How To Write A Business Plan
How To Write A Business Plan
Md. Lutful Huda
1. Do you truly understand the purpose of a business plan? Does it really matter if you have one for your small business? And how can you create a Business Plan that is actually useful? The introduction and tips below will lay the groundwork for creating an effective Business Plan for your new business.
2. A business plan is one of several important plans you should have when you are starting a business, the others being a marketing plan and a financial plan. Your business plan should pull all three of these plans together, incorporating elements of your marketing plan and your financial plan into a comprehensive document. Think of your business plan as a map or blueprint that will guide your business from the startup phase through establishment and eventually business growth.
3. A good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing your business. You’ll use your business plan as a roadmap for how to structure, run, and grow your new business. It’s a way to think through the key elements of your business. Business plans can help you get funding or bring on new business partners. Your business plan is the tool you’ll use to convince people that working with you or investing in your company is a smart choice.
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| Md. Lutful Huda |
4. Most Business Plans fall into one of two common categories that is traditional or startup. Traditional Business Plans are more common, use a standard structure, and encourage you to go into detail in each section. They tend to require more work upfront and can be dozens of pages long. Startup Business Plans are less common but still use a standard structure. They focus on summarizing only the most important points of the key elements of your plan. They can take as little as one hour to make and are typically only one page.
5. You might prefer a traditional Business Plan format if you’re very detail oriented, want a comprehensive plan, or plan to request financing from traditional sources.
6. When you write your Business Plan, you don’t have to stick to the exact Business Plan outline. Instead, use the sections that make the most sense for your business and your needs. Traditional Business Plans use some combination of the sections appended below:
7. Briefly tell your reader what your company is and why it will be successful. Include your mission statement, your product or service, and basic information about your company’s leadership team, employees, and location. You should also include financial information and high-level growth plans if you plan to ask for financing.
8. Use your company description to provide detailed information about your company. Be specific, and list out the consumers, organization, or businesses your company plans to serve.
9. You'll need a good understanding of your company outlook and target market. Competitive research will show you what other businesses are doing and what their strengths are. In your market research, look for trends and themes. What do successful competitors do? Why does it work? Can you do it better? Now's the time to answer these questions.
10. Describe the legal structure of your business. State whether you have or intend to incorporate your business form a general or limited partnership or if you're a sole proprietor. Use an organizational chart to lay out who's in charge of what in your company. Show how each person's unique experience will contribute to the success of your venture.
11. Describe what service you offer. Explain how it benefits your customers and what the product life cycle looks like. Share your plans for intellectual property, like copyright or patent filings.
There's no single way to approach a marketing strategy. Your strategy should evolve and change to fit your unique needs. Your goal in this section is to describe how you'll attract and retain customers.
12. If you're asking for funding, this is where you'll outline your funding requirements. Your goal is to clearly explain how much funding you’ll need over the next five years and what you'll use it for.
13. Supplement your funding request with financial projections. Your goal is to convince the reader that your business is stable and will be a financial success. If your business is already established, include income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements for the last three to five years. Provide a prospective financial outlook for the next five years. Include foretasted income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and capital expenditure budgets. This is a great place to use graphs and charts to tell the financial story of your business.
List the most important ways you’ll talk to your customers. Most businesses use a mix of channels and optimize them over time.
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Written by Major (R) Md. Lutful Huda, presently Chairman of TIDAC and Dreamwork Limited, Chief Editor of 'Crime and Judgement' Magazine
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