A business plan is a detailed description of the future of a small, medium or large-scale enterprise, its theoretical image is a model that will subsequently be embodied in a firm, company, store, production. This is a kind of extended estimate that needs to be drawn up in order to understand what volume of investments will be needed, their sequence - determining what is needed first, and what things can be purchased later. In this article we will tell you how to create a business plan yourself. A drafting sample will be considered for opening a small business.

Why is this necessary?

Drawing up a business plan demonstrates a serious approach to business and allows you to move progressively, in an orderly manner towards its implementation. A detailed business plan takes into account everything, including possible changes in the market and economic situation, which will lead to unforeseen expenses.

Another important point is that without a detailed description of the project and a thorough analysis, banks will not provide a loan to organize your business. In this case, the business plan must take into account all possible points so that bank specialists have no doubts about the success of the enterprise.

From simple to complex

You can create a business plan yourself. It’s not difficult, and this step-by-step instruction will help you master the basics of such an important process for an entrepreneur. The skill of independent business planning will allow you to save money when organizing your own business, and will also become a good source of income if you use the theoretical basis correctly.

To draw up a business plan, you should move from simple to complex, gradually developing and deepening the degree of economic research. This, in particular, concerns the justification of the commercial feasibility of a business through market research.

Sample structure

In order to draw up a simple business plan yourself, for example, for opening of a women's bag store, first you need to know its general structure, study the skeleton, which consists of:

• A summary is a general description of a future project, which briefly describes the essence of the business plan. A resume is compiled in any form and must be extremely concise, succinct, and concise. Its volume is up to 10 sentences.
• Tasks and goals, where the goal is the end result, and the objectives are a description of how it is planned to achieve it. Compilation of this paragraph is mandatory, as it is the basis for further research.
• Description of the end result - this is an already running business. Here we talk about its functionality and visualize what is planned. This is perhaps the most difficult thing; it is necessary that everything is done correctly. The structure of the future enterprise is described here: departments, divisions, their functions, responsibilities. Accordingly, it is necessary to draw up a staffing table. This can be done as a separate sub-item in the form of a diagram so that the structural interaction is clear. Creating such a scheme for a small business is a simple matter; it is much more difficult to create a description of a large-scale project.
• A financial plan is a voluminous part that implies a detailed description of expenses, including wages and monthly expenses for maintaining the enterprise. In addition, profitability calculations should be included here and the payback period should be determined. The last points are purely theoretical calculations that are based on the desired data. But at the same time they are a guideline for business development. For example, if the actual profit is significantly lower than the calculated one, it is necessary to conduct a deep functional analysis and work on mistakes. This is important both for a large project and for a company with no more than a dozen employees. Sources of funding should also be indicated here. This is equity capital or a loan with calculations of the interest rate on it and the repayment period. Here you will need calculations from the marketing section of the business plan. They largely influence profitability indicators, and therefore determine the solvency of the enterprise. This also includes drawing up a price list or tariff schedule - determining the cost of services or goods.
• Marketing plan - this section should contain information about what audience the product or service is aimed at. For example, a spare parts store will sell components for foreign cars in the premium or budget segment. It can also be specific brands or even one manufacturer.

Successful business development directly depends on drawing up a business plan.

It’s not enough to just make a plan; you need to constantly adjust it in accordance with market changes.

This will allow your business to “stay afloat”, receiving income and conducting clear planning of budget expenditures.

Every successful individual entrepreneur (IP) knows that a well-drafted business plan is the “foundation” of any activity. Using a business plan, an individual entrepreneur can attract investors or apply for a loan from a bank.

A business plan is a full-fledged program for launching and developing a business, containing detailed information about a product, its production and distribution. The business plan reflects the planned profitability of the company, and also demonstrates the financial return on investment.

Preparing a business plan for lenders should focus on specific financial indicators. The basic rule for drawing up a successful business plan is to present the material dynamically and be concise (no more than 15-20 sheets). Let's consider how to write a business plan yourself?

Title page

How to write a business plan? This requires a model, especially for a beginner. Any work, first of all, consists of a title page.

This is the “face” of your business. The title page “introduces” a potential investor to a business idea, so it is very important to learn how to format it correctly.

