We all know that developing a business plan is the primary and most important step in starting a business. In fact, without a business plan, there might not be any business in the first place. Yet, it requires a certain level of knowledge to establish a well-structured business plan. Actually, coming up with the idea for your business is easy. The hard part, however, lies in turning that idea into a realistic and viable business plan.
But there’s no reason to get overwhelmed or to give you a reason to back off from potential success. We’ve crafted this guide to help you write a successful business plan!
The answer is simple: it mostly depends on the concept you want to develop and the market you want to release it. However, don’t take the number of pages as a means of measurement. Why? Every plan is different, and every business owner will have various approaches. Plus, if your idea is more complicated, it will surely require a more detailed and comprehensive plan, as you will need to address multiple elements.
However, since we know we’re all looking for an actual number to have an idea, you can develop a business plan that is a maximum of 10 pages long. But remember! These are usually the ones created for internal business purposes. Because if you want to present it during the business proposal to an external contributor, you might want to make it around 30-35 pages.
- Executive Summary
The executive summary is a pivotal component in introducing ourselves and our business. We must create a succinct and compelling summary that precisely outlines what we do, our offerings, and what makes our business so attractive. Actually, you can think of it as the cover of a book – it’s designed to capture our readers’ attention. But similarly, this executive summary should be developed in a manner that draws in investors.
- Company Description
The next step in writing your business plan is creating the company’s description. Now we must get specific. Show that you’re actually serious and invested in implementing your idea. Provide more detailed information regarding your business – the official name of the company, and the physical location, and you might even add a short description for essential employees or even partners that contribute to its development.
- Describe Market Research
Now that we have talked about what our company does, we must describe who our market is, what problem they face, and how we plan to solve that problem. This is when we explain the gap in the market while also providing information regarding the competition with the help of market research. Even more so, make sure you’re being specific with the market research – the more in-depth information you provide, the better the investors will be able to understand the concept behind your idea. But try making the market research as straightforward as possible – you wouldn’t want your potential investor to be overwhelmed with too much information.
- Describe Your Products or Services
Next on how to write a business plan we have the description of your product or service. Since we’ve established what’s missing from the market, it’s finally time to show off our solution and how it can translate into a viable business. This is where we can really highlight the features and the benefits of our goods and explain what sets them apart from the competition. We can also share our pricing options. And here’s a tip to really grab your audience’s attention: use images or visuals! It can be a lot to take in just through words, so having some pictures or diagrams can help break things down and make them more understandable.
- Present Your Business Goals
After describing our products or services and how they fit into the market, this is where things might become tricky. We must provide a clear image of what we think our future will be and how we plan to achieve this. We can create a list of short and long-term goals, to have a clear path of where we are going in a year and in five. It should cover our marketing strategies, the sales plan, and how we plan to turn a profit.
- Financial Projections
It’s finally time to get real! We know that planning out finances can be quite overwhelming and tiring, but it’s an essential part of making our dream success a reality. Along with the financial goals we talked about earlier, we need to create a budget plan. This means developing a monthly and annual budget and being ready to adjust things as we face new challenges or changes. Even more so, it’s just as crucial to plan out all the expenses we’re going to have – from salaries to operational costs and marketing and administrative fees. This way, we’re sure we’re not caught off guard by any surprise expenses and that we’re staying on track financially.
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