How to write a business plan: step by step instructions. Small business business plan

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

A business plan is the initial stage of any business. This is the business card of your future project. How to write a business plan? The step-by-step instructions in this article will help in this matter.

Business plan goals

Writing a business plan can be different depending on why you need it. One of the most common purposes is to present it for investment. Such a business plan for a project is the most complex. Often third parties are involved in writing it - experts in their field who will create a suitable business plan for investor approval.

It happens that a manager instructs to write a business plan for a company, for example, to open a branch. In this case, too, they often turn to third-party specialists in the preparation of such plans. The contractor may ultimately need only some adjustment to the needs of the company.

Well, when a business plan is necessary for starting your own business, it is best to write it from cover to cover yourself. Although this is a difficult process, it is exciting and very interesting. After all, your own business is the real brainchild of an entrepreneur. And so toits creation is treated very reverently and thoroughly. The article provides instructions on how to write a business plan for your business.

Initial idea

Basically, those who decide to open their own business have already chosen and know their field of activity well. But there are entrepreneurs who want to have their own business, but still do not clearly know what exactly they will do. They are looking for a business idea. It is difficult to overestimate its importance. The idea should suit the interests and desires of the entrepreneur himself.

This can be a favorite thing that a person is ready to do even for free, or a business that already brings a guaranteed income. In any case, having chosen a niche for yourself, it is important not to be distracted by anything else and not to dream of unattainable peaks, but to turn your real idea into reality step by step. A business plan will really help in this matter.

How to write a business plan? Step by step instructions

So, having imagined what the future business will be, you can proceed to writing a business plan. There are special planning standards. Therefore, if it is to be submitted for investment, an appropriate standard should be chosen and adhered to when writing.

To figure out how to write a business plan, step-by-step instructions and generally accepted standards will serve you well, as they are approved by people who are professionally versed in these matters. The entrepreneur will be able to sort out his,maybe not yet fully formed thoughts and bring your business to life.

A standard business plan consists of the following chapters:

• Summary.
• General provisions.
• Market analysis.
• Marketing and strategic plan.
• Expenses.
• Production plan.
• Investments.
• Financial plan.

CV

This should briefly display the essence of the matter, a description of the business idea, information about its objective need in the market, the timing of implementation, the payback of the project and competitiveness.

Of course, this part is more intended for potential investors. It is they who, after reading the resume, make a conclusion about whether it is worth getting acquainted with this plan further or not. Therefore, if it is to be presented to an investor, this part must be carefully described, possibly revisiting it again and again, making adjustments after the next chapters are completed.

However, for own needs, this part is also important, as it helps the entrepreneur to better see the whole process of organizing a business as a whole.

General provisions

If the summary is about one - two pages maximum, then this chapter can be written in more detail. That is, in fact, the chapter "General Provisions" contains the same information as the summary, but in a more expanded form invites the reader to familiarize themselves withproject as a whole.

This describes the characteristics and implementation of the project, its life cycle, the possibility of additional development and the forecast of product changes with a possible change in market trends.

The service business plan in this chapter should contain information about what the specific service is about and how it will attract customers. For example, a business plan for a beauty salon describes all the proposed services, their characteristics and distinctive features. An attractive feature here will be the legend of how celebrities undergo procedures in the salon or how individual specialists provide them with these services, how specialists were trained directly with the brand of product they work with.

Market Analysis

In parallel with writing a business plan or before it is necessary to conduct a market analysis. This is an extremely important part, because the success of the future project directly depends on it.

Having chosen a market niche and target audience, a thorough analysis is carried out to determine how relevant the business plan of the project, the original proposal and its idea. If the analysis reveals an oversupply, then it is worth returning to the idea and trying to correct it in such a way that it corresponds to the state of affairs in the market. If there is an increased demand, then everything is in order, and you can safely proceed to further actions.

Market analysis is done in many ways. But if there are problems with its implementation, there are companies where you can giveoutsourcing market analysis.

Nevertheless, an entrepreneur is advised to look into this issue himself, since any third-party organizations will only give an objective average result, not fully taking into account the business plans of a small business and all the nuances of the business idea of the author of the project.

Marketing and strategic planning

This plan includes product launch, product development, pricing, sales and distribution system, and advertising. To launch a product, it is advisable to build a Gantt chart, which will display the dates for the implementation of various events. Based on the analysis of the market and competitiveness, the strategy is calculated, how the market will be conquered and what tactical actions will be required for implementation.

Pricing is based on economic calculations and the company's expected earnings. Sales and marketing can be presented in the form of a diagram, where the whole process will be visible in stages. For example, from the receipt of goods at the warehouse and to the receipt of money for the goods and its sale.

Costs and production schedule

This chapter includes the purchase of necessary equipment, repairs, rent of premises and other costs. The production schedule must reflect how many people are required to implement the project, their work schedule, salary deductions and related payments.

Small business plans will become much more attractive to the investor if there is a ready-made team to work on the project, as this proves the ability of the entrepreneur to realize his plans. That's whyit would be appropriate to emphasize this fact in the business plan.

Production plan

If the company will be a manufacturing company, then here it is necessary to describe the production process, as well as partners and suppliers who will be involved in the case. For example, the farm business plan in this chapter should include equipment for milking, bottling, packaging of milk and a mechanism for marketing it through specific suppliers.

Financial plan and investments

The most important part of the entire business plan is, of course, the financial plan. Moreover, if the project is intended to familiarize the investor, then after reading the summary, a serious investor is likely to look at the financial plan. After all, it is here that the real ability of an entrepreneur to implement business ideas will be visible. This is the essence of entrepreneurship.

The financial plan provides all the information about the possible costs and income of the project. Based on the marketing, strategic plan and costs, a table is compiled for several years, which displays the required investments and their repayment schedule, all costs and possible income.

The final part of the financial plan must necessarily be the calculation of the profitability of the future business.

The reader now knows how to write a business plan. The step-by-step instructions provided in the article are a quick guide demonstrating the importance of understanding goals and the need for business planning.