The title page should be attractive and succinctly inform the investor about the essence of the business. The required items on the title page are:

• name of the individual entrepreneur;
• contact details of the company (telephone, address, etc.);
• privacy notice;
• short name of the project;
• Full name of the head of the individual entrepreneur, his contact details;
• information about the preparation of a business plan (who compiled it, when, where);
• information about the timing of the project.

Want to know more about writing business plans? Then the next topic is for you. : purpose and structure, algorithm and examples.

Read about how to open an online store for free and quickly.

A cafe is a business that can bring big profits in the future. Here is everything about how to open a cafe, a business plan with calculations of costs and profitability.

1. Summary.
2. Project descriptions.
3. Conducting market analysis and competitor assessments.
4. Marketing strategy.
5. Production, organizational and financial plans.

A summary is brief and general information about the project. The volume of the resume should not exceed 1 printed page. The resume contains information about the company's field of activity and expected financial results. The summary also substantiates the goals of creating the project, its uniqueness and benefits for investors.

Product Description

When writing a description of a product, it is necessary to focus on the usefulness of the product.

You can also make a brief comparison of this product with analogues, focusing on the main differences.

The “Product Description” section should provide an opportunity to analyze further business development.

Description of the business model

The business model is a simplified version of the functioning of all systems and business processes of an individual entrepreneur. Creating a business model is one of the most important steps at the strategic planning stage of a company's activities.

A business model succinctly describes how a company creates and sells its product. The development of a business model is entrusted to the management team of the individual entrepreneur.

Market and industry analysis

At the stage of market analysis, it is necessary to familiarize yourself in detail with the situation and analyze the total volumes of potential sales for the products produced. You can also make a trial batch of goods in order to study the behavior and reaction to it on the part of customers. When analyzing the market, it is necessary to evaluate competitors.

General scheme for competently drawing up a business plan

How to write the right business plan? A competent business plan contains detailed information about the main competitors to understand the prospects for the development of the individual entrepreneur.

Strategic SWOT Analysis

At the SWOT analysis stage, the strengths and weaknesses of the company are studied, risk factors and market opportunities are assessed.

SWOT analysis helps IP management evaluate the following points:

• the presence of an advantage for individual entrepreneurs in the market for similar goods;
• vulnerable (“bottleneck”) places of the company;
• chances of making a profit;
• threats from the market and competitors.

Risk assessment and management

An integral part of the business plan is the risk management concept.

This section is intended to prevent the occurrence of unfavorable events in the company’s activities in order to avoid significant financial losses.

Active risk management implies their prevention at the decision-making stage. In this case, risk management is associated with marketing market research, which shows the likelihood of losses based on an assessment of demand and pricing policies of competitors.

Any investor who makes a decision to invest funds pays attention to the risk of loss of invested capital.

Sales strategy

A sales strategy is a comprehensive planning consisting of answers to the following questions:

• How (through what channels) will the product be distributed?
• What will the price of the product be?
• How to interest buyers?
• How to create an advertisement? How much money should I allocate for this?

In this section, it is necessary to analyze the market and create a clear description of the conditions under which potential buyers will become clients of the individual entrepreneur.

Organizational plan

The “Organizational plan” section, as a rule, indicates the general structure of the individual entrepreneur and the role of each of its links in the process of production and sale of goods. In addition to the general structure of the enterprise, investors are interested in information about each member of management (if the company plans to raise capital).

At this point, a general table of the company’s income and expenses is demonstrated, a forecast balance is drawn up, and calculations are made for the calculation (cost) of goods.

When drawing up a financial plan, it is necessary to calculate the payback period of the project with a breakdown of cash flows by month.

When working on a business plan, you should not overdo it. Consider only basic information. It is important that the investor, after reading the first two pages, already understands what is at stake. The data used in drawing up the business plan must be 100% reliable.

Video on the topic

In this article we will look in detail at what a business plan is, why it is needed and how to draw it up correctly.

Greetings, dear readers! Alexander Berezhnov is in touch. Today we will talk about business, or more precisely about business planning.

As you know, any business or project begins with. But in itself it does not have much value, since most people come up with dozens of ideas every day.

Many famous entrepreneurs and outstanding people in the field of management, leadership and planning education speak about this. This is Stephen Covey, John Maxwell, Vladimir Dovgan, Alex Yanovsky, Tony Robbins and others.

Surely you have had situations when an idea was born, but you didn’t have enough energy and time to bring it to life, and most importantly, you didn’t know where to start.

