A business plan that sets you apart from your competition
Oftentimes, entrepreneurs fail to realise the significance of having a business plan. It has immense potential to attract investors for your business. This document is a roadmap showing what you have planned for your venture.
It explains the thought process you want to follow to convert a simple idea into a profitable business. You can make use of it to get loans while on benefits and running a venture.
The lender is interested in understanding your business projections included in this document. It depicts every step that makes up this venture and the financial management process. Referring to it, the loan provider can find how you can manage money for loan repayment and their ultimate interest.
Your business will always get a warm welcome from lenders if your business plan is a well-structured one. It is because one can easily form an idea about the potential of your business by peeking into this document.
It should clearly explain your strategies to accomplish the goals you have set for the business. If you are confused about how to prepare a business plan, you can take the help of this blog.
Points to remember while writing down a business plan
You must follow a format to write down the business plan. There will be steps, one following the other. Take note of the guide given below to prepare yours.
Executive summary
This is that particular section where you can mention the vision and mission of your company. It should include a brief explanation of your products and services. However, it should elaborately discuss your financial goals and growth strategies.
One of the best tips for you to remember while writing the executive summary is that you can complete it last. With this approach, you will not miss out on any portion that is very significant to mention.
Description of your company
Start by mentioning the registered name of your business. In addition, you must include the location of your company and the key persons responsible for running this business.
This section must highlight the key skills and expertise of people who are part of your team. Here, it is mandatory for you to mention the type of business you have, whether you are a sole proprietor, LLP, etc.
Here, you must share the percentage of ownership each owner has and their involvement. It should also shed light on the company history and the nature of the business you are handling. It will motivate the investor to read ahead and understand your aspirations as a business owner.
Market research
A business plan is incomplete without market analysis. It helps lenders like 1one Finance to understand how your business is different from your competitors. This portion will cover details where you will identify your competitors and their behaviour.
It portrays an explanation of the current situation of the market and the current trends going on there. Be smart to mention your plans on how to perform better than your competitors.
Describe your business
This section is about organisation and management. It should recognize the person who is responsible for running the business and other members of the team. The different roles that people are handling the venture must be present here.
It will give a personal touch to the business plan. Investors will get to see the team members who are taking care of operations. It will make your venture more reliable.
Another aspect you can include in this section is your schemes when it comes to sourcing and distributing products. Explain your organised approach to completing an order by ensuring successful and smooth delivery.
Introduce your service or products
The nature of your business should be a separate section. You can have a service-based or product-based business. Describe everything related to your specialisation in business.
It should define the ways your product or service can benefit the user. The pricing structure you pursue for your business must get special mention here. You must pay attention to explaining to your customer.
It will show how well aware you are about whom you are serving. It will be incomplete without the strategy you follow for sales and distribution.
Read more:
How Digital Printing Benefits Your Business?
Strategy for marketing
Outline the way you have done branding for your business. This section must open up about your marketing and sales plan. It will show how you will approach your customers, i.e. what you will do to promote your business.
You must add your planning for covering the different social media platforms. In short, you will have to explain about online and offline marketing strategies.
Financial analysis
Here, you must show the analysis of different elements like net profit margin, current ratio, accounts receivables, etc. The business balance sheet must be included in this section. You must provide financial statements that give a detailed picture of the profit and loss.
You can make it more interesting by adding charts and graphs. Moreover, it will help in projecting the metrics in a comparatively easier way. It will describe the financial health of your business.
Financial outlook
This vital part of the business plan explains the potential of your business to generate adequate revenue to cover the repayment requirements. An explanation about the monthly and quarterly sales, outgoings, and profit for at least three years must be there in this portion.
Income statements can also be a critical element of this section. Financial projection is necessary to make the lender or investor hopeful about the financial condition of your business.
More details are in the appendix
Documents and details are necessary but should not come in the above sections can find space in this particular section. For example, credit history, receipts, bank statements, permits, etc. can be attached here.
The bottom line
If you do not have the time to create a business plan from scratch, you can take the help of online templates. Do not forget to personalise them according to your requirements.
Do not stretch your business plan too much, as 10 to 30 pages are enough to cover all the necessary information. Even though you use a template, create one on your own once you get enough time.
Description
This blog lets you understand the format you can follow to prepare the business plan. Go through it to find the different steps that are necessary for its creation.