Starting a Business Business Plan

Planning to succeed? Don’t forget, if you fail to plan – you plan to fail!!

Step-by-Step Business Plan publicationOne of the most important steps you can take when starting a business is to do a business plan. This is the roadmap for your exciting journey into the business arena. If you don’t set goals and targets you will loose focus, and if you don’t plan ahead you can find yourself making ‘crisis management’ decisions without enough time to consider the alternatives.

All business plans are different and yours will be unique to your business. Some are long and full of information, while others are short and to the point. It will depend largely on what you want to achieve with your finished product.

If you’re using your business plan to support an application for finance you will need a very strong financial strategy. If you’re using it for marketing purposes to convince a potential client that they should deal with your business then your market research will need to be thorough. Maybe you’ve decided to bring in a new partner to strengthen and expand your business, then your business plan would need to clearly outline the expansion process and your long term goals. These are just a few examples.

To make your task easier the SBDC’s 2 hour “Intro to business planning” workshop will provide a good start and you get the excellent “Step-by-step business plan” publication for free. This is written in a question and answer format, so as you answer the questions, you’re writing your business plan.

Here is the Table of Contents to help get you started.

Model Business Plan

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
    Purpose of Business Plan
    Objectives of Business


  2. Executive Summary
    Current Analysis
    Profit Projections
    Capital Funding Requirements
    Key Factors

  3. Industry Analysis Overview of the Industry
    Industry Characteristics
    Economic Trends
    Consumer Trends
    Social and / or Political Considerations
    Price Sensitivity of Industry

  4. The Business
    Resume of Owner(s) / Proprietor
    Organisation Structure - Sole Trader,Partnership,Pty Ltd,Trust Company, etc
    Main Activities
    Location
    Starting Capital
    Unique Features
    Business Advisers
    • Accountant
    • Solicitor
    • Banker
    Strengths and Weaknesses
    People Relationships
    • Customers
    • Staff
    • Suppliers
    Past Performance
    Current Performance/Overview

  5. Product Range/Service
    Product Description
    Strengths / Weaknesses
    Opportunities
    Threats
    Future Development

  6. Manufacturing/Production
    (For manufacturing concerns)
    Quality Control
    Strengths / Limitations
    Expansion
    Capacity
    Scheduling
    Equipment Requirements
    Material Requirements
    Human Resources

  7. Marketing
    Marketing Strategy
    Target Market
    Customer Profile
    Market Size
    Market Share
    Market Potential
    Key Factors Influencing Market
    Pricing Policy
    Competition
    Research and Analysis
    Advertising and Promotion
    Sales and Distribution

  8. Financial Information
    Current Position
    Income and Expenditure Projection
    Profit Budget
    Balance Sheet
    Cash Flow Forecast
    Break Even Analysis
    Sources of Finance
    Capital Requirements
    Timing and Stages of Finance
    Fixed Asset Requirements

  9. Management and Staffing Strategy
    Key Management
    Staffing Requirements
    Duties and Responsibilities

  10. Supporting Documents and Miscellaneous
    Legal Documents
    Leases or Contracts
    Letter of Intent
    Research Documents
    Patents or Trademarks

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