Business Plan Structure
A standard BP has the following sections:
Executive summary
A brief description of your business will allow readers to quickly understand what you produce, what your goals are and how much money you need to embody them. This part is written when other ones are ready. It should be impressive to encourage potential partners to read further.
Company description
Explain in detail what your team does, where is your office or plant located.
Market analysis
Study peculiarities of the industry, strengths, and weaknesses of companies-competitors.
Organization and management
Provide an organizational structure of your staff, list employees’ responsibilities. Pay increased attention to qualifications and character traits of persons occupying managerial positions.
Product or service
Who needs your production? What are its main features? Why is it better than substitutes already sold on the market?
Marketing and sales
How are you going to promote your business? Provide a brief report on price formation.
Funding request
How much money do you need and how quickly it will pay off? What income an investor will receive?
Appendix
Attach all documents which may help a reader to understand your idea more profoundly: balance sheets, detailed good descriptions, and photos, drawings, etc. It is a standard structure which may be adjusted if you want your paper to be individualized and original, briefer or more detailed. BP can consist of both 1 and 40 pages, depending on the authors’ goals. The most important thing is to present information in a well-structured, reader-friendly form. Next, we will give you some recommendations on the intricacies of business plan writing.
Take into Account your Audience
It is clear that all people know your industry at different levels. If presenting an entrepreneurial strategy to a plant that should produce your goods on partner terms, it makes sense to describe the chemical composition and physical properties. But when communicating with a potential sponsor who just wants to invest in a promising venture, this information may be superfluous. It is better to focus on the financial benefits of a project.
A business plan may be compared with a resume tailored in accordance with features of specific vacancies. Collect information on an organization or a person you want to work with, analyze projects one invested in before and place an emphasis on details that may be the most important for one.
Provide a Solution to a Problem
There should be some acute problems your product or service may solve. If your main problem is the lack of money, and you work only to gain profit, other people are unlikely to help you. This is explained not only by altruistic motifs but also a simple business logic: if you do not make society’s life better, society will not be interested in you.
A company should have a clearly prescribed mission. For example, if producing designer furniture, you may strive to make people’s life more comfortable and pleasant. If selling dairy products, your goal may be to strengthen consumers’ health. Explain why your idea is the most suitable for solving a problem, how you will urge people to buy your products. Emphasize your employees’ advantages, their experience in working on a problem. Describe assets you already have and lacking resources.
Analyze Competitors’ Weaknesses
If analyzing other firms’ advantages and copying them, you can become just another standard company. It is worth filling gaps competitors have created and offered to the market something it never had. Try to learn on failures of other people rather than your own mistakes to bypass frequent traps, save precious time and finances. Explain to investors that your business is unique because you have planned it out better than anyone else and it has a higher potential to bring profits.
Be Specific
Your idea can be really cool and fascinating, but when it comes to investors’ money, they do not believe in fairytales and want to hear plain facts. Think critically about your strategy and its feasibility. Resist the temptation to be vague. Explain how much money you need to occupy a good position on the market, what skills your employees should possess, and whether you have such people, how long it will take to start making profit. After elaborating on all these nuances, you will receive a realistic and convincing business plan.
Set Intermediary Goals
At first glance, some ideas may seem way too crazy and impossible. But if dividing them into a number of intermediary goals, realizing BP becomes much easier. Apart from a far-reaching strategy, a company should have tactical tasks that may be realized in the near future. Investors will want to see the first results to understand that you move in the right direction. That is why intermediary goals should be attainable. Never promise more than you can do at the current development stage.
Of course, you may strive to reach global domination. But this intention is rather fantastic for a novice entrepreneur. Better explain that for a start, you are going to introduce a product to the market and receive good sales indicators.
Share your Business Story
Let investors know what urged you to start a venture, describe fateful events that changed your worldview, and inspired you to solve a certain social problem. Why now is the best moment to embody a business idea? Why did not you do it before?
Commercial lenders and venture capitalists need this information to make sure your motivation is high enough, that you will not give up if something goes wrong and cope with challenging situations. And it will, because realizing any great plan cannot be invariably smooth and successful. There are always some obstacles, and great will is necessary to overcome them. A company head is the first person to weather the storm if something threatens one’s enterprise. It will be easier for investors to dispel their doubts and trust you if understanding your passion for beloved work and thought process.
Conclusion
We hope that the above tips turned out to be useful. If it is still difficult for you to compile a good entrepreneurial strategy, we recommend contacting specialized companies writing custom college essays and business papers. Experienced specialists will tailor an excellent document taking into account your wishes.
