Your business plan is going to be presented to potential investors, partners, or lenders and will help you find the necessary funding to pursue your venture. It needs to be clear, concise, and accurately outline your product roadmap to success.
If you have an idea in mind but aren't sure where to start, take a look at these seven key components of a successful business plan.
- Summary Of Your Business
Often referred to as the executive summary, the business summary should be at the top of your plan.
Describe your expectations for your business, including what you hope it will accomplish. This is meant to provide insight into what the rest of the business plan will cover.
An executive summary should explain what your overall mission is and what products and services you plan to offer. During this interview, you could discuss your own experience in the industry and highlight past successes.
Then, briefly describe your company. Here, you should provide key information about the business, including its goals and target market.
- Analyses Of Market And Competition
Your business plan should also include an analysis of your intended market and competitors.
In terms of the market, you need to demonstrate that you are familiar with the industry and the specific market you are aiming for. Your business must be supported by plenty of data and statistics, including the current market status, future projections for the market, and how your business will fit into that framework. You should also include details about who your target audience will be, as well as extra information, such as their income level.
When it comes to analyzing your potential competition, your business plan should show a comparison between both direct and indirect competitors. Here, showcase their strengths and weaknesses and how you think your company is likely to stack up against them.
Include any potential obstacles that may prevent you from breaking into the market, such as high initial costs.
- Business And Organizational Structure
In addition to the market analysis, you need to outline the organizational structure of your business. Include a summary of all staff and stakeholders, their skills, and their job responsibilities.
A diagram might make this easier to understand. Then, you should indicate whether your business will be a partnership or a sole proprietorship. You will need to name each member of your Board of Directors if you plan on having one.
You can also outline your staffing requirements here, as well as how they may change as you grow.
- Products And Services
This is your chance to go into more detail about the products and services you will provide. Please add any extra information here so that whoever reads your plan will have a clear picture of what you will create and sell.
You should also mention the lifespan of your product and how it will fill a market need. You can use market research to illustrate your point and to show how your product will fill a niche.
Your suppliers are another good point to mention here. Include how much it will cost to produce a product or provide a service, as well as how you plan to allocate your profits.
- Marketing And Sales Strategy
The purpose of this section is to describe how you will let people know about your business and what it has to offer.
As you work through your initial marketing strategy, you need to pinpoint the steps you plan to take to market your company. As soon as you have a clear understanding of the steps, you can create a marketing budget that can be incorporated into your business plan.
How you intend to sell your product then needs to be included in your sales strategy. Include as many specifics as possible, such as how many sales representatives you initially plan to hire, where you plan to hire them, and how you plan to hire them. Provisional sales targets are also a good idea.
- Funding
Since getting funding is never easy, you must devote this section entirely to explaining how much money you need and what you plan to do with it.
Your business plan should mention whether you will require additional capital in the future. Investors need to know if you will need additional capital to fund growth, or to complete a project.
- Financial Projections
Your financial projections should make up the seventh and final component of your business plan. You will need to discuss the goals and expectations that you have set, based on the market research you completed.
Additionally, you should include a report showing what your projected revenue for your first year of business is, as well as any projected earnings in your second to the fifth year of business.
Investors can also see a clear ROI here, but don't overestimate or inflate them. Always err on the side of caution.
An Added Extra- The Appendix
An appendix is not necessary for your business plan template, but it’s useful if you want to add any extra information you feel is of value.
Include any data or research you completed, as well as information about yourself, your partners, or your overall vision for your business.
