How to create a best business plan: step by step tips
Not all business ideas are good. For example, my friend Eric once came up with the idea of making a cell phone that can also be used as a stun weapon. As you can imagine, it is not the best product to launch on the market.
Many people have business ideas, but the important thing is to find out if those ideas are good or not. Precisely for this reason, if you are trying to carry out a business based on one of your ideas, it will be useful to create a business plan so that you can develop your concept in detail and check if it can really work, from a logistical and also financial point of view.
What is a business plan or business plan?
A business plan is a living document that sets out the details of your business. It covers all kinds of information, including what your business will sell, what its structure will be, what the market will look like, what will be your plan to sell the product or service, what will be the necessary financing, what are your financial projections and what permits, rentals or other documentation you will need. Learn more business plan
In essence, a business plan helps you show (to other people and to yourself) whether or not your business idea is worth it. It is the best way to take the necessary time, observe your idea in a comprehensive way and solve problems that may arise in the future even before starting this journey.
This post gives you tips for writing a good business plan, as well as a summary of what to include and examples of other business plans. Let’s start with some basic and general tips before diving into the details
Tips for writing a business plan
Clearly define what makes your business different from the rest.
Before you start creating a business plan, think carefully about what makes your business unique. For example, if you plan to launch a sportswear business, you will have to differentiate yourself from the rest of the sportswear brands that exist in the market.
What aspect of your business makes you distinguish yourself from the competition? Do you plan to sell clothing for specific sports or activities, like yoga or tennis? Will you use ecological materials? Will you allocate a certain percentage of your earnings to charities? Will your brand promote a healthy body image?
Remember that you will not only sell your product or service, but you will offer a combination of product, value and brand experience. Think about these questions and develop the answers before delving into the details of your business plan research.
Make sure the plan is short.
Today’s business plans are shorter and more concise than before. While it may be tempting to include all the results of your market research, individually develop each product you plan to sell, and describe exactly what your website will look like, none of this will help you put together a business plan format.
While it is good that you know all these details so that you may be able to use them at some point, you should only include the fundamental elements in your business plan. Otherwise, you could lose your readers’ attention.
Make the format allow a quick look.
Your business plan shouldn’t just be easy to read, but readers should be able to take a quick look at it too. This is where the format plays a particularly important role. Use headings and bullets, highlight or use bold to highlight the key lines or metrics you want the reader to notice, and you can even attach tabs with different names to the text (either on paper or digital) for easy reference.
You can (in fact, must) modify it on the fly.
Remember that your business plan is a living and dynamic document. That means you can update it if things change. For example, you could update future plans if you plan to apply for a new funding call.
These are the key elements that a business plan template should include:
How to create a business plan for your company?
Executive Summary.
- Company description.
- Market analysis.
- Product or service.
- Organization and management.
- Marketing and sales plan.
- Financial plan.
- Next, you’ll find out what each of these elements includes in a business plan.
Executive Summary
The goal of an executive summary is to give readers an overview of the company and the market before diving into the details. Pro tip : It might be helpful to write your executive summary after you’ve put together the rest of your plan, so that you can extract key points more easily. The executive summary should be one page long and cover the following key points (in 1 or 2 paragraphs each):
Summary: Briefly explain what the company is about, where it is located, what it sells, and who its customers are.
Company Profile – Briefly explain the structure of the business, who the owners are and what prior experience or skill they will offer, and who might be the first employees.
Products or services: briefly explain what your business will sell.
The Market: Briefly explain the main findings of your market analysis.
Financial Considerations: Briefly explain how you plan to finance the business and what your financial projections are.
Example of a “summary” section of the executive summary (from Bplans ):
Jolly’s Java and Bakery (JJB) is a retail startup that specializes in selling coffee and pastries in Southwestern Washington. JJB hopes to capture the interest of a loyal and repeat customer base with its wide variety of bakery and cafeteria products. The company plans to occupy an important position in the city market, thanks to the experience in the industry of its partners and the uncompetitive environment of the area.
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