Tag: small business ideas

You know your business plan inside out because you came up with it, but how do you think your team and investors will manage to understand each and every single thing that your plan consists of and revolves around? That’s when a business plan comes into play. But are you aware of what goes into making an effective business plan?

There are several kinds of business plans that are made to serve different kinds of purposes, some are made informally to familiarise the internal team, whereas some are extensive and coherent plans that are designed specially to be presented in front of your investors. In this article, we will introduce you to a basic outline of a business plan that you could refer to anytime. Let’s begin.

Executive Summary

The executive summary is just like a window that helps you take a sneak peek of what’s inside. A good executive summary will help you design the highlights of your business plan such as what is your product, what problem does it solve, who is your target audience, your financial projections, founding team, etc. An executive summary serves an investor the same purpose as a sample sized product serves you to help you decide if you want to buy the regular product. So remember to better be good at it for it’s the summary that decides if the plan goes into the bin or takes off the ground.

Shed Light On Scope And Opportunity

In a section called opportunity, you need to focus on why you are bringing your product or service into existence. What was the problem that sparked your interest and led you to birth this idea? Tell them what your product/service is all about, how different and better it is going to be from the competitors, and what is the solid solution that you are planning to offer. While writing this section, rather than bragging about the amazing features of your product, focus on the customer problems that are going to be solved by this product/service. 

Market Analysis

All your claims would further need to be backed up by some actual facts and figures. These statistics should be about the target audience that you have designed your product/service for. This section should have all the details regarding who you are targeting as your customer base, where do they belong, what are their interests, why do they need this product, and what difference is your product going to make in the market. All in all, this part is where you will give a detailed account of the target audience and the demographics.

Financial Projections

This is a very important section that covers the financial aspect of your plan. It should tell about the sales forecast, profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, and all your assumptions and objectives. Also, don’t forget to highlight the financial needs to build up the business as in how much money is required to launch the business and where to plan on sourcing this money from.

Execution

An idea on its own has no value until it’s met with proper execution. This is what every entrepreneur needs to be wary of. Work on your manufacturing plan, sales plan, and that marketing plan that is actually going to help kick start the business and allow it to go on smoothly.

These are some very common points that could be found in almost all of the business plans. But it’s for you to decide which point you want to keep and which one you want to exclude depending on the requirement of your business and the audience. Leaving you with all this information, we wish you all the best with the business plan in making.

 Why do you make a business plan? To pitch the idea of your dreams and turn it into reality. But what if this business plan does the exact opposite? You will be crushed to see your years and years of hard work and excitement going down the drain just because of few loopholes that were not paid attention to. The whole world talks about what to do when you make a business plan, but we will talk about what not to do while making the plan.

Let’s together ponder upon a few mistakes that are repeatedly made by the entrepreneur while writing their startup business plan and be sure of learning our lessons.

Don’t Conduct A Half-hearted Research

The Colosseum in Rome has been standing tall since forever. It has been made possible only and only by the solid foundation that was laid for it. Similarly, a good, productive, and detailed research is something that will provide the strongest of the bases to your business and help it stay in the market longer than whatever you are hoping for. Bad or wrong research which is not reviewed or double-checked can make things go haywire. Be wary of it, and always double-check your sources.

Don’t Present Unrealistic Financial Goals

We all know nobody is a fool these days. When we talk about financial goals, investors observe keenly. Nobody likes to show a dreamy picture which is far from reality. Avoid being over the top and tell them about the real financial trajectory. Tell them how and what you have planned for a particular business in order to make it successful. The more real you are, the higher are the chances for you to get the funding.

Don’t Be Unaware Of Your Target Consumer

Can you sell maternity clothes to office going men? No, right? It is of extreme importance to who does your product/service target. Make it very clear in your business plan the kind of audience you intend to target and the demographics you are going for. Always remember, only after defining your target audience can you move further with conducting the secondary and tertiary market research.

Don’t Publicize Unnecessarily

Don’t try to amaze them with what they want to hear, rather show them the power of your vision. We know you believe in your business idea but how do you plan on making others develop the same kind of faith? By using the abused adjectives of all times like greatest, mind-blowing, promising, hottest, worth your while, or by presenting your extensive research and the growth trajectory to back your excitement up? Only and only the latter will be able to help you solidify your claims.

Don’t Underestimate The Competition

They say keep your friends close and enemies even closer and we don’t see anything wrong in this. Never forget to talk about the competition in your business plan or business pitch. Your investors will not appreciate your confidence where you completely scraped the competition section out of the business plan. Even if you don’t think you have any competition just because you have a brand new idea that has not been touched yet. Think about how, if you become successful, people would want to copy you and encash the opportunity. Think about how you are going to deal with the competition then. Think about what is unthought-of and always be prepared.

Writing a business is a tough job and needs a lot of factors to be considered before finally it is shown to the investors or prospective partners to gain their trust and sentiment. Your plan should be designed in a way that paints a coherent and realistic picture with a hint of your enthusiasm and determination to make it work.