The blueprint to start your business project or venture, creating an effective business plan is necessary to chart out the process roadmap of any organization.
What is a Business Plan?
A Business Plan can be defined as any document which identifies, describes, and analyses the techno-economic and financial feasibility of a startup or an already existing business. A well written business plan seeks to create and establish all processes and strategies necessary to turn any business opportunity into a viable project, and also to propel existing business entities into an upward growth trajectory.
The following are some simple business plan examples:
- Start-Up Business Plans
- Internal Business Plans
- Strategic Business Plans
- Feasibility Business Plans
- Operations Business Plans
- Growth Business Plans
Why make a Business Plan?
Before creating an effective business plan, it’s vital to know the compelling reasons to draft it, i.e. to:
Establish a business focus: The main objective of a business plan is to put in place a future strategy. The business plan should incorporate goals or milestones, with detailed steps explaining how to reach each step. The process of crafting a suitable roadmap for these targets will ensure a growth-oriented business focus.
Get funded: Investors, banks, and other private financiers look for a well-researched business plan first and foremost, before planning to invest. They want to understand the firm’s operations, revenue and expense projections, and crucially how they will receive a return on their investment.
Attract top & mid level management team: Business expansion and a larger scale of operations necessitate the recruitment of top-quality talent. Thus, a well-structured business plan helps to attract executive talent and determine if they are a good fit for the company. The business plan also inspires employees and management to join, assuring them that the business idea and revenue model is sound and that the business can achieve its strategic goals.
Provide a global analysis of business: A global business plan acts as a strategic process guide that helps organizations in making key business decisions in its foray into international markets. This plan is also used by stakeholders and investors to shape their investment plans.
Analyze whether the business project is viable or not: By studying a business plan’s financial projections, marketing and sales strategies, and the overall company description including its mission and vision, an investor, shareholder, partner, or analyst can assess the feasibility of the business project.
Helps manage the business strategically and optimally: Strategic business management and planning facilitates the setting up of overall business goals and consequently developing a business plan to optimize and achieve them. For example, startups and small businesses need to focus on their special business identities, target markets and clientele, and customized products or services for them.
Effectively function as the Business Card introducing the business: A business card is synonymous with the identity of the business. It introduces the business to potential stakeholders and offers an insight into the business background, credentials, strategy, and key focus areas.
Business milestones: The business plan lays out the long-term milestones and a step-wise plan of action critical to the success of the business.
Revenue model: This part of the plan documents how the business will earn money for potential investors, i.e. its revenue model, its assumptions, challenges, and approach.
Brand Positioning: Creating a business plan helps to define the company’s role in the marketplace and also optimally position the brand to potential customers, investors, and partners.
Business repositioning to tackle changing conditions: This is applicable for changing scenarios amidst difficult economic or business environments. If the current sales and operational models aren’t effective, one can rewrite and reposition the business plan to redefine, implement, and validate new ideas, objectives, and strategies.
Forecasting the company’s staffing needs: The business plan provides a structured program for all the company’s staffing needs, ensuring smoother expansion and diversification.
Unlocking new opportunities: Creating a business plan entails multiple brainstorming and white-boarding sessions, as also thinking out-of-the-box and creative interviewing. Thus, the business is seen in a different light, with new ideas being constantly incubated concerning product/service marketing and business management.
Things to consider while crafting a well written business plan
The secrets to writing a successful business plan consist of asking and addressing fundamental questions like:
- Where do we want the business to evolve to?
- Where you would like to see the business in the long term, i.e. the next five, ten, or fifteen years?
- Revenue and profit expectations for the future?
- The number of employees to be hired?
- How would business expansion occur?
Initially, it is ideal to start with a short-term plan applicable to a shorter period, i.e. a year or so. This plan should try to address queries like:
- Goals for the current year?
- Targets to be achieved to reach this goal?
Various factors have to be considered to make business plan. The format of a good business plan contains the following essential components:
- Executive Summary: Appearing at the start of the business plan, this provides a brief description of the company’s mission statement and products & services portfolio. It could explain why the company has been established and the company’s experience and credentials in the particular industry sector.
- Company Description: This is a general overview of the key aspects of the business, including the company history, goals, mission and vision statement, target clientele, and the USPs of the business, products, and services.
