Writing Up A Great Business Plan

Who else wants to write a great business plan?

Good plans shape good decisions. That's why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true.
- Lester Robert Bittel

Have a plan. Follow the plan, and you'll be surprised how successful you can be. Most people don't have a plan. That's why it's is easy to beat most folks.
- Paul "Bear" Bryant

A business plan is a plan that enables a business to look ahead, allocate resources, focus on important points , and prepare for problems and opportunities.

While most people think of it first for starting a new business or applying for business loans, they are also very important for running a business.

Your business need plans to grow and develop according to plans and priorities.

So What Makes A Great Plan?

It has to help achieve the result it was intended. What a waste will a plan be if nobody follows it. Won’t you agree?

This all comes down to you and your level of commitment.

You have to follow the plan up to its conclusion.

But apart from the human elements really, a great biz plan should be simple, specific, realistic and complete.

It should help to organise and logically look at all the important aspects of a business.

Why Write A Business Plan?

Here are some reasons people write plans:

• Develop and establish a new business
• Define goals, and come up with programs to achieve such goals.
• Review business and course correction.
• Support a loan correction.
• Define agreement between partners
• Set a value on a business for sale or for legal purposes.
• Evaluate a new product line, promotions or expansion.

The “Standard” Business Plan

Lets look at what a standard plan should look like, shall we?

A standard biz plan should start with an executive summary. It should describe the company. Its background and history, its management team and its financial projections.

Please you should note that your plan depends on your specific situation. It may not exactly follow the standard. An internet biz plan might not need some details from the standard plan.

Make your plan match its business purpose.

But very important in a business plan is the cash flow analysis and specific implementation details.

Cash flow is very important because it is both vital to a company and hard to follow. Note that cash is very different from profit. Profits don’t guarantee cash in the bank.

On the other end implementation details are important because that’s what make things happen.

Your brilliant strategies and beautiful formatted planning document are just theory unless you assign responsibilities, with dates and budgets, and lots of following up and tracking of results.

Remember that business plans are really about getting results, and improving your company.

Here is a tip to note...

When a plan is used to back up a loan application or to explain a business to potential investors. It may require a special summary document as well as a complete plan.

A biz plan should normally project sales by months for the next 12 months and annual sales for the following 2 years.

But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t plan for a longer term than just three years, not by any means.

Outline Order And Sequence In A Standard Business Plan.

• Executive Summary
• Objectives
• Mission
• Keys to Success
• Company Summary
• Company Ownership
• Start-Up Plan(for new companies) or company history(for ongoing companies)
• Company Locations and Facilities
• Products(or Services or both)
• Product and/or Service Description
• Competitive Comparison
• Sales Literature
• Sourcing
• Technology
• Future Products
• Market Analysis Summary
• Market Segmentation
• Target Market Segment Strategy
• Market Needs
• Market Trends
• Market Growth
• Industry Analysis
• Industry Participants
• Distribution Patterns
• Factors of Competition
• Main Competitors
• Strategy and Implementation Summary
• Strategy Pyramids
• Value Proposition
• Competitive Edge
• Marketing Strategy
• Positioning Statement
• Pricing Strategy
• Promotion Strategy
• Marketing Programs
• Sales Strategy
• Sales Forecast
• Sales Programs
• Strategic Alliances
• Milestones
• Management Summary
• Organizational Structure
• Management Team
• Management Team Gaps
• Personnel Plan
• Financial Plan
• Impportant Assumptions
• Key Financial indicators
• Break-even Analysis
• Projected Profit and Loss
• Projected Cash Flow
• Projected Balance Sheet
• Business Ratios
• Longterm Plan.

Return from Business Plan to Starting A Business

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