Writing a business plan is not an easy task, which is why most entrepreneurs never do it. It can be tricky to know what things you should include in your plan and how to organize them.
There are several different types of business plans out there, so it really does depend on the type of business that you have what kind you will need. This article will go into some detail about the three main types and what components each one has. Then, we will talk about how to organize your business plan and who should review it.
Business planning is more than just writing down everything about your company and marketing strategies for yourself as owner/president or CEO. It’s also a way to get external feedback on your ideas and concepts, and even help you raise money by proving that your concept works!
Beware though, investors don’t always look at business plans with positive eyes. Some may feel overwhelmed by all of the details and steps involved in running a business, so they might skip over part or all of it. Make sure yours isn’t one of those!
Keep it brief but detailed, use plain language, and be clear. Don’t write like someone who has done this before because chances are he or she was paid to do it, not speak clearly. You want to appeal to people who aren’t necessarily educated in business, and investing in your project.
Make it personal by writing a business plan for your own business
Writing a business plan is not just for entrepreneurs, it can also be helpful for anyone with an idea or plan for improving their life or career.
Business plans are a structured way to organize thoughts about how to run and grow your company. They help you identify weaknesses and strengths and make smart decisions along the way by clearly outlining potential scenarios.
Writing a business plan isn’t easy, but there are some simple steps that will get you started. When done properly, a business plan can take anywhere from one week to months to complete, depending on the size of the project.
But don’t worry, this doesn’t have to be complicated! There are many free resources available online that can help you write a business plan. Some even offer templates so you can start from scratch.
Here are some tips for what to include in your business plan and why it’s important to add detail to each section.
Write your business plan based on the following topic
The Introduction
The introduction is an important part of any business plan, as it gives more context to what will come next. Your introductions should clearly state who you are as a company, why your business deserves money, and what resources it will need to succeed.
Your audience can easily skip over the rest of your business plan if they do not know or understand who you are as an organization and what you offer, so make sure this information is clear!
After the introduction, you must describe the problem your business solves and the value your product offers to customers.
Organize your team
Now that you have determined how important it is to have a business plan, what next? You will now need to organize these plans into something people can access easily. This means having an easy-to-find document or folder where you can store all of your business planning documents.
You should also consider creating an online tool like Google Drive or Dropbox so anyone with internet access can view and edit any part of your business plan.
This way, no one needs special software or apps to be able to make changes to your plan.
Establish your company’s structure
After you have determined what business you will run, next is establishing who will own what part of the business. This includes deciding who will do what jobs within your business and who will be responsible for certain projects or tasks.
In the early stages of starting a business, it is helpful to have one person that handles all of the financial aspects of the business. As the business grows, this individual can then focus more on running the business, and other individuals can take over some responsibilities pertaining to finances.
As with any type of team organization, there needs to be good communication and understanding of each other’s roles and positions in the business. It is also important to keep relationships friendly as people move around and new people are added into the business.
It is common to see a business owner start having trouble delegating their job because they get nervous or feel like someone is trying to take advantage of them. Having trust and confidence in those under you helps create an environment where others can grow.
Identify your market
Now that you have determined what business you will be running, it is time to identify your target audience and market. Who are these people and how can you provide services or products to them?
You must know who your potential customers are before trying to reach out to them. If you do not, then chances are good that you will fail in business!
When writing up your business plan, make sure to include plenty of detail about your target market so that others can refer to it and understand more clearly who your product or service targets.
It is also important to know whether your marketing strategies will work for this specific audience or if you should modify them to appeal to more people.
Create your business plan
Now that you have determined what your business is, and who will work for you, it’s time to start writing down all of the important information pertaining to your business!
First, you will want to make sure that you include the name of your business in the document, as well as the type of business you are creating (this can be done at this stage).
Next, you should think about how your business will survive the beginning stages. Will you depend on investors or loans to get started? Or do you have enough money saved up to begin working?
You also need to know if there are already things like trademarks or copyrights protecting your idea. If so, great! You have someone else take care of developing and protecting your identity, which saves you from having to do it yourself.
Once everything is completed, you must edit and proofread your business plan many times before submitting it. This way you can eliminate any errors and improve the quality of the document.
Financial plan
The financial plan is one of the most important parts of writing a business plan, but unfortunately not many people include this in their documents. This can be tricky because you need to know what kind of businesses have a formal financial statement or business model that others use to understand how to write one.
Usually, these statements are an Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Chart, and Comments/Prospectus. All of these pieces must go into making up the final document so do your research and see which ones look the best!
The income statement goes over revenues and expenses, the balance sheet looks at assets and liabilities, the cash flow chart outlines how money comes in and goes out, and the comments/prospectuses discuss the future goals for the company.
All of these components make up the whole business finance paper so remember to take your time and organize them properly before moving onto the next part.
Registration with the government
Before you even begin writing your business plan, you will need to register your business with the government! This includes giving yourself a legal name for the business, registering as an individual or partnership, choosing an industry type, and determining if you are salable (ability to make money running this business)
Business plans should be more than just lists of numbers and bullets point after bullet point. They give a narrative structure to your business and can be organized in different ways.
The first part of most business plans is establishing who the company’s mission statement is and what their core values are. These two pieces must go hand-in-hand so they cannot be separated. Your mission statement defines the purpose of the business while your company’s value statements describe what makes you company unique compared to other companies in its field.
After that, the next section of many business plans is the management team. This includes anything from the CEO down to the person who handles daily operations. Make sure to include all key people that would potentially run the business in the future.