- Management Plan: The management segment of the plan outlines the organizational structure, staffing plan, and the management roles and hierarchy, including members of the board of directors. It will specify the legal structure, i.e. if the business will operate as a corporation, limited liability, partnership, sole proprietorship, or any other ownership structure.
- Operational Plan The operational part of the business plan should clearly and transparently describe the functioning of the business, including the logistics and operational side of the company. Every aspect should be clearly defined, be it the management team’s responsibilities, capital requirements to run different operations, as also tasks and roles assigned to all the people within the organization.
- Market Analysis A quantitative and qualitative assessment of the state of the market and industry, it examines the market size in terms of both volume and value, customer segments and buying patterns, consumer demographics and profiling, and the economic environment regarding barriers to entry and regulation.
- Competitor Analysis: This analyzes the business vis-a-vis its direct and indirect competitors, including their SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), and may include their current and potential product and service development. This segment is normally analyzed along with market and sales strategy planning.
- Marketing Plan: This will showcase the marketing strategy for the business, i.e. where and how the business fits into the market and how its products and services will be priced, promoted, and sold, including the budgets for these marketing expenses.
- Sales Strategy: A sales strategy plan is the company’s masterplan for securing stable, long-term revenues through the acquisition and retention of new and existing customers. This can include specific tactics, market strategy, processes, objectives, forecasting, budgeting, and timelines to achieve sales targets.
- Funding requirements: This outlines the future funding requirements and financial plans of a company, usually for the next five years, especially when writing a business plan for a startup. The amount of funding required at different phases and the different sources of capital will be a part of this funding request.
- Financial Projections: This key section shows anticipated revenue projections for the first 12 months and annual projected earnings for the second, third, fourth, and fifth year of business. The section should include a sales forecast, expenses budget, cash inflows and outlays, income statement, balance sheet, and a profit and loss statement. If the business is applying for a personal loan or a small business loan, an appendix providing additional financial or background information could be added.
Objective to create a Business Plan has to be well-defined:
Writing a business plan for a startup: This involves the following activities: Developing the goals of the startup, choosing the business entity to be incorporated, budgetary analysis, regulatory compliance, with respective authorities for the start-up, risk analysis and mitigation, and keeping a close watch on the startup’s activities.
Writing a Business Plan for Investors: Keeping potential investors in mind, we help create a unique, personalized business plan specifically focusing on the investment opportunity and funding goals, team overview, market opportunity, revenue model, target clientele, user acquisition and marketing strategy, traction & company milestones, industry analysis, future growth and development strategy, and financial overview.
SME Business Plan: Our business plan writing services for SMEs consist of creating the SME’s business action plan and objectives, strategic advice for business scenarios and cases, funding options, and regulatory compliance advice.
Large Enterprise Business Plan: Here, our business plan proposal is all about shaping business strategies, services, product diversification, and expansion strategy consulting.
Vertical Specialization: This implies focusing on a niche domain or business sector to boost business development and project management workflows. For optimal vertical specialization planning, we have to prepare a business plan based on the business potential of the vertical, decision-making processes, regulatory environment, and competitive advantage, etc.
Retail & eCommerce Business Plans: Leveraging on our years of retail and eCommerce expertise, we help in writing a successful business plan outlining the retail business roadmap and its growth strategy.
Business plan writing experts
Business plan writing experts shall analyse and review your business plan proposal in terms of:
- Financials
- Any creative ideas or action plan from you
- Any other information
After freezing the terms of engagement, the format of business plan will essentially comprise:
- Business Introduction
- Executive Summary
- Business Products backgrounder
- Financial Projections & Budgeting
- Final Business Plan
Why YRC to make your Business Plan?
Your Retail Coach (YRC), is a retail management and finance consulting company with a proven track record to help you in writing a successful business plan every step of the way.
Our business plan writing services are tailored and customized to fit every business need. We are amongst top business plan writers with established industry credentials in writing a business plan for a startup, writing a business plan for investors, and business plan development & market analysis.
To prepare a business plan, the proposal has to be an agile, continually evolving operational document that can adapt to ever-changing business, customer, and market needs. YRC’s business plan writing services believe in hand-holding and guiding you at each crucial juncture, adhering to a focused process-oriented approach to enable you to carve your own success story.
To tap into new age growth opportunities and realize the true power of your business potential, reach out to YRC’s business plan writers today and embark on your journey to success.
