brainchild, then it’s time to take a clean slate and start creating a business plan.
It is important to know! There is no single structure and step-by-step instructions on how to calculate a business plan. Therefore, the presence and order of items included in the plan are determined independently. However, experts have established the most optimal plan structure option. If you have no experience in drafting such documents, you need to use these recommendations to correctly compose your work.
The structure of a good business plan, according to economists, should include 12 points. Each of them is described below.
The following parameters are specified here:
This document is necessary to protect the copyright of the idea and business plan. This reflects the reader's awareness that he does not have the right to distribute the information contained in the document without the permission of the author. There may also be an instruction prohibiting copying, duplicating the document, or transferring it to another person, or a requirement to return the read business plan to the author if the investor does not accept the agreement.
An example of a confidentiality memorandum can be seen below.
The next 2 sections of the plan – “Brief Summary” and “Main Idea of the Project” – are introductory. They can be used as a preliminary proposal (for review) to partners and investors until negotiations are scheduled.
Although a brief summary of such a document is at the beginning, it is written at the final stage, as a summary. A summary is a short description of the project idea and a list of the most significant characteristics of the financial component.
The following questions will help, answering which can lead to an excellent resume:
It is important to know! The summary is read by the investor first. Therefore, the future fate of the project depends on this section: the investor will either become interested or bored. This part should not exceed 1 page.
Important! It is necessary to provide clear, real and explicit arguments that will confirm confidence in the profitability and success of the project. The volume of this part is optimal within 1-2 pages.
In this section, it is customary to use the conducted SWOT analysis – assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise, opportunities (prospects), as well as possible threats. It is unlikely that you will be able to make a business plan correctly and as completely as possible without such an analysis.
A SWOT analysis reflects two aspects that influence the life of an organization: internal, relating to the enterprise itself, and external (everything outside the company that it cannot change).
Do not forget: You are describing a company, not a product! A common mistake authors make is that they start writing product characteristics in the “strength” column.
Here are some parameters you can use to describe strengths or weaknesses:
External factors (“opportunities” and “threats”) include:
Example
This section reveals the idea, the subject of the business plan. It also reflects the level of preparedness of the enterprise to go “into the world”, the availability of all the funds required for this.
The most important provisions in this section:
The objectives, goals of marketing policy and methods for solving and achieving them are indicated here. It is important to indicate which task is intended for which personnel, in what time frame it is required to be completed and with the help of which tools. The funds required for the latter also need to be indicated.
Marketing plan is a strategy, a set of sequential and/or simultaneous steps created to attract consumers and provide effective returns on their part.
The investor will be attentive to such points as:
Everything that directly concerns the creation of products is reflected in this part. Therefore, it is advisable to compile this section only for those companies that plan not only distribution, but also production of products.
Points that must be specified:
It is important to indicate the cost of everything that requires expenses.
At this stage, the principles of organizational strategic management of the company are developed. If the enterprise already exists, then this point is still mandatory: the compliance of the existing structure with the intended goals is determined here. The organizational part must certainly contain the following data:
This chapter of the business plan provides a comprehensive economic assessment of the written project, accompanied by calculations of the level of profitability, payback period, and financial stability of the enterprise.
A financial plan is very important for an investor; here it determines whether a given project is attractive to him.
Here you need to make some calculations and summarize them:
In a risk analysis, the author must examine the project and identify potential threats that could lead to decreased revenue. It is necessary to take into account financial, industry, natural, social and other risks. At the same time, it is necessary to develop a detailed and effective plan to prevent them or minimize the impact on the company. Therefore, the business plan must indicate:
This is the last link in the structure of a business plan. It includes documents, quotes, sources, copies of contracts, agreements, certificates, letters from consumers, partners, statistical data, calculation tables used in the preparation of this document. It is required to insert links and footnotes to the appendices in the text of the business plan.
Making a business plan from scratch without the help of a specialist is not easy, but it is possible. It is important to adhere to the above rules, construction structure and avoid mistakes.
The rules of language cannot be ignored. It often happens that the most incredible and promising idea goes into the trash bin along with a bunch of plans of mediocre IP specialists. And all because errors in spelling, vocabulary, punctuation and poor presentation of the text completely discourage any investor.
The design should be the same throughout the document: bullets, headings, lists, font, size, numbering, spacing, etc. Contents, headings, numbering, names of figures and tables, designation of data in graphs are required!
To properly draw up a business plan, you need a comprehensive amount of information. The sections of the document listed above are the minimum that should be unconditionally included in the project.
The work should be “like in a pharmacy on a scale.” Clear, defined, specific statements of goals and (important!) ideas.
An abundance of technical, financial, and marketing terms will only help in exams. For a business plan, you need to select only the most significant details. If there is a great need for a thorough description of a process, then you can add it to the appendix.
