Thinking of starting a business? You will find one of your first steps towards success is writing a business plan.
What is a business plan?
A Business Plan breaks down in detail your goals and how you will achieve them. So, you should use it to guide you through each stage of your business. After all, your business plan is your roadmap for starting up and managing your business! It should cover how to structure, run, and grow your business by touching on financial, marketing and operational aspects.
When will you need one?
- When you have a business idea and want to get started.
- When you need funding – bank loan, investors etc.
- When the market has changed – Successful businesses all have something in common and that is flexibility. You should always reevaluate and update your business plan to stay successful.
- For example many companies had to change their business plan in the past few months due to Covid-19 completely disrupting the market as we knew it.
Why do you need one?
- You want to apply for funding or get investors.
- To build a strategy and a plan to set your business up for success.
- To test if your business idea is feasible before investing too much into it – this way you can avoid wasting time and most importantly money.
What does a business plan consist of?
There is typically nine parts:
- Executive Summary
- Overview and Objectives
- Products and Services
- Market Opportunities
- Sales and Marketing
- Competitive Analysis
- Operations
- Management Team
- Financial Analysis
For more on this topic check out Key Items Every Business Needs
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