A business plan is a formal document that contains all the prospective business objectives and goals. Notably, a business plan is like a roadmap that provides direction to the business. The business plan includes the process of how to execute various functions to achieve the set objectives. The plan contains a list of details which helps a business to grow. The following details are also mentioned in the business plan to attain a business loan:
- Business Nature
- Organisation’s background
- Financial flexibility of the organisation
- All the strategies of the business
Elements of a Business Plan
The business owner must stick to a particular template or structure to draft a perfect business plan. The following are the elements of a business plan:
- Cover page and index
- Pitch summary
- Motto and vision of the organisation
- Description of the organisation
- Business environment analysis
- SWOT analysis
- Industry background
- Competitors’ analysis
- Market and marketing analysis
- Operational plans
- Management summary
- Financial planning
- Organisation’s success stories
Writing a Business Plan
Now you must be wondering how to write a business plan. Well, writing a business plan is not a hard task. It may be a confusing topic for many, but it actually is straightforward. Besides, it undoubtedly can be very beneficial for the growth of the business in the long term.
Creating a business plan first involves research. It is a detailed process and includes various stages of overlapping and interrelating content. The following are the steps that you will face while making a business plan:
- Research: the first step is detailed research, i.e. digging out information about target customers and competitors. Besides, you also need to prepare a detailed report about the working capital requirements of the business. Various methods can be used to find important data, such as articles, databases, entrepreneurs’ interviews, etc. Next, the research data should be organised and documented in a meaningful manner.
- Strategising: the information collected should be used relevantly to support the business plan. Revise the business strategy, if required, until you gather information that supports your objectives completely. The strategy related to marketing and operations of the business should be well-defined.
- Calculation: all business activities will generate revenue, but they come at some revenue. So, the strategy has to be made in a way that execution cost and profits come hand in hand. The strategy should be based on the fact that the profits should cover all the expenses. Having an estimation of the funds required is essential to fund the early operations of the business.
- Draft: it is a crucial step where you are actually developing a business plan of a company. Here, you have the research results, strategy, and calculations that make the work of preparing a business plan easy.
Proofreading: revising and proofreading the entire business plan is imperative. No wrong estimation or strategy should be present in the business plan. Ensure that the words in the business plan don’t lead to any confusion. Irrelevant, repetitive, and redundant points should be removed. Lastly, go through the business plan in search of spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and formatting.