Business proposals like these are based on assumptions. Therefore, the author needs to approach the idea rationally and have a reasonable background, a real reason, supported by calculations.
For each assumption there is its own justification - real, valid. Facts give work meaning and confidence. You shouldn’t create a fountain of facts either, but if you get carried away, then look at the rule about details.
The main rule: there is no business without risk. There is no such business in which it is “quiet and calm.” The investor knows this, and the author should know this. Therefore, it’s time to come down from the clouds to the ground and study, explore, analyze.
There is always a competitor, as well as a risk. It can be direct or indirect. Study this topic carefully and meticulously, and a rival will definitely appear on the horizon, waving his hand at you.
Creating a business plan yourself does not mean doing absolutely everything yourself. Moreover, obtaining a high-quality result is possible through the joint efforts of several specialists. Don't be afraid of helpers!
In this article, we will analyze in detail what a business plan is, why it is needed and how to write it correctly.
Greetings, dear readers! Alexander Berezhnov is in touch. Today we will talk about business, or rather about business planning.
As you know, any business or project starts with. But it doesn't carry much value on its own, since most people come up with dozens of ideas every day.
Many famous entrepreneurs, outstanding people in the field of management training, leadership and planning speak about this. These are Stephen Covey, John Maxwell, Vladimir Dovgan, Alex Yanovsky, Tony Robbins and others.
Surely you had situations when an idea was born, but you didn’t have enough time and energy to bring it to life, and most importantly, you didn’t know where to start.
This article will be useful for both beginners and existing entrepreneurs, because, as you know, any thriving company or project always has a plan to achieve its goals.
When I myself was trained in the field of business planning, I well remembered the words of one of the trainers:
A dream differs from a goal in that it does not have a clear plan to achieve it!
In other words, if you don't have a good plan to achieve your goal, it is unlikely that it will become something more than just a dream for you even after many years.
In this article, I will cover issues related to business planning, as myself I have experience in writing business plans for my own entrepreneurial projects. And in order to convey information in an accessible language, before writing the article, I talked with two of my acquaintances who are professionally engaged in writing business plans for entrepreneurs to order in order to attract third-party capital to their clients' businesses. The guys help by writing professional business plans to entrepreneurs in obtaining loans, grants and subsidies.
Dear readers, I draw your attention to the fact that in these articles we will consider a simplified model for writing a business plan for starting a small business. And if you are faced with the task of writing a business plan for a large company, then I advise you to use the services of professionals who specialize in this.
I won't take any more of your precious time, let's get started...
Every term has many definitions. Here I will give my own, it is quite short and reflects the main meaning of the concept of "business plan".
Business plan- this is a document or otherwise a guide that describes the idea of the project, business processes and mechanisms for their implementation in order to achieve the goals stated by the author of the document (business plan).
In general, business planning, like any process, should have a goal, in this case, the success of your project will depend on 3 key factors:
From my own experience, I will say that a business plan is needed globally in 2 cases, and in each case its writing is different in a certain way.
These are the cases:
1. Business plan for investors(creditors, grant givers, bodies providing state support in the form of subsidies, etc.)
Here, the main purpose of the business plan is to prove the viability of the project and the efficient use of funds. And it does not matter whether you will return them, if it is a loan or not, if it is a subsidy or a grant.
In a situation where you are thinking about how to write a business plan for investors, you need to emphasize the logic of the actions you are planning to take, perhaps even bluffing about certain points that will help you get funding. When writing a business plan, you can embellish something, but the main thing is not to get carried away.
In a word, your finished plan should be clean, neat, logical. Everything should be beautifully painted in it, explanations of the facts you have given, and so on.
It will not be superfluous to prepare a good computer presentation and speak publicly to investors.
Therefore, when I am asked how to write a business plan, I ask the question in response: “For whom is a business plan being drawn up? For yourself or for investors?
2. Business plan for yourself(according to this plan, you will actually act for the successful implementation of your own project)
Let me explain with an example. If, when writing a business plan to attract funding, you write that you need 300,000 rubles to buy 10 computers, then further in the form of a table you paint a detailed estimate:
№ | Name of expense | Quantity (piece) | Cost, rub.) | Amount (rub.) |
1 | Intel based system unit | 10 | 20 000 | 200 000 |
2 | Samsung monitor | 10 | 8 000 | 80 000 |
3 | Mouse | 10 | 300 | 3 000 |
4 | Keyboard | 10 | 700 | 7 000 |
5 | Speakers (set) | 10 | 1 000 | 10 000 |
Total: | 300 000 |
That is, you really need 10 computers to run the project. This is how you write it. BUT!
If you are making a business plan for yourself, then most likely even this small estimate for computers will look different for you. You will ask why?
You know that you and your partner, with whom you are going to open a business, already have 3 computers for two, and you can find 3 more computers at your father at work, at home on the loggia and at your grandmother in the garage, having upgraded them a bit.