This article will be useful for both beginners and existing entrepreneurs, because, as you know, any thriving company or project always has a plan to achieve its goals.

When I myself took training in the field of business planning, I well remembered the words of one of the trainers:

A dream differs from a goal in that it does not have a clear plan for achieving it!

In other words, if you don't have a good plan for achieving your goal, it's unlikely to become more than just a dream for you, even after many years.

In this article I will cover issues related to business planning, since myself I have experience writing business plans for my own entrepreneurial projects. And in order to convey the information in an accessible language, before writing the article, I talked with two of my friends who professionally write business plans for entrepreneurs to order in order to attract third-party capital to their clients’ businesses. The guys help entrepreneurs in obtaining loans, grants and subsidies by writing professional business plans.

Dear readers, I draw your attention to the fact that in these articles we will consider a simplified model for writing a business plan for starting a small business. And if you are faced with the task of writing a business plan for a large company, then I advise you to use the services of professionals who specialize in this.

I won’t waste any more of your precious time, let’s begin...

1. What is a business plan

Any term has many definitions. Here I will give my own, it is quite brief and reflects the main meaning of the concept of “business plan”.

Business plan– this is a document or, in other words, a guide that describes the idea of ​​a project, business processes and mechanisms for their implementation in order to achieve the goals stated by the author of the document (business plan).

In general, business planning, like any process, must have a goal, in this case the success of your project will depend on 3 key factors:

1. Awareness of your level at the current moment in time (point “A”);
2. A clear idea of ​​the ultimate goal of where you (and your company) plan to end up (point “B”);
3. A clear understanding of the sequence of steps to get from point “A” to point “B”.

2. Why do you need a business plan?

From my practice, I will say that a business plan is needed globally in 2 cases, and in each case its writing is different in a certain way.

These are the cases:

1. Business plan for investors(lenders, grant providers, bodies providing government support in the form of subsidies, etc.)

Here, the main goal of the business plan is to prove the viability of the project and the effective use of funds. And it doesn’t matter whether you repay them, if it’s a loan or not, if it’s a subsidy or grant.

In a situation where you are thinking about how to write a business plan for investors, you need to emphasize the logic of the actions you plan to take, perhaps even bluffing about certain points that will help you get funding. When writing a business plan, you can embellish something, but the main thing is not to get carried away.

In short, your finished plan should be clean, neat, and logical. Everything should be beautifully described in it, explanations should be given to the facts you cited, and so on.

It would be a good idea to prepare a good computer presentation and speak publicly to investors.

Therefore, when they ask me how to write a business plan, I ask the question in response: “Who is a business plan written for? For yourself or for investors?

2. Business plan for yourself(according to this plan, you will actually act for the successful implementation of your own project)

Let me explain with an example. If, when writing a business plan to attract financing, you write that you need 300,000 rubles to buy 10 computers, then in the form of a table you write out a detailed estimate:

That is, you really need 10 computers to run the project. That's how you write it. BUT!

If you are drawing up a business plan for yourself, then most likely even this small estimate for computers will look different for you. You will ask why?

Example

You know that you and your partner, with whom you are planning to open a business, already have 3 computers between you, and you can find 3 more at your father’s place of work, at home on the loggia, and at your grandmother’s in the garage by upgrading them a little.

This is very figurative, but I think you understand the meaning. This all relates to available resources, but as an investor you will be requesting funds to purchase new office equipment, as you will need to document an account for it.

The same thing, if you are going to open a business in the field of cargo transportation, then in the business plan for the investor you write that you need 5,000,000 rubles to buy 5 trucks. Then it will be easier for the investor to navigate the appropriateness of using his funds.

Even if you already have 1 or 2 similar trucks, you can simply add them to the new fleet when you receive financing and everyone will be happy.

Because there is often a situation when, in negotiations with an investor, you say that for the successful operation of your project you need 5 trucks, but in principle you have 2... And then you begin to mislead the investor by saying that one of these vehicles was purchased in half with your friend, and the other belongs to your wife and she may not give it to you for a new project, and so on.

Conclusion

Write a business plan for investors as much as possible detailed and beautiful.

When writing a business plan for yourself, focus on the resources you have and write a plan that is as close to yours as possible. realities.

Let's move on to the technology of writing a business plan...

