Writing a business plan is a challenge for many budding entrepreneurs, feeling it too formal and too difficult to do, especially those entrepreneurs without any formal business training. However, anyone can write a business plan, you just have to treat it like any other task, the best tip on how to write a business plan is to start small – start with the small stuff and move on to the bigger ones after. Below we have a set of tips to help you write your business plan.
First off, what is a business plan?
A business plan is like a road map. It tells a business about the direction to take and how to go about doing that. There are two kinds of business plans. One is the one-page plan which is quite lean and it is often used to start the ball rolling and start building on any ideas the owner may have. The other type is the long plan which is more formal and it is often used for those who are in the search for more funds for the business. These plans’ content is just about the same. It includes information on the target market of the business, the benefits and reasons why the product or service being offered is needed by people, how to get in touch with the business, the competition, and the goal revenue.
Tips on how to write a business plan
There are tips that business owners can use when they are about to start writing their own business plan. Here are some of them.
- Know who the business’ audience is. An important thing about business plans is that it should be able to communicate well with the people that they are speaking with. There may be several types of people that businesses talk to and so there can be a number of versions of the business plan. There can be a plan for venture capitalists, for investors, for other companies that one may want to have a partnership.
- Identify the industry and business model. A business owner should also give focus on the industry that the business belongs to and include this when writing a business plan. It should also state the business model used.
- Provide an explanation of what problems are solved by the services or products offered. A detailed description should be in the business plan regarding what problems are solved by the services or products being offered by the business. Think about speaking with a person who has no idea about the business and the products or services, and explaining the solution to them.
- Know the competition. Someone writing a business plan should also be able to name the other businesses that have been identified as the business’ competition. A quick explanation on what makes the business different and even better than the competition should also be included but not in a way that the competition is mocked or ridiculed.
- Take into account the availability of time and resources and be realistic about them. While many business owners would want to have a quick journey towards the top of the ranks, they can end up rushing through everything thinking that they can make it that fast. However, it is always important to be realistic when it comes to the availability of the resources and the time. Assuming that things will take around 15% longer than what is expected should be a good thing to do.
- Practice being conservative in terms of projections and financial estimates. Based on an owner’s projections, he or she can feel that they would be able to gather around half of the market in their first year of business. It is important though that when writing a business plan, this claim is backed by reasons why an owner may think so. There should also be a hint at the potential numbers for the first year. However, it would be a lot safer though if the projections and estimates would be more conservative as that can be a lot easier to reach.
- Include a plan for marketing and sales. Another tip on how to write a business plan would be to include plans on how to do marketing and sales. It should talk about how an owner plans to get the word out about the business. There are plenty of ways to do that and it can include social media, flyers, door-to-door sales, and paid ads among many others.
- Include a risk assessment. Things can go wrong even if an owner does his or her best to make sure that they do not. A good business plan should also include a risk assessment that would help keep the business afloat in case things do not go as planned.
- Include progress reports. It is also a good thing to include progress reports in the business plan. It should show how things are going so far and how often the progress reports will be written.
- Include the budget and the need for investors. It is also a good thing to include the budget for tasks and operations in the business plan. It should help any potential investors learn about how the money and resources invested will be used. If there is a need for more investors, the business plan should state how much resources are needed and how it will be used. It should also talk about when any repayments will be done and when is the projected date that everything will be paid back.
How can a SWOT analysis help? Many business owners have a hard time starting their business plans. If that it the case, a SWOT analysis would be really helpful. SWOT actually means Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It helps owners get focused on the aspects of the venture from the inside out and vice versa. Strengths are the aspects that are great about the business. Weaknesses are the ones that could be improved on. Opportunities are factors in the environment or in the market that would be beneficial for the business to succeed. And threats are the factors in the environment or in the market that can be detrimental to for the business to succeed.
Now all that’s left to do is great writing!
published under Business Address Guides