This is very figurative, but I think you understand the meaning. All this concerns the available resources, but for the investor, you will request funds for the purchase of new office equipment, since you will need to document it.
The same thing, if you are going to open a business in the field of cargo transportation, then in the business plan for the investor you write that you need 5,000,000 rubles to buy 5 trucks. Then it will be easier for the investor to navigate the expediency of using his funds.
Even if you already have 1 or 2 similar trucks, you can simply add them to a new fleet when you receive funding and everyone will be happy.
Because often there is a situation when in negotiations with an investor you say that for the successful operation of your project you need 5 trucks, but in principle you have 2 ... And then you start to disorient the investor, saying that one of these trucks was bought in half with your friend, and the other belongs to your wife and she may not give it to you for a new project, and so on.
Conclusion
Write a business plan for investors as much as possible detailed and beautiful.
When writing a business plan for yourself, focus on the resources you have and write such a plan as close as possible to yours. realities.
Moving on to the technology of writing a business plan ...
3. How to write a business plan
Drawing up a business plan begins with a preliminary analysis of the current situation.
Before moving on to formulating, describing and filling sections, you need to gather together all the information that you own, and if it is not enough, then fill in these gaps using third-party sources or by contacting specialists.
One of the recognized technologies for preliminary analysis before the upcoming business planning is the so-called SWOT analysis.
It is quite easy to understand and clearly structures all the information you have.
4. What is SWOT analysis and how is it applied in business planning?
SWOT is an abbreviation and stands for:
- S trends- strengths;
- W eakness- weak sides;
- O pportunities- possibilities;
- T hreats- Threats.
SWOT analysis is needed in order to assess the internal and external factors of the company, making an objective picture for the upcoming business planning.
For example, in your case it could be the following indicators:
Strengths:
- Low cost of production;
- High professionalism of the project team;
- The company's product (service) has an innovative component;
- Attractive product packaging or a high level of company service.
Weak sides:
- Lack of own commercial premises;
- Low brand awareness among potential buyers.
Opportunities and Threats are characteristics of the external environment that the company cannot directly influence, and therefore, they can influence the outcome of its work in the future.
These factors can be:
- Economic and political situation in the country or region;
- Socio-cultural environment (features of the mentality of consumers);
- The level of technology development in the territory of doing business;
- Demographic situation.
According to the analysis of the current conditions, it is possible to highlight the potential of the future project.
Possibilities:
- Introduction of new materials and technologies for the production of the company's product;
- Obtaining additional funding for the project;
- Product design adaptation to the cultural and age characteristics of the region.
Threats:
- High customs duties on raw materials for the production of goods;
- Strong competition in this market segment.
After the SWOT analysis is done, you can proceed to the description of the sections of the business plan. Below I will describe each of them, explain my point of view, and in the 3rd part of this instruction I will give in a concise form examples of filling out each section. This will help you visualize the technology of writing a business plan.
And so that my examples are not general phrases like “it’s better to be healthy and rich than poor and sick,” I will reveal the question “How to write a business plan” using the example of opening anti-cafe or in another way time cafe * .
Anticafe(or time-cafe) is a new format of cultural and entertainment establishments that first appeared in Moscow in 2010.
Their essence lies in the fact that visitors do not order food and drinks for money, as in an ordinary cafe, but pay by the minute for the time they are in the establishment. For this payment, they get the opportunity to play board games (for example, the very popular game ""), play video games on the X-BOX game console, organize their own events: birthdays, corporate parties, parties, and also use free WI-FI Internet.
Here, visitors can also participate in entertainment and educational activities: musical and theater evenings, trainings, foreign language clubs, take training courses on playing musical instruments, and so on.
By the way, personally, as a person leading a healthy lifestyle, I am glad that in these establishments it is not allowed to drink alcohol and smoke.
5. What sections should be in a business plan
In order to understand the structure of a business plan, you need to decide on its sections. I will offer you my own version, which is classic for most business plans.
Business plan sections:
- Introduction (summary);
- Description of goods and services;
- Market analysis and marketing strategy;
- Production plan;
- Organizational plan;
- Financial plan (budget);
- Expected results and prospects (final part).
When starting to develop a business plan, I recommend that you conduct a small brainstorming session, describing your idea on 1-2 A4 sheets. This is necessary in order to understand the big picture and only then proceed to the detailed description of the above sections.
Important point!
Before filling out the sections in detail, collect as much information as possible on the topic of your project (business).
It can be:
- Industry analysis with quantitative indicators;
- Ways to promote your products or services;
- Current competitors in the market;
- The amount of tax deductions for your company;
- Technologies applied in the industry of your future business.
All this will help you write a business plan as efficiently as possible on your own and not look for material for its sections along the way. This way you save a lot of time and get good results.
