A business plan is a roadmap for any business, be it a small freelance company in Nigeria or a large multinational. This document describes what your company is, what goals it pursues, and how it plans to achieve them. So, what makes it crucial?
A business plan prompts entrepreneurs to be pragmatic and realistic in their expectations and goal-setting. It is not enough to aim for profitability in the first year of operation. How exactly will you achieve this goal? A business plan forces you to consider the numbers, possible obstacles and challenges.
A business plan helps you understand what kind of guidance is necessary. This document must feature detailed descriptions of duties, salaries, and expectations for each of the employees you plan to hire. This gives your mentors more information they can comment on.
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A business plan is a guide for resource allocation. While working on it, you can see whether it is feasible to open an office and hire employees the way you planned. You can evaluate the operating costs to see if turning a profit is realistic.
If you want to persuade investors, come up with clear facts and figures. A business plan will quantify what you are doing. It is the most important document at the initial stage. A properly structured plan gives investors the confidence they need to make a positive decision.
Any project must be broken down into tasks with specific requirements and deadlines. A business plan highlights the key milestones and targets to shoot for. It describes your goals in the short, mid and long-term, and lets you introduce changes more easily.
The success of any business, be it a factory or forex tradingbroker focused on indices, depends on the ability of its leader to articulate their vision and organize the internal processes accordingly. This documented plan will help you forge ahead. All successful companies, including multinationals like Forextime, once started with a plan.
How to Create a Business Plan
Your business plan must be based on research of the market, your competition, and your target audience. This document contains several sections.
Although this section comes first, it is always written last. It provides a general overview of the company. Make it brief and optimistic. This part must capture the attention of your potential investors, so they want to learn more.
Describe your business model. Include your mission statement, location, the structure of the company and details of business ownership. What problems will your products or services solve and how? Explain your vision and specific goals. Briefly cover the history of your business, its fundamental principles, and other background information.
Research your market and present your findings clearly and persuasively. Show that there is a demand for your products or services. Analyse your rivals, their strengths and weaknesses. Present your strategy for competitiveness.
Describe your sector and the target market in general. What share of it do you have or hope to achieve? Present your own findings alongside research conducted by others. You can use different methods — interviews, customer service, etc.
Lay out your promotional strategies to explain how you are going to sell the product. To do this, you need to research the market and select buyer personas — the customers you will target. How are you going to persuade them to purchase your products or services? This section must cover advertising, sales and distribution, pricing and post-sales support.
Describe the organizational and managerial hierarchy of your business. Include the ownership, legal structure and recruitment requirements. Mention any special permits and the licenses it will operate with. This section requires an organizational chart.
This part is devoted to the physical requirements of your business, including office space, warehousing, retail space, hardware, software, inventory, supplies, and workforce.
In terms of attracting investors, this section is the centrepiece. Show the growth and profitability potential of your company. This requires statements of projected income, cash flow statements and balance sheets. If the business is only starting out, all of these figures are forecasts. Describe your financial model in detail.
Finally, include any details and visual information supporting the proceeding sections of the plan. For example, CVs of key employees, pictures of the business location and products, and company brochures belong in this section.
Every start-up needs a business plan with a clear structure. This document is your key argument in your discussions with potential investors. Therefore, make it perfect.