3. How to write a business plan correctly

Drawing up a business plan begins with a preliminary analysis of the current situation.

Before moving on to the formulation, description and filling of sections, you need to collect together all the information that you have, and if it is missing, then fill in these gaps by using third-party sources or turning to specialists.

One of the recognized technologies for preliminary analysis before upcoming business planning is the so-called SWOT analysis.

It is quite easy to understand and clearly structures all the information you have.

4. What is SWOT analysis and how is it used in business planning?

SWOT- this is an abbreviation and it stands for this:

• S trengths– strengths;
• W eakness- weak sides;
• O pportunities- possibilities;
• T hreats– threats.

SWOT analysis is needed in order to assess the internal and external factors of the company, creating an objective picture for upcoming business planning.

For example, in your case these could be the following indicators:

Strengths:

• Low production costs;
• High professionalism of the project team;
• The company's product (service) has an innovative component;
• Attractive product packaging or a high level of company service.

Weak sides:

• Lack of own retail premises;
• Low brand awareness among potential buyers.

Opportunities and threats represent characteristics of the external environment that the company cannot directly influence, and therefore, they can influence the outcome of its work in the future.

Such factors may be:

• Economic and political situation in the country or region;
• Socio-cultural environment (features of consumer mentality);
• Level of technology development in the business area;
• Demographic situation.

According to the analysis of current conditions, potential opportunities for a future project can be identified.

Possibilities:

• Introduction of new materials and technologies for the production of the company's product;
• Obtaining additional funding for the project;
• Adaptation of product design to the cultural and age characteristics of the region.

Threats:

• High customs duties on raw materials for the production of goods;
• Strong competition in this market segment.

After the SWOT analysis has been completed, you can move on to describing the sections of the business plan. Below I will describe each of them, explain my point of view, and in the 3rd part of this instruction I will give examples in a concise form of filling out each section. This will help you clearly see the technology for writing a business plan.

And so that my examples are not general phrases like “it’s better to be healthy and rich than poor and sick,” I will expand on the question “How to write a business plan” using the example of an opening anti-cafe or in another way time-cafe * .

Anticafe(or time-cafe) is a new format of cultural and entertainment establishments that first appeared in Moscow in 2010.

Their essence lies in the fact that visitors do not order food and drinks for money, as in a regular cafe, but pay by the minute for the time they are in the establishment. For this payment, they get the opportunity to play board games (for example, the very popular game “”), play video games on the X-BOX game console, organize their own events: birthdays, corporate events, parties, and also use free WI-FI Internet.

Here visitors can also participate in entertainment and educational events: musical and theatrical evenings, trainings, foreign language clubs, take training courses in playing musical instruments, and so on.

By the way, I personally, as a person leading a healthy lifestyle, am glad that drinking alcohol and smoking are not allowed in these establishments.

5. What sections should be in a business plan

In order to understand the structure of a business plan, you need to decide on its sections. I will offer you my version, which is classic for most business plans.

Business plan sections:

1. Introductory part (summary);
2. Description of goods and services;
3. Market analysis and marketing strategy;
4. Production plan;
5. Organizational plan;
6. Financial plan (budget);
7. Expected results and prospects (final part).

When starting to develop a business plan, I recommend that you conduct a little brainstorming, describing your idea on 1-2 A4 sheets. This is necessary in order to understand the overall picture and only then proceed to a detailed description of the above sections.

Important point!

Before filling out the sections in detail, collect as much information as possible on the topic of your project (business).

It can be:

• Industry analysis with quantitative indicators;
• Ways to promote your products or services;
• Current competitors in the market;
• The amount of tax deductions for your company;
• Technologies used in the industry of your future business.

All this will help you write a business plan yourself as efficiently as possible and not search for material for its sections along the way. This way you will save a significant amount of time and get good results.

In the second part, we will look in more detail at how to fill out the sections of a business plan.

It is a document that highlights all the characteristics of the future organization, analyzes possible problems and risks, predicts them and methods by which they can be avoided.

Simply put, a business plan for an investor is the answer to the question “Should I finance the project or throw it in the trash?”

Important! A business plan is drawn up on paper, taking into account some procedures and rules. This presentation of the project to some extent materializes your idea and shows your desire and willingness to work. Also, putting it on paper makes it easier for investors to perceive the idea.

