Writing a Business Plan
Writing a business plan is a specific process. The majority of small business owners start the business plan process with intrepidation. Our guides show you the pragmatic approach to writing your plan to ease you through this process - but what about the style of writing ?
The layout of your business plan is as important as content when writing your business plans and on this page we show you some of the requirements for the style and content following on from the layout of your plan.
Reasons for writing a business plan
There are four main reasons why writing business plans is considered best practice for every business owner whether starting a business or developing an existing business and these are:
- To provide information about your intentions to you and others.
- To persuade a third party to provide resources or assistance.
- To help your strategic thinking so you know what you are trying to achieve and how you are going to achieve it.
- To set financial targets so you can forecast sales & control costs
Your plan layout
Each and every business plan written follows the same structure and you can get an idea of what should be contained in your plan by following the link above or signing up for the free template in the box on the right. Other than that, follow these following tips:
Keep it concise
About 12-20 pages should be good enough to outline your aims and financial projections
Be realistic
Don't be optimistic. People reading your plan must see that you have done your research and analysis and you understand your business
Show a path to profitability
The most important question for anyone investing will be "when do I see a return"
Show a strong management team
It is the people in your team who are going to make a success of your company.
Other Planning Tips
Your Competition - Understand your competitors and learn from them. See what they do best and understand why they do it well.
On the key items you believe are vital to your success, rate each of your competitors to see who is the best and where you fit into the picture.
Comprehensive step by step advice on your plan layout is contained in our guides.
Marketing Plans - Who are your main target customers, what are their needs, and how are you going to tell them about your products?. That's marketing.
Work out these two questions and you are well on your way to making sales. There are many ways to communicate that are cheap to do from trialing your product free to emailing your prospects.
Quickly Create Your Business Plan
Download a fully completed business plan for your industry online right now.
Includes narrative, financials and support
