How to write a business plan yourself and is it necessary at all? This is the question every aspiring entrepreneur asks.
Success in any business is, of course, the result of successful planning. It has been statistically proven that startups with a business plan have twice the chance of success than those without one.
Without a plan you won't be able to:
clearly define the goals of your project;
calculate the budget;
determine the implementation deadlines;
highlight the strengths and weaknesses of your business;
analyze risks and payback period.
This is why it is extremely important to know the path of development of your business from the very beginning of your entrepreneurial activity.
And in this article we will tell you step by step how to write a business plan yourself in order to objectively assess the chances of success of your business.
Content
What is a business plan?
A business plan is a document that:
all the characteristics of the future enterprise are described;
hypothetical problems were analyzed;
Methods for solving these problems are identified and described.
Business plan what is it
Therefore, the plan must answer the basic question: “Is it worth starting this project and investing money in it?”
Business plan goals
Business plan goals
When making a plan, entrepreneurs look for ways to reduce costs and increase profits for the stable development of the company.
And with the help of SWOT analysis, businessmen identify weaknesses and strengths, as well as find opportunities for development and notice threats that need to be minimized in the future.
How to write a business plan?
You can create a business plan yourself, or you can order it from a consulting firm. Of course, we recommend developing it yourself so that you can:
delve deeper into the topic of your business;
thoroughly study the market and competitors;
gain additional experience and information.
Here are some tips for creating a business plan:
Before starting work, you need to analyze the situation on the market as a whole . In particular, collect as much information as possible about competitors and their products.
Know your product well, especially its advantages and disadvantages compared to the competition.
Think through your marketing strategy - define your target audience (the people who will buy your products), your distribution sources (where and how you will sell your product), and how you plan to attract and retain customers.
Think about the production process. What kind of premises do you need, what equipment, how many workers? If you do not create the goods yourself, you can skip this point. But instead, think about and describe the work with suppliers - who they are, what markup they can make, delivery and storage conditions.
Analyze the experience of similar companies . Pay special attention to those companies that have not been able to achieve success. It is better to learn from the mistakes of others than to make your own, don't you agree?
Calculate all the risks and suggest ways to eliminate them. This will reduce the likelihood of your own business failing.
Set clear goals and deadlines, and think through all possible ways to achieve them.
In fact, this is preparation for drawing up a plan. Its creation will take more than one day, because you need to collect and analyze a huge amount of information. Approach this very responsibly, since the success of your business, in which you invest money, depends on planning.
Business plan structure
We invite you to familiarize yourself with the structure of a commercial plan according to UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) standards, a division of the UN aimed at combating poverty by increasing productivity.
Front page
name of the project or organization;
information about the project manager;
date of compilation;
the amount of investments and loans, etc.;
information about the plan developer.
Resume
the main idea of the product and the namibia phone number resource company in detail;
competitive advantages;
organization of production;
required investment volume;
guarantees of profit and return on investment;
planned sales revenue for a given period;
payback period;
promotion strategy;
amount of invested own funds;
whether the TM is registered and so on.
Looking at the structure of this section, you probably guessed that the executive summary is written last. However, this page is placed at the beginning of your business plan.
Industry and company description
mission and purpose of the company;
founder and director of the company;
company structure;
history of the product's origin;
the company's place in the market (planned or existing);
main competitors (direct and indirect) and their products;
weaknesses and strengths of competitors, their promotion strategy;
market development rate;
SWOT analysis of the enterprise (strengths and weaknesses, development opportunities, as well as threats and risks).