Drawing up a business plan yourself

Making a business plan yourself is not that difficult, you just need to think about the idea carefully. Before you grab a calculator and calculate your income, there are several steps you need to take.

1. Identify the “pros” and “cons” of the idea that has arisen. If the number of “minuses” is off the charts, don’t rush to give up. Some aspects can be turned in the opposite direction, think about ways to solve such “cons”.
2. Important characteristics are competitiveness and market sustainability.
3. The sales market needs to be thought through to the smallest detail.
4. The payback of the product (service) and the time of receiving the first profit will allow you to determine (approximately) the required amount for investment.

If after such a superficial analysis you don’t want to abandon your brainchild, then it’s time to take a clean slate and start creating a business plan.

It is important to know! There is no single structure and step-by-step instructions on how to calculate a business plan. Therefore, the presence and order of items included in the plan are determined independently. However, experts have established the most optimal plan structure option. If you have no experience in drafting such documents, you need to use these recommendations to correctly compose your work.

Structure and procedure for drawing up a business plan

The structure of a good business plan, according to economists, should include 12 points. Each of them is described below.

Title page

The following parameters are specified here:

• name of the project;
• name of the organization where the project is planned to be implemented, indicating telephone numbers, addresses and other contact information;
• head of the above organization;
• developer (team or manager) of a business plan;
• date of document preparation;
• It is allowed to include the most significant indicators of financial calculations for the project on the first sheet.

This document is necessary to protect the copyright of the idea and business plan. This reflects the reader's awareness that he does not have the right to distribute the information contained in the document without the permission of the author. There may also be an instruction prohibiting copying, duplicating the document, or transferring it to another person, or a requirement to return the read business plan to the author if the investor does not accept the agreement.

An example of a confidentiality memorandum can be seen below.

The next 2 sections of the plan – “Brief Summary” and “Main Idea of ​​the Project” – are introductory. They can be used as a preliminary proposal (for review) to partners and investors until negotiations are scheduled.

Brief summary

Although a brief summary of such a document is at the beginning, it is written at the final stage, as a summary. A summary is a short description of the project idea and a list of the most significant characteristics of the financial component.

The following questions will help, answering which can lead to an excellent resume:

1. What product does the company plan to sell?
2. Who would want to buy this product?
3. What is the planned sales (production) volume for the first year of the company’s operation? What will be the revenue?
4. What is the total cost of the project?
5. How will the enterprise be formed according to its organizational and legal form?
6. How many workers are planned to be recruited?
7. What is the required amount of capital investment to implement the project?
8. What are the sources of funding for this project?
9. How much is the total profit (profitability) for a specific period, the payback period, the amount of cash at the end of the first year of operation of the enterprise, profitability. Net present value.

It is important to know! The summary is read by the investor first. Therefore, the future fate of the project depends on this section: the investor will either become interested or bored. This part should not exceed 1 page.

Main idea of ​​the project

1. What is the main project goal?
2. What are the objectives of the enterprise to achieve the main goal?
3. Are there any obstacles to your goal and how to get around them?
4. What exact actions does the author propose to perform in order to achieve results and achieve the goal as soon as possible? What are these deadlines?

Important! It is necessary to provide clear, real and explicit arguments that will confirm confidence in the profitability and success of the project. The volume of this part is optimal within 1-2 pages.

In this section, it is customary to use the conducted SWOT analysis – assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise, opportunities (prospects), as well as possible threats. It is unlikely that you will be able to make a business plan correctly and as completely as possible without such an analysis.

A SWOT analysis reflects two aspects that influence the life of an organization: internal, relating to the enterprise itself, and external (everything outside the company that it cannot change).

Do not forget: You are describing a company, not a product! A common mistake authors make is that they start writing product characteristics in the “strength” column.

Here are some parameters you can use to describe strengths or weaknesses:

• high-tech production;
• service and after sales service;
• versatility of the product (without affecting its specific properties);
• level of qualifications and professionalism of employees;
• level of technical equipment of the enterprise.

External factors (“opportunities” and “threats”) include:

• market growth rate;
• level of competition;
• political situation in the region, country;
• features of legislation;
• features of consumer solvency.

