Planning in any business is its foundation. In business, it is especially important to draw up a plan, because an entrepreneur must clearly visualize how profitable his enterprise is.
What is a business plan?
So, it should be immediately indicated that without a proper planning, not a single undertaking can do, no matter what scale the enterprise is planning. A business plan is a document that governs the activities of a company. It contains all the important information about the owner, field of activity, competition, sales and much more.
The concept of a business plan is quite extensive, in fact it is a step-by-step guide to the actions of the entrepreneur himself, in which everything is described in paragraphs. It also takes into account possible risks and solutions to potential problems. The business plan must include calculations, not only current expenses, but also estimated profits.
In general, you need to consider in detail what business planning, a model, its tasks and functions are. It should also be noted that for each individual enterprise the plan is individual, and the businessman draws it up exclusively for himself.
Basic principles
How to draw up a business plan? Its definition means business planning. In the future, not only the organizer himself, but his entire team will strictly act according to the plan. Accordingly, this should not be a collection of scientific terms, but a simple and accessible language written guide to action, which everyone, even a layman, can understand. For example, if an investor is involved in an organization, he must understand the essence of the business plan.
It should also be borne in mind that, depending on the circumstances, the plan may be adjusted. Calculations, terms of project implementation and much more may change. However, a business plan has certain tasks.
Business Plan Objectives
It is quite obvious that the entrepreneur faces not one, but several tasks. Here is some of them:
- Identify the purpose of the enterprise and the prospect of its development, how it will behave in the market.
- Determine sales flows, for which category of population the final product is designed.
- Find out what percentage of the market the company should win.
- Decide on the assortment of the company and indicate the pricing policy of the enterprise.
- Find out what difficulties an entrepreneur may encounter at different stages of a project, and how to solve problems.
- In what direction will the enterprise move and how will it develop in the future.
- How much is the project? These are obligatory calculations that will help the organizer to assess their material capabilities.
By mistake, many businessmen believe that a business plan is not a mandatory component, and you can do without it. But this is not at all true, because without it it is impossible to clearly coordinate their actions. By the way, a business plan is needed not only at the stage of enterprise organization, but also for its development.
Business plan goal
The main goal of a business plan is to verify the profitability of the enterprise and to properly distribute actions and forces. In addition, you need to clearly understand how the organization will behave in the modern market.
Another important goal of a business plan is market research. To determine the profitability of the event, you need to find answers to important questions:
- How much is the product in demand in the modern market?
- Is there any competition?
- What is needed to organize a business?
- Where to look for suppliers?
- Where and how to find customers?
- What will be the ratio of the cost and market value of the product?
To answer these and other similar questions, you should conduct a marketing research. It is more advisable to entrust it to the marketer. Only the best business plans drawn up by professionals guarantee success in entrepreneurial activity, and it is impossible for a beginner to cope with the task.
Business Plan Features
In the modern economy, four functions of business planning are distinguished:
- Planning is mandatory at the stage of organizing a new company and during a certain period of its activity.
- The main function of a business plan is to assess the capabilities of the enterprise and control the processes of organization and development.
- Get a loan: for this you will need to provide an expense plan.
- Attract investors: without a detailed business plan, it is impossible to get funds for opening or developing an enterprise.
Do not forget that the functions of a business plan are not limited to the above. The main one is to help the entrepreneur correctly assess their capabilities and distribute actions to achieve the goal.
Business plan structure
There is no clear definition of how to create a business plan, and there are no clear requirements for writing it; each entrepreneur writes it in any form. It can be divided into several articles:
- Summary, it should be briefly described, which will be discussed further.
- Next, you need to identify the goals and objectives of planning. That is, you need to conditionally determine what needs to be done to get a certain result.
- Make a real description of the company, how many employees will be in it, where and on what area it will be located.
- A financial plan, that is, determining the amount of start-up capital, how it will be distributed as a percentage, the estimated income and pricing policy of the enterprise.
- You need to draw up a marketing plan, consider competitors, identify their weaknesses and understand how they can be surpassed.
- A production plan, that is, a description of the process - from finding a supplier and purchasing raw materials to determining the final buyer.
- Next, you need to identify the organization of the work process and the enterprise management system.
- The last thing to consider is the personnel of the enterprise and the distribution of responsibilities among the personnel.
Since the concept of a business plan is ambiguous, its structure can vary depending on the size of the organization and many other factors.
Business plan example
There are no clear requirements for writing a plan, respectively, you can just consider an example and write it yourself. For example, a sample business plan for a small business will begin with a resume, that is, with a brief description of the project.
Next, you need to write in detail what the company will specialize in, for example, retailing food products or manufacturing building materials. It is also necessary to determine where the office or store will be located, in which area and with what population density.
The next step is marketing research. First of all, it is necessary to identify the presence of competitors and evaluate their performance. Then identify the target audience, that is, the circle of consumers on whom the product or service will be calculated. If, for example, this is a grocery store, then its regular customers will be residents of nearby houses.
The next step will be the calculation of financial costs. We need to calculate everything - from the rental of premises and the purchase of equipment to the purchase of raw materials and pay for staff. You also need to calculate the profit that the company will bring, that is, make a forecast.
We must not forget that in any business there are risks, they must be minimized. For example, if there is real competition, then you must first think about the promotion of the enterprise, that is, about quality advertising, and this entails additional costs.
Actually, if you need a sample business plan for a small business, then it is easy to find on the network, but only for acquaintance. You should not be guided by it, because each case is individual.
Key mistakes in preparing a business plan
Unfortunately, without experience, it is difficult to correctly plan. Despite the fact that a business plan is a document that does not have a specific form, some nuances must be taken into account. For example, it should not have unnecessary information, everything written should have a certain meaning.
Before you create a business plan that is clear and understandable, you need to clearly identify the goals of the enterprise. Because the ways to achieve them must be real and accessible. In addition, you need to clearly analyze the market, adequately assess competition. It is present in any industry, this must be considered first of all.
Conclusion
So, a business plan is a guide to action for an entrepreneur, which will help him to properly distribute his opportunities and attract investments. You need to prepare a plan yourself and know it very well. It is not necessary to write a lot, the main thing is to highlight the key issues and the essence of the whole event.