Complete Approach To Draft Outline Of A Business Plan

Published: 2021-04-01
Views: 510
Author: Contributor
Published in: Sales & Marketing

A business plan contains an outline of the company, as well as information on how it will run, a chapter on market research and marketing strategies, a summary of the main competitors, and various financial predictions.

Similar to how a builder uses a blueprint to ensure that a building is structurally sound, you will assess if your company will be strong from the start by designing and writing a business plan. 

Preparing a Business plan

Many companies write a business plan solely to obtain funding. They put their business proposal away in a file cabinet after receiving the loan and then forget about it.

A business plan, in fact, is a document that all businesses can keep up to date as they expand.

Apart from persuading creditors, these documents may be used for a variety of purposes.

Six Factors to Consider When Preparing a Business Plan

• Target a particular audience – Who do you want to read your business plan? You will have a better idea of how to organize your plan once you've defined your audience.
• Business type – Business plans vary from one company to the next. Consider whether you are selling a service, a commodity, or both to your customers.
• Consumers – Determine how you can communicate with your clients. Will your company have a physical location, or will you sell via mail order, distributors, or wholesalers? A marketing plan should outline how you want to retain new buyers as well as why they should buy from you rather than your rivals.
• Tools – Collect as much knowledge as possible about your organization and industry. All would need to be included, from personal resumes to financial statements.
• Your schedule – Make a five-year plan with regular changes and revisions.
• Professional consultation – While you should not delegate all of the tasks for drafting your business plan to others, it is advisable to obtain expert advice (especially when it comes to preparing the financial section of the document).

What are the parts of the Business plan?

Parts of a standard business plan should have an executive summary, company overview, company description, location of the business, and action plan.

Executive Summary

Even though this section is technically the first in your business plan, you can write it last because it outlines the entire contents of your business plan, as its name suggests.

Since many people won't read beyond the executive summary, you'll want to make sure it's detailed and well-written.

Before you begin writing the executive summary, make sure to read through the entire business plan.

Make a list of the details you believe is most valuable or will stand out to a reader, and make sure to include it all in your introduction.

Company Overview

This segment outlines the company's guiding principle. It helps them to see what your vision for the organization is and how you plan to get there.

In general, the summary accomplishes this by presenting the company's mission statement, priorities, and objectives.

The other elements of the mission statement, company overview, priorities, and objectives, are often overlooked by first-time business plan authors.

Bear in mind that the company's goals are what they intend to achieve, while the targets are how they expect to get there.

Business Environment

Since it includes details about your business, sector, and competitors, this segment will almost certainly necessitate some outside analysis.

You must examine the sector you are about to join objectively, paying careful attention to its nature, patterns, and obstacles to new businesses.

Learn about the industry's main rivals and determine how you can set yourself apart from them. Also, learn about your potential customers' personalities and what motivates them.

The more information you have about them, the more likely you are to convert them into customers.

Company Description

You must go into details about your business at this point in your business plan.

You can't only describe your business in terms of what you sell; you also need to consider who you represent, what services you'll use, the types of workers you'll hire, the delivery system you'll use, and other factors.

All of these elements come together to shape your company.

You should also provide the UPS number for your business (Unique Positioning Statement).

This is a one-sentence description that summarizes what distinguishes you from your competitors.

Action Plan

This is the last section of your business plan, and it details the steps you need to take right now to make your plan work.

These should also represent the company's priorities and objectives, as mentioned in the summary.

A financial section may be required in addition to these primary components of a business plan, particularly if you intend to use it to obtain outside funding for your company.

Since you'll have to make some assumptions about your company's revenue potential, this segment may require more thought and preparation than the others.

The most important thing is to base your predictions on reasonable assumptions rather than wishful thinking.

Reasons for Business Plan Formation

• Writing a well-thought-out and organized business plan greatly increases the chances of success as an entrepreneur. A well-thought-out business strategy will allow you to:
• Determine whether or not your business has a reasonable chance of making a profit.
• Estimate your startup costs and how much money you'll need to spend or borrow to convince investors and lenders to fund your business.
• Measure revenue (by identifying your market — who your clients will be — and the percentage of the market you would expect to reach) • Make money right away by designing an effective marketing strategy.
• Competition in the marketplace and foresee potential issues. This allows you to address them before they become a great problem.

Importance of Financial Forecasts

By predicting and managing your company finances, you will show prospective investors that your business idea is viable.

Even if you don't need to raise startup funds, it's a smart idea to prepare financial projections.

Making financial projections for your business plan such as an estimate of start-up costs, a break-even analysis, a profit-and-loss forecast, and a cash flow forecast, can help you decide if your business is worth launching, or if some of your key assumptions need to be rethought.

In other words, a good business plan will reassure you that you are doing the right thing—or not.