What is a Business Plan

Producing a Business Plan is pretty much par for the course these days, in particularly if you are wishing to raise funds.

Business plans describe the goals and objectives of your business and explains how you intend to make them a reality. Business plans are really about getting results and improving your company. A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. Preparing a business plan draws on a wide range of knowledge from many different business disciplines: finance, human resource, intellectual property, operations management, and marketing, and some others.

Unfortunately, many people think of business plans only for starting a new business or applying for business loans. If you have never drawn up a business plan before, you may be curious as to what the benefits are for you. There are some Business plan templates and software packages that will enable you to create a custom plan for your own specific business. Cost and revenue estimates are central to any business plan for deciding the viability of the planned venture. Though formal business plans have been getting some stick, you still can't skip the planning process. The sooner you develop your business plan, the better.

Many people neglect to actually follow the Business Plan in terms of a business strategy, hence they tend to view it as an accounting exercise, ie: budget versus actual. A Business Plan formalises what the business will be doing to achieve those important milestones of market share, turnover, profit, headcount and so on.

1. Executive Summary
   
   1. Objectives
      
   2. Mission
      
   3. Keys to Success
      
2. Company Summary
   
   1. Company Ownership
      
   2. Company History
      
3. Products and Services
   
   1. Overview
      
   2. Costs and Pricing
      
4. Market Analysis Summary
   
   1. Market Segmentation
      
   2. Target Market Strategy
      
   3. Business Analysis
      
5. Strategy and Implementation
   
   1. Summary
      
   2. Competitive Edge
      
   3. Marketing Strategy
      
   4. Sales Strategy
      
   5. Milestones
      
6. Internet Strategy
   
   1. Website Marketing
      
   2. Development Requirements
      
7. Management Summary
   
   1. Key Personnel
      
   2. HR Information
      
8. Financial Information
   
   1. Important Assumptions
      
   2. Break-even Analysis
      
   3. Projected Profit and Loss
      
   4. Projected Cash Flow
      
   5. Projected Balance Sheet
      
   6. Business Ratios
      
9. Appendix - Other related information
   

Benefit from the advice of a business professional as your Business Plan information is gathered and compiled. Contact Robert Davison now.