In the second part, we will analyze in more detail how to fill out the sections of the business plan.
Business plan: sample and purpose of the document + reasons for drafting + 5 stages of creation + features of writing for investors and for personal purposes + structure + 15 tips + 7 illustrative examples.
Any actions must be planned and displayed on paper. This is especially true for entrepreneurship. Without business planning, i.e. detailed optimization of resources and determination of further tasks, even an experienced entrepreneur will not be able to achieve his goals.
That's why it's so important to have on hand sample business plan and compose it correctly. This material will help you with this.
There are several definitions of a business plan on the Internet.
Here are the most common ones:
Those. A business plan is a document that describes in detail the ways of its implementation. Thanks to it, you can thoroughly justify your project, evaluate the effectiveness of decisions made from all sides, and understand the feasibility of financing a particular activity.
The business plan shows:
A business development plan is a tool that evaluates the final results of activities for a specific period of time. It can be used to attract investors and is necessary in creating a business concept and company strategy.
Drawing up a business plan is one of the important, responsible stages of planning. It is developed both for those enterprises that produce goods and for those whose specialization is the provision of services.
Before writing a business plan, specialists or the owner of the company determine the tasks and means for their implementation. The developed document can attract lenders to implement ideas. For this reason, it is impossible to exaggerate its importance.
Purpose of the business development plan:
Entrepreneurs write business plans for the following reasons:
It is important to see the difference between a business plan, which is written for internal use, and a “front door” document, so to speak, to be transferred to creditors.
If you intend to use the sample business plan and write it for yourself, please note that it will be in the form of a practical guide to further actions.
In this case, the business development plan should answer the following questions:
You need to understand that when drawing up a working document, you need to reflect the real state of things in order to know in which direction to move, what to do, what to strive for.
When developing a business plan to present to creditors/investors, the methodology is different. The person or organization that will finance your enterprise should receive a document detailing the situation and main objectives.
You must convince investors that their money will be used rationally and indicate the benefits for them. A business plan must be drawn up logically, every action must be justified.
If you have doubts in any area, study it more carefully, because lenders will likely have “uncomfortable” questions regarding the program you outline. And the amount of initial investment to open/develop your own business will depend on how you answer them.
Confidence in delivery is also of particular importance. It’s good if you can display statistics in a business plan, citing the example of another company. This will increase your chances of receiving investment.
When writing a business plan, you should adhere to a business style and follow the structure.
Regardless of the purpose for which you draw up a plan, working with it takes place in 5 stages:
As a business creator, you will have no problem making up the first two points. But what should be the proper structure of a business plan?
Let's look at the main sections, what information they contain and how to compose them correctly.
It acts as a calling card for itself. It indicates: the name of your company, contact information, address information, phone numbers of the founders.
In addition, the title must contain the contents of the entire document (chapter - page number). When writing your title, be brief and present information concisely.
The total volume of the business plan is about 30-35 pages, including applications.
*Business plan (sample title page)
It takes up approximately 2 A4 sheets. The introduction describes the main aspects of your business, its essence, and what advantages it has.
It is necessary to write down why the product/service is attractive to buyers and what the expected profit is. If you intend to raise funds for your business, the introductory part indicates the amount of capital you need.
Typically, the introduction is devoted to the following points of the plan:
The introductory part is compiled last, because it describes the overall picture of the company's activities.
You can fully portray it only after studying all the nuances of the case.
You can study a sample of this and other parts of the plan at the end of this material - examples of this document for the main areas of business are collected there.
The main section concerns the type of activity and all its key points, the cost of the project.
It consists of subsections:
We will look at them separately.
At the end it follows final part. In it you need to summarize the work done and give a clear definition of the tasks.
The main section of the document is the most capacious. Its subsections describe each aspect of your business.
For example, industrial shows what equipment will be used, what premises you have, how much money you will need to purchase and start a business.
This plan is also designed to help you calculate production capacity and determine the likely prospects for growth in production volumes.
In addition, it contains information on the full supply of raw materials, components, and covers issues about the need for labor, temporary and fixed costs of the business.
To ensure that the production subsection of the plan has a clear structure and contains all the necessary information, indicate:
Financial plan summarizes all the presented data with economic indicators for the business, i.e. in cost terms.
This includes business reports:
About financial results, profits and losses.
It highlights the sources of profit, how losses occurred, provides an assessment of changes in business income/expenses that occurred during the reporting period, etc.
About the movement of money.
This report allows you to see operating results, long-term creditworthiness, and short-term liquidity.
The financial subsection of a business plan is also characterized by the presence of:
Carefully consider the possibility of investing, whether it will be profitable, and the target orientation of the investment. Write how you will return the funds raised into the business.
Try to ensure that the financial part of your business plan includes:
The marketing subsection concerns the analysis of the market for the products manufactured by your company. You must indicate in the plan the size, dynamics and trends of the market, its segments, and conditions.