Example

Characteristics of the industry on the market

• dynamics of sales of similar products in the industry in recent years;
• market industry growth rate;
• trends and features of pricing;
• comprehensive assessment of competitors;
• search and identification of new and young enterprises in the industry, as well as characteristics of their activities;
• description of the consumer market, their desires, intentions, requirements, opportunities;
• assessment of the possible impact of scientific, social, economic aspects;
• prospects for development in the market.

Essence of the project

This section reveals the idea, the subject of the business plan. It also reflects the level of preparedness of the enterprise to go “into the world”, the availability of all the funds required for this.

The most important provisions in this section:

• primary goals;
• description of the target consumer segment;
• key performance factors for market success;
• a detailed presentation of the product, the characteristics of which must be within the market segment defined above;
• stage of product development (if production has started), patent and copyright purity;
• characteristics of the organization;
• the total cost of the project, indicating the financing schedule by periods and investment amounts;
• required initial expenses for a marketing campaign and the formation of a coherent organizational structure.

Marketing plan

The objectives, goals of marketing policy and methods for solving and achieving them are indicated here. It is important to indicate which task is intended for which personnel, in what time frame it is required to be completed and with the help of which tools. The funds required for the latter also need to be indicated.

Marketing plan is a strategy, a set of sequential and/or simultaneous steps created to attract consumers and provide effective returns on their part.

The investor will be attentive to such points as:

• a well-developed system of comprehensive market research and analysis;
• the planned volume of sales of goods (services) and its assortment, scheduled by time periods until the enterprise reaches full capacity;
• ways to improve products;
• description of product packaging and pricing policy;
• procurement and sales system;
• advertising strategy – clearly formulated and understandable;
• service planning;
• control over the implementation of the marketing strategy.

Production plan

Everything that directly concerns the creation of products is reflected in this part. Therefore, it is advisable to compile this section only for those companies that plan not only distribution, but also production of products.

Points that must be specified:

• required production capacity;
• detailed interpretation of the technological process;
• a detailed description of the operations entrusted to subcontractors;
• necessary equipment, its characteristics, cost and method of purchase or rental;
• subcontractors;
• required area for production;
• raw materials, resources.

It is important to indicate the cost of everything that requires expenses.

Organizational plan

At this stage, the principles of organizational strategic management of the company are developed. If the enterprise already exists, then this point is still mandatory: the compliance of the existing structure with the intended goals is determined here. The organizational part must certainly contain the following data:

• name of the organizational and legal form (individual entrepreneur, JSC, partnership and others);
• an organizational management system that reflects the structure in the form of a diagram, regulations and instructions, communication and dependence of departments;
• founders, their description and data;
• management team;
• interaction with staff;
• supplying the management system with the necessary material and technical resources;
• location of the company.

Financial plan

This chapter of the business plan provides a comprehensive economic assessment of the written project, accompanied by calculations of the level of profitability, payback period, and financial stability of the enterprise.

A financial plan is very important for an investor; here it determines whether a given project is attractive to him.

Here you need to make some calculations and summarize them:

Risk analysis

In a risk analysis, the author must examine the project and identify potential threats that could lead to decreased revenue. It is necessary to take into account financial, industry, natural, social and other risks. At the same time, it is necessary to develop a detailed and effective plan to prevent them or minimize the impact on the company. Therefore, the business plan must indicate:

• a list of all potential problems;
• a set of techniques and tools that prevent, eliminate or minimize risks;
• models of the company’s behavior when events occur that are not conducive to its development;
• justification for the low probability of such problems occurring.

Applications

This is the last link in the structure of a business plan. It includes documents, quotes, sources, copies of contracts, agreements, certificates, letters from consumers, partners, statistical data, calculation tables used in the preparation of this document. It is required to insert links and footnotes to the appendices in the text of the business plan.

General requirements for the document

• it is necessary to write a business plan in clear, precise language, without long and complex formulations;
• desired volume – 20-25 pages;
• the business plan must cover all the information required by the investor in full;
• the document must necessarily be based on real facts, substantiated rational proposals;
• the plan must have a strategic foundation: strict, delineated and complete, with clear targets;
• interconnectedness, complexity and consistency are important features of drawing up a plan;
• the investor must see the future, prospects for the development of the project idea;
• The flexibility of the business plan is a significant plus. If adjustments can be made, amendments to the written project are a pleasant bonus for the investor;
• conditions and modes of control over the functioning of the enterprise should become part of the business plan.

