The key areas of a business plan includes the following. Find out how defining each can help your business.
Executive Summary - While it's the last thing you
will write, it's the first part of the business plan. This part
summarizes the main highlights of the rest of the sections.
Company Description - This is a high level overview
of your company, products or services, types of consumers, and
competitive advantages. Ultimately, think of it like what you would tell
someone in an elevator ride about your business if you wanted them to
invest in it. Also known as an extended elevator pitch.
Market Analysis - This is your research about your
industry and target market. If you haven't formally defined your target
customer, this will help you do so.
Operational Plan - This covers the day to day operations of your business, from location and hours to inventory and accounting.
As you go through this, you can make sure that each of the vital
processes in your business are running as smoothly and efficiently as
possible.
Organization & Management - This tells people
about the main players in your business - who owns it, who manages it,
etc. It will help you define all parties involved with the foundation of
your business so everyone has a clear understanding of where they fit
and who does what.
Products & Services - This is where you describe
the products and services offered by your business. You should think
about them from your customer's perspective. It will help you to better
sell your products and services once you've defined them using this
approach.
Marketing & Sales - This is where you layout how
you will reach your target market, identify prospects, and sell your
products and services. While composing this section, creative marketing
and sales strategies might emerge.
Financial Projections - This is where you really dig
in and figure out how much your business will make over the next five
years. As an established business, you will include historical data and
be able to make your predictions based off of that. Coming up with these
numbers could be a huge motivation boost and keep you working towards a
specific goal as opposed to just seeing what happens.
Funding Request - This is the part of the plan where
you define your outside funding needs and exactly how you plan on using
those funds as well as pay them back. Even if you're just investing
your own money into your business, this can help you really focus your
spending so it is all allocated and documented properly.
As you can see, creating a business plan can be a huge eye-opener for your business, no matter what stage you're at.
0 Comments