In addition, the subsection informs about who the consumers of the business’s products are and what product promotion strategy will be used.
Here, consumption volumes are calculated, the estimated share occupied in the market, the levers used to influence demand (advertising campaign, pricing, product improvement, etc.), and business competitiveness are described.
It is necessary to evaluate your product from the consumer’s perspective, why it is attractive, what its consumer value is, whether it is safe to use, and its service life.
When drawing up a marketing plan, rely on the following points:
To draw up a marketing plan, information is taken from the external environment, relevant research and surveys are conducted, and professional marketers are hired to study the market situation.
In terms of doing business, organizational issues are considered no less important. Therefore, in this subsection you are required to describe all the steps that will be taken to implement the project.
For example, as shown in the example in the picture:
It is better to present the information in the plan in tabular form so that the sequence of your actions is clearly visible. It would not hurt to mention the regulatory and legislative acts that regulate the selected industry.
In organizational terms, it is worth describing the management side, the responsibilities of all employees, the system of subordination and incentives (remuneration), and describing the internal regime of the company.
Remember that you need to follow the structure as in the example:
In the penultimate sections, you need to give an objective assessment of the company’s performance, show the expected prospects based on the estimate, balance sheet, profitability threshold, and planned sales volume.
The business plan developer must write the payback period, NPV (net present value).
The best option would be to arrange this in a table, as in the example below:
Business risks should also be taken into account. Be sure to indicate in the plan what measures you will take to minimize them if they arise, and what self-insurance program you will resort to.
Experienced business plan authors pay special attention to risks, and consider the likelihood of the worst outcome. Making notes on how to resolve perceived difficulties will make your future work easier. If losses and financial losses occur, you will already know how to compensate for them.
When this section of the business plan causes difficulties, turn to experts for help.
A SWOT analysis of a business is often used for this purpose:
This is a method of identifying external/internal factors that influence business development.
Thanks to it you will be able to appreciate:
And, ultimately, threats that you cannot cancel occur are considered, for example:
If you provide a clear and justified algorithm for solving risks in the document, this is guaranteed to attract partners and creditors for your business.
very painstaking and complex. In the process of compiling it, many questions will arise. For this reason, most beginners make mistakes.
To avoid them and make your business plan worthwhile, follow these recommendations:
Before you start writing, it is better to look at more than one example of a business plan.
It’s easy to find illustrative examples on the Internet, and perhaps they will even relate to your line of business.
There is no need to “pour water”, thinking that the document is supposed to be voluminous.
A business plan should contain only important, realistic information that is interesting to investors and useful to you in running your business (as in the samples below).
Do not complete the document hastily.
Such a plan will not have the desired effect on creditors. If you are composing it for yourself, all the same, it should not look like a draft version.
Use more tables, graphs (as in the samples below).
Providing statistics in this way makes the material more visual.
Market analysis is often inaccurate.
Therefore, approach the marketing section responsibly and collect all the necessary data.
Be sure to include competitive and distinctive characteristics in your business plan.
Throw out too abstruse expressions from your business plan, as well as those that are understood ambiguously and demonstrate your insolvency.
For example, “a product that has no analogues”, “at the stage of consideration”, “ease of sale”, etc.
Take into account absolutely all business expenses.
Lenders consider this column particularly important. Therefore, they may have a lot of questions for you on such items as staff salaries, taxes, purchase of raw materials, etc.
Don't ignore risk considerations.
As mentioned, this will protect you from problems encountered on the way to achieving your goals, and will also allow investors to see you as a serious, responsible entrepreneur.
Don't forget to include time limits.
Any task has a deadline (a quarter, a year, several years).
If you are not sure that you can complete a business plan on your own, even using the samples below, do not waste money on a specialist.
He understands this issue more than you, so he will draw up the document accurately, without technical, methodological and conceptual mistakes that you may make without proper experience.
A detailed outline of a high-quality business plan with explanations
you will find in this video:
The pharmaceutical business does not lose its relevance, because the need for medicines does not disappear. Moreover, most of the family budget, as a rule, goes to medicines.
Because of this, opening a pharmacy is a very profitable business.
Therefore, it makes sense to take a closer look at the example of drawing up such a business plan in this sample:.
If you want to enter a different field, consider opening a cafe.
There are quite a lot of similar establishments and the competition is great. However, the demand for them is growing. If you take into account all the aspects of the arrangement and offer healthy food, you will definitely be successful.
To draw up a document correctly, check out the sample cafe business plan!
The male half of the population may be interested in the idea of organizing a car service center.
The owner of a service station will not be left without income if the repair and maintenance of vehicles is outlined in detail with all the ensuing factors in the business plan.
Women will find it more pleasant to open a beauty salon.
