Business planning is about results. You need to make the contents of your plan match your purpose. Don’t accept a standard outline just because it’s there.
What is a business plan?
A business plan is any plan that works for a business to look ahead, allocate resources, focus on key points, and prepare for problems and opportunities.
Unfortunately, many people think of business plans only for starting a new business or applying for business loans. But they are also vital for running a business, whether or not the business needs new loans or new investments. Businesses need plans to optimize growth and development according to priorities.
What’s a startup plan?
A simple startup plan includes a summary, mission statement, keys to success, market analysis, and break-even analysis. This kind of plan is good for deciding whether or not to proceed with a plan, to tell if there is a business worth pursuing, but it is not enough to run a business with.
Is there a standard business plan?
A normal business plan (one that follows the advice of business experts) includes a standard set of elements, as shown below. Plan formats and outlines vary, but generally a plan will include components such as descriptions of the company, product or service, market, forecasts, management team, and financial analysis.
Your plan will depend on your specific situation. For example, description of the management team is very important for investors while financial history is most important for banks. However, if you’re developing a plan for internal use only, you may not need to include all the background details that you already know. Make your plan match its purpose.
What is most important in a plan?
It depends on the case, but usually it’s the cash flow analysis and specific implementation details.
- Cash flow is both vital to a company and hard to follow. Cash is usually misunderstood as profits, and they are different. Profits don’t guarantee cash in the bank. Lots of profitable companies go under because of cash flow problems. It just isn’t intuitive.
- Implementation details are what make things happen. Your brilliant strategies and beautifully formatted planning documents are just theory unless you assign responsibilities, with dates and budgets, follow up with those responsible, and track results. Business plans are really about getting results and improving your company.
Can you suggest a standard outline?
If you have the main components, the order doesn’t matter that much, but here’s the outline order we suggest in Business Plan Pro software:
- Executive Summary: Write this last. It’s just a page or two of highlights.
- Company Description: Legal establishment, history, start-up plans, etc.
- Product or Service: Describe what you’re selling. Focus on customer benefits.
- Market Analysis: You need to know your market, customer needs, where they are, how to reach them, etc.
- Strategy and Implementation: Be specific. Include management responsibilities with dates and budget.
- Management Team: Include backgrounds of key members of the team, personnel strategy, and details.
- Financial Plan: Include profit and loss, cash flow, balance sheet, break-even analysis, assumptions, business ratios, etc.
View an expanded business plan outline
We don’t recommend developing the plan in the same order you present it as a finished document. For example, although the Executive Summary comes as the first section of a business plan, we recommend writing it after everything else is done.
What can help me write a business plan?
It can be helpful to view real sample business plans to get ideas for your own business plan.
This free fill-in-the-blanks business plan template follows the format that is preferred by the SBA and lenders and can be a useful guide when writing your plan.
As mentioned before, reviewing a standard business plan outline can also be a good starting point.
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Business plans are very helpful in every organisation, but could you please highlight the steps
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My question where we have to mention the effect of external enviroment in our business plan.
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My company will take new business in Africa, I am in charge of all HR matter, the start up will not be easy for me and I need your help in setting a plan.
I think a business plan can help to run my job.
Find below some points about what I have to do;
- recruitment of all the staff
- set all procedures and policies
- contact with country authorities (expatraites who will work in that country)
- Initiate a bench
- prepare training program for people to be hired.
I hope receive some help from you. Thank you in advance.
I started my law firm without a business plan (did not know how to make one) until my bank requested one for financing purposes. I submitted one which was acceptable by them. Having read your article, I definitely need to improve my business plan. You may not know how much your article will help me…GIGANTIC ………
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I started a business without a business plan about five years ago and it lasted for one year. Had i gotten a business plan written out i would have still been in business today. I had no knowledge of how to write a business plan. I wish i had found this site earlier.
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Can anyone plz help me out in giving me insights in showing ones plans to an outsider possibly an angel investor. plz email me.
How to prepare the business plan
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After 22 years in business, I actually have seen a business plan for the first time.!! Thanks.
Thank you. Now I can develop training material very easily
Thanks alot have received some useful notes that can help me to establish my own S.B. that I have decided
Dear Tim Berry,
I study how to start own business. our teacher ask us to write a business plan that i have difficulties to find an idea. one on farming and one more in socialising to create an sos village for street children.
many thanks and i wish hearing from you
ambroise
I am very helpful business plan bcoz this topics my unversity assignment so my future bright of important think business plan.I am a student of BBA so this is very important my life and i am help the my country poor pepole own business and Bangladeshi student help the business idea…
Hi am fatima from ghana,I want open a beauty salon, but i need a plan for the start, so please help me about the planing.?thanks you???????
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Thank you for your article. I am a Shanghai girl from China. Although I haven’t started my business, oneday I will achieve it step by step.
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i actualy want to start my own business, by the end of july this year, my problem is im not sure what busines will be good for me? i was thinking of buying a tax franchise or Nando’s one. im a very pasionate about everything i do. but Nando’s will do for me because i know more about Nando’s how to run it and staff. the problem is i need to have close to hundred thousand. im willing start with 60 thousand or else i will have to wait until next year which is not my plan.. please help. Hlengiwe Dlamini
This is an awesome document. Its now going to be very easy for me to give a direction to my business. Thanks a lot
hi i have a dream to open a bigger company but i would like to help me document concern with how to start a business company
thank you.
I am looking to start my own Remedial Massage Clinic in the north east of Victoria. It seems a little competative as there is quiet a few around, I need some help to get a competative edge over other business here. Can you help me with this & my businessplan.
I am looking at starting a new business in maternity wear retail here in Zambia. Can you please help me write a good business plan to my investors. There are no maternity shops in Zambia. Cheers
Audrey Cornhill Goma – contact me at lpuertas (at) hotmail (dot) com about your maternity wear idea. I will be happy to offer you some help.
- Lorenzo
Quite helpful as a guide both for a start up business and for an existing busines.
We ( me & my sister)have been reading to some business plan here, very interesting. I would like to start the Guesthouse business in big city of Gauteng in South Africa. We have already done our marketing analysis, and we are sure we have made the right choice. What we would like you to help us with is drawing up a business plan of our kind of bussiness as we did not see any from your profiles. Please assist as we are prepared to start our business by October 2009.
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