Business Plans Help

Business Plans Help

Welcome to Business Plans Help

Business Plans Help, helps with writting of your business plan.

Writing a business plan sounds like something daunting, but in fact it mostly involves putting down on paper all the things you should know about your business and its customers before you start. No matter what size of business, you can benefit by setting all of this down in black and white.

Why create a business plan? Not only is it a vital tool for you to understand how your business is going to develop, it’s also essential if you need to get others to invest in your business. A bank may want to see your business plan if you ask for a loan, and you’ll also need to produce one if you are expecting people to invest in your company.

But thankfully, a simple business plan isn’t hard to create. You should include the following:

A summary
The simple bit – a one page overview of your business, what you’re doing, and all the details on what finances you have, need, and will make going forward.

What the business opportunity is
Identify what the opportunity is that your business is designed to meet. For example, if you’re a mobile hairdresser, talk about how there are few businesses like yours in your area, but that there’s an increasing population of people who required home-based services.

Your marketing and sales strategy
This part should cover off what you’re selling, and how you’re going to reach your customers. Also include details on any competitors, and how you are likely to differentiate yourself from them.

Who you are, and your team
In this section, you need to establish the experience and credibility of your and your team (if you have one). Write about the experience you have, and, if you do have staff, talk about how responsibilities are divided between the team. If you plan to recruit, outline what roles you’re looking to fill.

Details of operations
Give details of your premises, IT systems, and equipment, plus anything you need to purchase in the medium term.

Financial details
As part of developing your business, you need to have a clear idea of how much you’re excepting to make over the coming months and years, plus your outgoings. The aim is to show that your business will have enough money coming in to survive, or, if there’s a shortfall, identify how much you need to borrow and when.

Using the Business Plan

A business plan is a tool with three basic purposes: communication, management, and planning. As a communication tool, it is used to attract investment capital, secure loans, convince workers to hire on, and assist in attracting strategic business partners. The development of a comprehensive business plan shows whether or not a business has the potential to make a profit. It requires a realistic look at almost every phase of business and allows you to show that you have worked out all the problems and decided on potential alternatives before actually launching your business.

As a management tool, the business plan helps you track, monitor, and evaluate your progress. The business plan is a living document that you will modify as you gain knowledge and experience. By using your business plan to establish timelines and milestones, you can gage your progress and compare your projections to actual accomplishments.

As a planning tool, the business plan guides you through the various phases of your business. A thoughtful plan will help identify roadblocks and obstacles so that you can avoid them and establish alternatives. Many business owners share their business plans with their employees to foster a broader understanding of where the business is going.

FINALLY HAVE A PLAN TO SUCCEED

When planning a new business or developing an existing one, it is useful to have a gut feel for the characteristics of a successful business. Here are some criteria against which to measure your business or its plan:

  1. Sensibly financed (with prudent mix of equity and debt).
  2. Strong cash position (with access to follow-on or contingency funds).
  3. Offers above-average profitability (in terms of return on capital invested).
  4. Aims for rapid growth in revenues (with profits lagging but in prospect).
  5. Targets increasing, or otherwise attractive, market segments.
  6. Develops a strong franchise or brand.
  7. Devotes substantial resources to innovation (R&D, offerings or market).
  8. Competes on non-price issues (e.g. quality, service, functionality).
  9. Very close to customers and responsive to their needs.
  10. Seeks specialist/leadership image with superior offerings.
  11. Well managed with high-grade staff & good people-management.