Making a business plan from scratch without the help of a specialist is not easy, but it is possible. It is important to adhere to the above rules, construction structure and avoid mistakes.

The most common mistakes

• Illiterate syllable

The rules of language cannot be ignored. It often happens that the most incredible and promising idea goes into the trash bin along with a bunch of plans of mediocre IP specialists. And all because errors in spelling, vocabulary, punctuation and poor presentation of the text completely discourage any investor.

• Careless design

The design should be the same throughout the document: bullets, headings, lists, font, size, numbering, spacing, etc. Contents, headings, numbering, names of figures and tables, designation of data in graphs are required!

• Incomplete plan

To properly draw up a business plan, you need a comprehensive amount of information. The sections of the document listed above are the minimum that should be unconditionally included in the project.

• Vague plan

The work should be “like in a pharmacy on a scale.” Clear, defined, specific statements of goals and (important!) ideas.

• Too many details

An abundance of technical, financial, and marketing terms will only help in exams. For a business plan, you need to select only the most significant details. If there is a great need for a thorough description of a process, then you can add it to the appendix.

• Unrealistic data

Business proposals like these are based on assumptions. Therefore, the author needs to approach the idea rationally and have a reasonable background, a real reason, supported by calculations.

• Few facts

For each assumption there is its own justification - real, valid. Facts give work meaning and confidence. You shouldn’t create a fountain of facts either, but if you get carried away, then look at the rule about details.

• “We have no risks!”

The main rule: there is no business without risk. There is no such business in which it is “quiet and calm.” The investor knows this, and the author should know this. Therefore, it’s time to come down from the clouds to the ground and study, explore, analyze.

• “And we have no competitors either!”

There is always a competitor, as well as a risk. It can be direct or indirect. Study this topic carefully and meticulously, and a rival will definitely appear on the horizon, waving his hand at you.

• Neglecting outside help

Creating a business plan yourself does not mean doing absolutely everything yourself. Moreover, obtaining a high-quality result is possible through the joint efforts of several specialists. Don't be afraid of helpers!

Useful instructions on how to write a business plan. Take note!

Even if you first asked the question, how to write a business plan, then you understand that it is impossible to get a finished document in 10-15 minutes. However, all the time spent will be fully paid off.

A well-drafted plan will help outline the opening stages, a project development plan, assess the risks of the activity and get help from investors.

Being able to articulate what you want and how you plan to achieve it means doing half the job.

It often happens that a novice entrepreneur, faced with risks that he did not draw up on paper in advance, loses motivation and gives up developing his business. Therefore, you need to pay due diligence and write a competent business plan.

How to create a “Summary” section in a business plan

This part of the document is the shortest; 5-7 sentences are enough.

But its value cannot be underestimated. This is especially true for those who need to draw up a business plan to receive financial assistance from investors or a bank!

The summary should concisely indicate the essence of the project. Depending on how interesting and capacious this section of the business plan is, potential investors will either enthusiastically study everything from cover to cover, or immediately close and put the document aside.

Having outlined your goals, you can move on to specifying practical information, figures and activity forecasts.

We draw up a business plan: company activities

To draw up this section of the business plan, you need to dwell in more detail on the activities of your future company. Moreover, we are talking not only about the name, details, location and other characteristics.

• What goals do you set?
• How should you achieve them?
• If there are several founders, indicate the distribution of roles.
• What will be your competitive advantage?
• What prospects for the development of the business do you see?

Be sure to conduct an analysis of your target audience. It needs to be presented as specifically as possible in order to be able to determine the ways of “enticement”.

A separate item in the business plan should include a description of the product or services provided by the company. This includes any information: from technical parameters to color and packaging design.

How to Analyze a Market Niche When Writing a Business Plan

An analysis of the current state of affairs on the market will help you and potential investors correctly identify a possible niche, potential business risks, customer flow and other important parameters.

The phrases “has no competitors” and “one of a kind” should definitely be avoided when drawing up a business plan. Even if at the time of opening you have a monopoly on the market.

In the case where the services or goods offered really have great prospects for development, tomorrow there may be those who also want to make money on it. This must be taken into account and be able to predict.

If there are already competitors, the situation becomes simpler. You just need to specify them and describe the activity using the following parameters:

• Quantity and names.
• The share that each holds in the market.
  If there are too many competitors (as is often the case in retail), describe the main ones.
• Determine their strengths and weaknesses independently and honestly.
  Based on this data, you need to create competitive advantages for the previous section.
• Describe the advertising methods used and their effectiveness in such activities.