We assure you that, regardless of the number of existing establishments providing cosmetic services, your “enterprise” in the beauty industry will be in demand. This is due to the fact that every client wants the salon to be nearby and not have to travel to another block.
Representatives of the fair half of humanity can delve into trading activities and create a flower shop. The main advantage of the idea is the small start-up capital.
This small business also requires planning. And although flower shops are not exactly popular in Russia, who knows, maybe you will change that.
To do this, you need to draw up a well-thought-out business plan (a sample of which you can study at this link).
Hotel business is a much more complex option, which involves taking into account many factors, especially marketing ones.
If you don’t know what size room you need or what investments are required, get the information you need in a standard sample:
business plan for a hotel.
The process of implementing a farming project is no less labor-intensive. But in this case, you will have the opportunity to receive financial support and benefits from the state.
A good sample plan that can attract public investors, clearly demonstrates the goals, .
The implementation of any idea begins with drawing up a business plan. Without it, it is impossible to determine the necessary tasks and understand the feasibility of investments and costs. Many businessmen needlessly ignore this fact and do not use this useful tool.
If you have no experience in writing, any sample business plan given here will help you understand all the drafting standards, thanks to which you can easily set yourself a guideline for further actions.
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Before you start implementing your own business, you need to carefully analyze the competitive environment, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the project, calculate the amount of investment and the payback period. Without preliminary preparation, it is impossible to implement a single business project. In this article we will tell you how to write a business plan, what are the nuances of document preparation, and share 10 tips for effective planning.
A business plan is a step-by-step guide that will allow you to clearly follow your goals without deviating from the main idea.
Before you start drawing up a document, it is important to understand why it is needed. This document briefly outlines on paper the essence of business activities and describes the implementation of the idea step by step.
A business plan reflects all aspects of activity and helps plan the sequence of actions necessary for the successful implementation of the company's goals.
The document is drawn up for:
Moreover, these can be completely two different documents, with different calculations of the payback period, investment, etc.
For external use, a plan is drawn up to show the business idea at its best. This information, as a rule, is intended for investors and business partners, which demonstrates the strengths of the project, shows its quick payback with minimal investment.
For internal use, a more detailed and realistic calculation of risks and possible factors is compiled. All the weaknesses of the process are reflected here in detail, which can reduce profits, increase the payback period, etc.
It is this document that will serve as the main tool for business management and suggest in which direction to move further. The main rule that should be followed when writing an internal business plan is the real picture.
If a document for external use can be slightly embellished in order to advantageously demonstrate the strengths of a business idea, then a document for internal use will serve as a kind of step-by-step guide that will indicate the direction and help calculate all possible risks along the path to implementing the idea.
It is better to start drawing up a business plan immediately with a document for internal use, so that during the creation process you can consider production taking into account its weaknesses, analysis of the competitive market, and identification of risks. Most likely, a lot of information will not end up in a document intended for investors and business partners. But this will be a serious help for you in properly organizing your business.
A business plan describes all the features of the future organization of the business, it reflects an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the business idea, describes possible risk factors and problems, and identifies solution options.
A good business plan is the key to success
Competently drawing up a business plan is the key to the successful future of your enterprise.
The development of an internal document will not only help calculate the overall estimate, but will also indicate whether it is necessary to attract investor money. It is important to understand that attracting investors is not always advisable and will have the best impact on the business. Perhaps at the first stage it will be possible to make do with existing capital, and as production develops, think about attracting external investments.
Attracting an investor only at first glance seems to many to be a lifeline that will help launch a project. But sometimes such an investment results in unfavorable terms of cooperation and financial bondage, from which the entrepreneur will not be able to escape for a long time.
On the other hand, significant financial investments from outside in some cases help to take the first step, purchase equipment, rent premises, hire staff, etc. And if, apart from the idea, a novice entrepreneur has no financial resources, then, of course, he cannot do without third-party investments.
How does a business plan help an entrepreneur?
Today, experts work with several classifications of business plans and mainly distinguish them according to the following criteria:
As mentioned above, when starting to write a document, you should immediately determine what type of plan is being developed: internal or external.
There is a distinction between an internal production plan, which is written to modernize or expand production, and a marketing plan, the purpose of which is to improve the company’s position in the market, reach the next level, etc.
The internal manufacturing business plan should take into account the following points:
A standard business plan consists of the following chapters:
When studying the document, investors will pay attention to the following points:
Regardless of the scope of activity of the future enterprise and the direction of the business, the document has its own standards that must be relied upon when drawing up a plan.
Before writing a business plan, prepare a title page.
The following parameters are specified here:
This section contains the most important part of the document about the company being created. The goal, short-term and long-term plans for the company’s development, and the specifics of the product or service being created are indicated here.
This paragraph must necessarily contain information about the amount of required investment and an indicator of efficiency.
