How to write a business planWorking on a business plan starts with a preliminary analysis of the current situation. Before you start formulating, describing and filling in the sections, you need to gather all the information you have. If there are any gaps, you should fill them using third party sources or by consulting specialists.
One of the recognised techniques for preliminary analysis prior to business planning is the SWOT analysis. It is easy to understand and structures all the information you have in a clear way. A SWOT analysis is necessary to evaluate the internal and external factors of a company and to create an objective picture for the upcoming business planning. Once you have completed the SWOT analysis, you can move on to the description.
What sections to include in a business planTo understand the structure of a business plan, you need to decide on its sections. The classic option for most business plans is as follows:
- Summary - a brief description of the whole business plan, which is almost the most important part of it. It is on the basis of the information in this section that investors most often decide whether it is worth studying the business plan in more detail.
- Description of goods and services.
- Market Analysis and Marketing Strategy
- Production plan.
- Organisational plan.
- Financial plan.
- Expected results and outlook.
Before filling in the sections in detail, gather as much information as possible on the subject of your business project. This could be data such as
- Industry analysis with quantitative indicators;
- Ways of promoting your products or services;
- Competitors in the market;
- The amount of tax deductions for your company;
- Technologies used in the industry of your future business
- the financial, intellectual, time and other resources of your project.
All of this will help you to write a business plan yourself in the most efficient way possible, without having to search for material for its sections. This will save you a lot of time and help you achieve good results.