Business Plans

Creating a Business Plan

What Is a business plan?

A business plan is a written statement of your business and outlines what you want to achieve and how you plan to go about it

It is essential to have a realistic working business plan when you're starting up a business.

A business plan is a written document that describes a business, its objectives, its strategies, the market it is in and its financial forecasts

It has many functions, from securing external funding to measuring

success helping to keep to yourself on track for your goals and steer you along the right path towards success

What a business plan should include

A business plan should provide details of how you are going to develop your business, when you are going to do it, who's going to play a part and how you will manage the finances.

Clarity on these issues is particularly important if you're looking for finance or investment. The process of building your plan will also focus your mind on how your new business will need to operate to give it the best chance of success.

Your plan should include:

•  An executive summary - this is an overview of the business you want to start. Many lenders and investors make judgments about your business based on this section of the plan alone. These are the key elements to include:

•  A description of your company, including your products and services

•  Your mission statement

•  Your business’s management

•  The market and your customer

•  Marketing and sales

•  Your competition

•  Your business’s operations

•  Financial projections and plans

The business plan should also contain all of the following to give potential investors an insight of what the business is aiming for

•  A short description of the business opportunity - who you are, what you plan to sell or offer, why and to whom

•  Your marketing and sales strategy - why you think people will buy what you want to sell and how you plan to sell to them. How and why are you better than your competition

•  Your management team and personnel - your credentials and the people you plan to recruit to work with you. Your skills and expertise

•  Your operations - your premises, production facilities, your management information systems, equipment and assets etc

•  Financial forecasts – Including Financial planning, financial forecasts, profit and loss, sales forecast and cash flow etc