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Your Guide to Making a Business Plan

                            

The task of making a business plan is simple and yet sophisticated. The business plan is the blueprint of your business and it must be able to provide the short and long term picture. The concept must present affirmation of where you stand currently together with the proof of where you plan to take the business. Lastly, it should function as a resource tool for your staff members and management as they implement it.

Regardless how daunting the task may look to you, the following golden rules will make the process a breeze.

Writing the Business Plan

Be concise and crystal clear

Your plan must consist of only fundamental information and facts. In-depth explanations will simply result in the audience to lose interest.

Be cohesive

There has to be a logical cohesiveness in your business plan. The important points and concepts you provide will certainly make more impression if they follow one another in a rational sequence. The plan must also be in cohesiveness with your business mission, vision and core values.

Be honest

Be honest about your case. Tell your story and present your facts as they are.

Back-up your writing with numbers

Words may be great weapons to prove your case, but nothing convinces a funder better than numbers and statistics.  Be very accurate and aim to measure and calibrate wherever you can.

Designing the business plan

The way you design your business plan can certainly help significantly in keeping your reader engaged.

Here’s our recommendations on how to lay-out your business plan:

- Describe who you are, and what you do and what sets sets apart form other competitors in the industry. 

- Provide a short statement of the goals and objectives.

- An unbiased assessment of the industry/marketplace you propose to get into.

- A summary of your key skills, your expertise, practical experience and your own funds to invest in the business.

- A brief outline of the specific advantages of the product or service  you will provide for your clients. 

- Briefly describe how are you going to set up the business. What is your longer-term vision. What are the financial goals?

- Describe precisely how much you are asking and how it will be put to use.

- Provide attachments/appendices to back up previous statements, including particularly the cash flow and other financial projections.


Important factors to consider when making a business plan:

Identify your business stakeholders

All the people who have an interest in your business venture:  funders, investors, employees, clients - represent different audiences for your business plan. Make a list of all of them, who they are, what they represent, what is their influence and define strategies on how to involve them when making a business plan. Their involvement and their active engagement in designing the plan will support the successful implementation of it at a later stage. 

Brainstorm the plan

Invite all the potential stakeholders and other people who have an interest in your business in a brainstorming session. Get them coffee and donuts, if need be…but above all get their ideas and suggestions about the key concepts of the plan. 

Set milestones

Defining your goals and objectives isn’t enough. You need to establish and  hold
yourself accountable to a schedule that includes specific milestones and timelines along the way. E.g October, 20XX - Finalize Business Plan, November, 20xx - Submit plan to XXX  Lease the location and do job-posting etc.

Related Articles - Making a Business Plan

Plan a Business

                       




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