Despite the overview information, it is the resume that investors and business partners pay attention to first, so when writing this paragraph, be sure to adhere to the principle of conciseness.
It describes the main activities of the enterprise, mission, purpose, organizational and legal aspects.
In this chapter you need to provide information about the author of the business idea, the company responsible for its implementation (name, legal address, share in the authorized capital), partners.
This chapter reflects the principles of organizational strategic management of the company.
The organizational part must necessarily contain the following data:
This chapter not only monitors the competitive environment with a detailed analysis and description of the main players in this market. Here the possible risks are calculated.
This chapter evaluates:
When assessing the degree of financial risks, it is advisable to use an analysis scheme where the following data is filled in: name of the threat, essence, options for minimization and financial costs.
If problems arise with conducting market analysis, there are special companies where you can turn to for this service, but experts recommend that the entrepreneur still figure out this issue on his own, since any third-party companies will provide only an objective average result, not fully taking into account the business plans of small businesses and all the nuances of the project author’s business idea.
When drawing up a business plan, you must clearly remember that it must correspond to the tasks and goals of the enterprise and directly provide answers to specific questions.
When carrying out strategic planning, you should conduct a SWOT analysis, which evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the project, development opportunities and threats (risks) that may arise on the way to implementing the idea.
Strengths typically include:
The weaknesses of the project include:
When conducting a comprehensive market analysis, it is necessary to take into account all aspects and factors: political, economic, social, etc.
What threats can influence the low efficiency of business development? These may be strong competitors, customs and government clearance, market instability in this industry.
But potential opportunities include the likelihood of obtaining a new product, changes in legislation, and increased professionalism.
Describes in detail the product, its technical features, the possibilities of using the product (service), the degree of relevance and novelty of this proposal.
The level of readiness for a given product (service) to enter the market is determined.
When compiling this section, it becomes clear how to attract customers and expand sales channels. Here you can calculate in great detail the ways to sell products, ways to attract customers, and in the future this part of the business plan will become a step-by-step guide to action.
In this part it is important to reflect the following aspects:
Particular attention should be paid to pricing, which is one of the key factors in the success of a business idea.
Consider the following points:
It is a mistake to believe that a cheap price will stimulate successful business development. It must clearly meet the quality of the product, demand and take into account the market analysis that you will conduct in the previous section.
This section must contain information about production costs.
It is necessary to take into account everything that should be included in the cost of the product:
When calculating potential profit, we take the formula:
Profit = income from sales – costs.
If at this stage of planning you do not take into account any part of the costs, it is difficult to talk about the correct calculation of profit and payback period.
When determining product pricing, marketers use several classic schemes:
Advice! When writing this section, you must understand that, in principle, you cannot release a product or service to the market that your competitors do not already have. But you can offer the product to the desired category of customers. It is on this concept that most successful business plans are built.
When designing sales channels for a product, you must be guided by the principle of the “Four Hows.”
When determining your target audience, you need to consider the following:
Advice! Don't overload this part of the plan. As a rule, SWOT analysis and market analysis takes up a very large part of the entire business plan and it becomes difficult for investors and partners to study it. Use graphs and tables for this part of the document.
Don't confuse a production plan with a production process. This section of the document provides answers to specific questions:
The main task of this section is to confirm with calculations that the company being created is able to actually produce the required quantity of goods (services) in the required time frame and with the required quality.
This part describes the cost pattern in detail. It is better to use graphs and diagrams to clearly see the entire cost part.
Prepare your estimate as follows:
This part of the plan is one of the most important, and investors will look at it first when getting acquainted with the project (after the summary).
This chapter reflects the real picture of the viability of a business idea.
The section provides for planning expenses and investments for business expansion. The owner needs to develop a sales volume plan and different scenarios, each of which must be calculated:
Here it is necessary to reflect information about the possible costs and income of the project, attach a schedule with the required investments, a schedule with the repayment of these investments, etc.
The final stage of the financial plan is the calculation of business profitability.
In some cases, it is advisable to draw up a Memorandum of Confidentiality. This document is necessary to protect the copyright of the idea and business plan. As a rule, such a document is resorted to when the author submits an innovative business idea.
This document reflects the prohibition on the dissemination of information and copyright protection.
There may also be an instruction prohibiting copying, duplicating the document, or transferring it to another person, or a requirement to return the read business plan to the author if the investor does not accept the agreement.
Remember that a business plan is a kind of advertising business card for your business, so pay great attention to its writing and design.
Divide the chapters according to functionality, do not overdo it with tables and graphs, but at the same time give them a lot of attention.
A plan written in continuous text will also not attract attention and will not allow you to quickly find the sections of interest.
Many aspiring entrepreneurs who are just starting out on their own business path begin to panic before developing a business plan.
Considering the key role of this document and the importance of its information, many entrepreneurs order such a document from third-party organizations that provide this service at a professional level.
