Business Plan

Thinking about starting a new business? Ever consider what it takes to start a business from scratch? It takes a lot of thinking, research and planning. To be specific, it takes a lot of business planning.

In order to get funding for your business, it is required to present a formal business plan to your choice of financer. This business plan give insight in to the specifics of your company, its potential, the risk factors, your competitors and other important information that is necessary to convince a financer to fund your company, and there is a specific way to go about creating this business plan.

Paul Heyworth, helps explain the question most of you entrepreneurs ask yourselves, do I need a business plan? Heyworth is an expert in business mentoring, strategic planning and numerous other aspects of the business world at Orvia in the UK. In an article written by Heyworth, he explains the benefits of creating a business plan. He states that it is wise to write a business plan if for nobody else, for yourself. Doing this will not only bring the business into perspective but it will also set targets and goal to help you measure the success of your business.

Tim Berry, Founder and President of Palo Alto Software, is a renowned planning expert. Berry outlines in detail everything required to complete a proper business plan and a small explanation of the sections in order to clarify the meaning of that section. 

For example the following is an exert from his article, A Standard Business Plan Outline:

Simple business plan outline

1.              Executive Summary: Write this last. It’s just a page or two of highlights.

2.              Company Description: Legal establishment, history, start-up plans, etc.

3.              Product or Service: Describe what you’re selling. Focus on customer benefits.

4.              Market Analysis: You need to know your market, customer needs, where they are, how to reach them, etc.

5.              Strategy and Implementation: Be specific. Include management responsibilities with dates and budgets. Make sure you can track results.

6.              Web Plan Summary: For e-commerce, include discussion of website, development costs, operations, sales and marketing strategies.

7.              Management Team: Describe the organization and the key management team members.

Financial Analysis: Make sure to include at the very least your projected Profit and Loss and Cash Flow tables.

He continues in the article but giving examples of possible subsections for each section to make the business plan more detailed. Berry also gives reference to allBusiness.com for more information on business plans.

With the resources provided, it should be very easy to come up with a very well planned and researched business plan that will get you noticed by investors and well on your way to business success.