During this work, you also need to isolate the strong behavioral drivers of these firms (pricing, customer acquisition, special services) and use them to grow your business.

How to create a “Production” section for a business plan

Planning without action is a dream. Action without planning is a nightmare.
Japanese proverb

No less important is the section of the plan describing production.

The business plan must indicate how, from what and on what equipment products will be produced or services will be performed. What equipment do you need to achieve your goal, and what do you need to purchase? Technology also matters, especially if you plan to introduce any innovations that no one else has yet introduced.

But what if you do not plan to produce products, but will order them from suppliers?

In this case, you need to indicate from whom you will buy the finished product. All details are important: names of organizations, terms and conditions of delivery, confirmation of reliability.

The main task of this section of the business plan is to convince investors that the activity will not “stop” a day after the start due to the banal lack of necessary materials.

Drawing up the financial section of a business plan

No matter how important all the previous chapters of the plan are, it is impossible to draw up a business plan without financial calculations and you need to pay special attention to them.

You can easily analyze your expenses yourself. They are divided into two categories: opening costs and monthly development costs.

What does it include?

Start-up costs

1. Cost of equipment.
   To describe the equipment, it is worth creating a separate section in the business plan. You need to make a list of equipment, indicate technical characteristics and supplier.
2. Purchase of raw materials and consumables.
   As with equipment, you need to not only list the items and their costs, but also where you will order them. The supplier must be reliable and, in addition, offer the best prices.
3. Paperwork.
   This includes the costs of registering your state of emergency, purchasing a seal, and obtaining permits from the relevant authorities.
4. Repair and decor.
   If the room requires renovation (and most often it does), you need to indicate who will do it and why. Also indicate in the business plan who will supply the building materials.
5. Purchase of premises (only if it is not rented).

Monthly expenses

1. Staff salaries.
   In a separate section of the business plan, you should make a list of positions that will participate in the company's activities. For each, you need to write down your responsibilities, based on the labor code. The salary is also indicated. The total data on regular expenses for paying wages is entered into the corresponding column of monthly expenses. If you plan to increase your salary in the future, as well as conduct training courses and advanced training courses, you also need to write about this.
2. Rental of premises.
   Most ideas for organizing a business require just such a solution. If in the future you want to become the full owner of the premises, look for an option with the possibility of subsequent purchase. As long as the building is leased, you do not risk anything. If the business fails, you simply break the contract. But if it is purchased, if it fails, you will have to suffer significant financial losses.
3. Replenishment of materials.
   Indicate in your business plan what, in what volumes and from whom you need to buy. The list of consumables may include food, stationery, household chemicals and other small related products.
4. Public utilities.
   Most often, utilities are paid separately from the rent for the premises. Therefore, data on the amounts also needs to be entered into the expenses table of the business plan.
5. Tax deductions.
   To analyze the potential income from an activity, you need to study the sales figures of close competitors. It is somewhat easier for those who already have an existing business that requires additional investment. Then it is enough to take the current indicators and calculate their potential growth. Those who have not yet entered the market can make calculations based on data on the future cost of the most potentially popular positions or services.

Based on these data, it’s as easy as shelling pears to calculate the amount of future profit and the time the activity will reach the so-called break-even point.

P.S. Potential investors and bank representatives issuing commercial loans pay particular attention to this data in the business plan.

All the above data must be compiled in the form of tables and placed in a separate application. This makes it easier to study the indicators.

But information about profit growth or the development of sales levels should be presented in the form of a graph. Don’t overdo it, because a curve that suddenly goes from negative to sky-high profit is more likely to arouse suspicion than delight and approval.

We draw up a risk analysis in the business plan

What might be included in this category?

• Decrease in consumer demand for your goods or services.
• Sales level is too low.
• Changes in the economic state of the country (“jumps” in exchange rates, price changes).
• Emergencies (fire, work injury, natural disasters).

All these and other potential risks need to be more than just listed. You need to draw up a business plan for solving them for the company if you suddenly find yourself in such a situation. Such an analysis will help in an emergency to save the business and act correctly. In addition, it instills confidence in your activities and in yourself.

where practical and life recommendations are presented

on the correct preparation of a business plan!

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