Is this correct from a business point of view?
On the one hand, a well-drafted business plan is the key to successful business and an effective tool for attracting investors. But on the other hand, having ordered a document from a third-party organization, the entrepreneur does not understand the essence.
As a rule, companies that provide services for writing a business plan work according to a template, and no one will analyze the market and competitive environment as scrupulously and thoroughly, identify the strengths and weaknesses of the company, assess possible risks and ways to solve problems, as the owner himself companies.
Often, when turning to an agency for writing such documents, the owner of a business idea receives a Talmud of 100 pages, which reflects the essence of the business in very vague and general phrases, without going into its specifics.
How to be in this situation? You can order purely mathematical and investment calculations from a specialized company that reflect the projected profit, payback, etc.
But it is better for the business owner to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the business idea, a description of possible risks and prospects himself. Only he will be able to do this specifically with reference to the specifics of the company and assess its real potential.
To make it easier for you to develop and write a competent, clear and understandable plan, let's look at the main mistakes that novice entrepreneurs make when drawing up such documents:
Mistake #1. Illiterate syllable. Sometimes even the most promising business idea can die at the inception stage just because of mistakes in the business plan. No investor or partner will accept a document written with grammatical or punctuation errors.
Mistake #2. Careless design. The document should be clear, contain structure, and numbered chapters and pages.
Mistake #3. Incomplete information. We have analyzed a detailed list of all chapters that must necessarily be contained in the document. Incomplete information can distort the meaning of a business idea.
Mistake #4. Too much unnecessary information. Try to concisely and clearly answer the questions posed in the document and do not go into the smallest details, stretching the plan over 100 pages.
Mistake #5. Distorted data. Wanting to attract investors and demonstrate a business idea in a favorable light, many authors provide unrealistic data that is immediately visible. Stick to clear data and calculations.
Mistake #6. No risks. Silence about weaknesses and risks only indicates weak analysis. In fact, there is not a single industry in business where no risk exists.
To make it easier to draw up a plan and clearly reflect all the necessary data in it, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the video instructions.
It is an analytical document in which all the pros and cons of doing business, additional operations and everything that lays the foundation of entrepreneurship are clearly calculated. A business plan helps throughout the entire period of the organization’s activities. It describes the main objectives of the company, problems that may arise and methods for solving them.
For example, you decide to start your own business, but your finances cannot afford it. Then a business plan comes to your aid.
Proper planning will open up the possibility of attracting investors or creditors, which will help solve your financial problems.
In the process of drawing it up, you will study the economic structure of the company in more detail, calculate all the financial aspects and decide for yourself whether you can manage the project.
That is, creating a business plan from scratch is first of all necessary within the organization: to analyze the company's performance. Secondly, he necessary for strategy consideration for the safety of investors' investments.
When drawing up a business plan, it is not necessary to have an analytical mind. If you decide to open your own business, then you will probably understand all the specifics of the process. What is important here is knowledge about the needs of the target audience (the demand of potential clients), financial costs, possible losses and ways to increase the profitability of the company.
If you are experiencing difficulties in the initial stages of planning, we recommend that you contact a highly qualified organization that provides business project writing services. Together with you there will develop a business form of the requested document.
Different projects differ in the scope of content and company activities.
Main points there must be goals and description of the company, in order to show interest to the company's financial assistants.
Main sections for drawing up a business plan:
We invite you to download several examples of business plans:
To carry out a clear organization of the enterprise, there will be a system of payments within the company:
Calculations for each company are made based on the specific activities of the company.
Each project is compiled individually, but we will try to analyze the standard type of project.
Short biography:
Higher economic education. Graduated from NSU, managing a small business.
Prospects for job creation. Expansion of the product market. Creating your own brand. High financial profitability of the store, due to the lack of grocery chains and high demand for these services.
This product will provide a list for all age categories. The location will be in the center of the community, which is convenient for consumers.
Available range: food, household chemicals, etc.
After analyzing the development, we came to the conclusion that within 2 years the payback period will increase by 120%.
Having examined the competitor's market, we discovered that the competitor will not be active in the next year and a half due to financial and social problems.
In the first month sales “at zero” are possible, due to lack of information among the population. Later, when the entire locality knows about our store, the planned indicators should exceed 100%.
Covering the spectrum of marketing, we investigated the implementation of a small volume of advertising campaigns, which will significantly save on the enterprise’s budget.
For each employee, a planned indicator will be introduced: sales volume, customer acquisition, freshness of goods and cleanliness of the store. Financial indicators and other cash movements will also be maintained.
When deciding to create an enterprise, it is necessary to study complete information about possible losses, risks, characteristics and much more related to the initial stage of starting a business.
In conclusion, we invite you to watch the video: how to create a business plan from scratch - step-by-step technology.