Lynne Franks considers the elements you need in your business plan and gets you started.
Even though your business plan will be essential when talking to a banker or potential investor, it is first and foremost for you. It is where you can see if all the pieces of the puzzle fit together and whether your enterprise will be sustainable financially, as well as representative of your values.
This is when you write your mission statement, set your specific goals, bring your budgets and financial projections together, decide on an action time line, and plan your marketing strategy.
Who's going to buy your products or services, and how are you going to reach them? You need to decide on a communication programme to reach your market, and bring it in line with the rest of your business plan.
There are many business courses and books that set out the logistics of designing a basic business plan, but there are certain common-sense rules to follow. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to create a heavy tome of a plan, which is difficult to read and boring to look at.
We live in an immediate world, and the most impressive business plans that I've see - and I've seen many different kinds - are those that are kept succinct and easy to read, and written with the passion and energy of the entrepreneurs whose businesses are being described.
Writing the plan, which involves examining all the different aspects of what will make your business viable, will give you the opportunity to make any last-minute changes and adjustments before you launch your new enterprise.
Generally the items that constitute a business plan should include the following:
a list of contents
an executive summary
values and mission statement (SEED option)
a list of the management team
your goals
your products
marketing strategy (including competition)
action plan/timeline
financial strategy (including risk elements)
Draw A Daisy Business Plan
As you think about writing each of these sections of your business plan, don't panic, or, as I often can when faced with this kind of task, glaze over. The SEED business plan should be as easy to write as it is easy to read; it's simply a matter of putting the necessary points over in your own style.
As a fun way of visualising how your plan will work, draw a daisy (circle in the middle with your name or the business in it and six large petals around it representing the different areas of your business e.g. products, services, marketing, finance, sales, development etc ) and fill it in
Write a brief description of your enterprise in the centre of the flower. Then write a word or two in each petal, describing a different quality that you want to see represented in your business plan. These may include your values or some practical aspect of the business. You don't have to use the daisy; use any visual design.
