LOGIN TO THE WEBSITE
add an advertisement
A business plan is a document of some kind that is drawn up when applying for all kinds of funding. It should contain factual data. The structure of a business plan mainly depends on the size of the company and the purpose for which it is being drawn up.
Before preparing a business plan, it would be useful to determine its components. There are no specific guidelines on what it should consist of, but basic information should be included in any typical business plan.
An example of the layout of the individual parts may look like this:
- Summary - description of the project
- Characteristics of the company
- Description of the service or product
- Employees
- Market and competition
- Marketing and sales
- Action plan
- Financial analysis
- Appendices
The first part is the description of the project, which can also be written at the end when the entire business plan is ready. It is worth including important information here, such as the goal, the amount of financial resources available, a description of products/services, a description of the management team, a list of financial data, etc.
The second part is the company profile, which is simply a short description of the company. Here, we provide important information regarding the company name, address details, company history, descriptions of the owners, and a list of resources owned.
However, one of the most important points is the one dedicated to the description of the product or service. This is about the main subject of the company's activity. We present the features of the product that distinguish it from the competition. It is worth describing the production process, presenting the advantages and disadvantages of a given product or service, adding modernization projects, information about the product's compliance with all standards or information about the profitability of the offered product/service.
The next element of the business plan is the staff, i.e. a description of the management and employees. Here, we provide information on qualifications, organizational structure, division of responsibilities among employees, employment, training, and wage policy.
Market and competition are important topics because they describe the company's external environment and the customers who use the service or product. It is worth including some valuable information here. You should define the company's position on the market, analyze the market of the industry in which the company operates, create a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), and mention the characteristics of the customers.
The business plan should also include information on how you want to make money from your venture, i.e. marketing and sales. Here, you should also describe the product or service in terms of pricing and distribution, as you need to specify the channels and strategy you will use to distribute the product. You can also add information about promotions and advertising, i.e. the form of promotional campaigns to reach the customer, and it is also worth setting a budget.
The schedule of activities should include deadlines for the implementation of relevant actions in the company, planning of individual steps and forecasts for the next 5 years.
A business plan cannot exist without a financial analysis. We have to present a complete profit and loss statement, cash flow, debt and solvency analysis, and liquidity analysis.
At the end, we also add attachments, i.e. all the supplements in the form of tables, statements, and other documents.
A business plan is often prepared as an attachment to a loan application. This is because the borrower should demonstrate that the new company will be profitable. However, this document is drawn up not only in newly established companies but also in existing ones, in order to be better prepared, for example, when changing the business profile or entering a new market, as well as in the case of a takeover.
Experienced businessmen, on the other hand, agree that a business plan is of great importance for the success of a planned venture, as it allows you to organize your plans and define your goals. You have to think about whether there will be any obstacles to the success of the planned strategy. It is also necessary to determine which tasks must be completed first and which can be put on the back burner.
Unfortunately, not many aspiring entrepreneurs realize that a well-written business plan is the key to success. Most of them resort to it when applying for subsidies or loans. Then it turns out that due to lack of time, it is not possible to create a reliable and thus noteworthy document, which results in losing the chance for lucrative funding. You can also search for a business partner on our portal. It is also worth remembering about the investment exit strategy - one of them is to put the company up for sale on the portal for investors.
Photo: https://unsplash.com/photos/qWwpHwip31M
