How to Write a Professional Business Plan
The business plan is the backbone document of any startup business. It collects in one place all the pertinent details about a business no matter what its size. Entrepreneurs use business plans to organize all the many aspects of starting up a business. In addition to helping entrepreneurs get their business organized, a business plan can also attract investors and lenders. For this reason, the plan needs to be well written, well organized and filled with information that investors need.
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Instructions
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Write an executive summary. Create a clear picture of your business. Record such things as when the business began, the business's mission statement, who the founders are and their roles in the business, the number of employees, the business address and locations, a description of the business and what it produces, a list of investors including banks and loans, financial highlights of the business, and a summary of the future plans of the business. Present these details in a concise, brief form, possibly even in bullets as the rest of the plan will go into greater detail.
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Demonstrate your knowledge about the industry with an in-depth, perceptive analysis of the market. Give the results of your market testing and explain how your product fills a niche within that market. Identify your target market, also known as the customers that you want to reach. Provide a picture of your competition and how you differ from this competition. Make a statement about your unique selling proposition, or what makes you stand out from your competitors. List any regulations that restrict activities in this industry, demonstrating your knowledge and your business's ability to work within the legal framework.
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Describe your business in detail in the third section of your business plan. Define the nature of your business, the important people within it and how you will provide a service or a product that will be successful in the current market. List the factors that will make your business successful.
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Profile your organization structure and management plans. Explain in this section how personnel in the company will be organized and what they will do. Provide bios of key management personnel and design or research specialists with outstanding talent. Describe your salary and benefits packages and how you will use them to recruit quality staff. Explain in this section how the company is owned and how you will distribute profits. Provide details about the board if your company has one, including how many members there are, how long they serve, how they are chosen and what their authority is in the business.
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Detail your marketing strategy. Explain how you will enact such key strategies as marketing penetration, growth, and channels of distribution and communication. Describe your sales strategy and how it meshes with your marketing strategy. Describe your sales force strategy and list your planned sales activities.
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Describe your products or services. Give a picture of these services and products from your customers' point of view. Explain their life cycle, any trademarks or patents that you hold, and what type of research and development you are planning.
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Detail the financial data of your business. Explain your funding sources and different financial plans you have, and provide historical financial information about your company. Provide an operations budget and balance sheet that demonstrates the financial strength of your business. Include such financial information as cash flow, sales forecast, profit and loss statements, business ratios and break-even analysis.
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Tips & Warnings
Your business plan should be an ongoing work in progress. Update it frequently and be flexible enough to make changes with the market or as opportunities arise.
Business plans average 10 to 15 pages, but they can be as long or as short as you need them to be. Some larger businesses have business plans that are more than 100 pages long.
The information in your plan needs to be conservative and accurate if you are going to use it as a tool to attract investors or secure loans.
References
Resources
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