Your business plan should provide details of how you are going to develop your business, a time scale, job roles within the company and the financial side of the business.
An executive summary – this is an overview of the business you want to start. Lenders and investors will pay a lot of attention to your executive summary, so it has to be clear and strong.
A brief outline of the business opportunity – introduce yourself, what are you selling, what are your ideas behind the product, and who do you want to sell the product to.
Your marketing and sales strategy – why you think people will buy what you want to sell and how you plan to sell to them. See the pages in this guide on your markets and competitors and marketing and sales.
Your management team and personnel – your credentials and the people you plan to recruit to work with you. See the page in this guide on your team’s skills.
Where the work will be carried out – the location, the facilities you will have, your staff and the technology you will have to use.
Financial predictions- it is important to have an accurate, clear account of how much money you will need. You will need to make sure the figures correlate and that a clear explanation of where the money will be going is given.
It is important to be able to explain clearly what your business does, this is very important when applying for a business loan or grant. You want to inspire confidence in the investor. It is important to set your vision for your new business and what you have to offer, also the audience you want to address. It is best to start with an overview of your business.
- when you started or intend to start trading and the progress you have made to date
- the type of business and the sector it is in
- any relevant history – for example, if you acquired the business, who owned it originally and what they achieved with it
- the current legal structure
- your vision for the future
Then describe your products or services as simply as possible, defining:
- what makes it different
- what benefits it offers
- why customers would buy it
- how you plan to develop your products or services
- information about any patents or trademarks you may have
- the key features of your industry or sector
You should try to mention about your market and what you feel your position in it is. At this point, it is worth showing some of your own Market Research that you have carried out. It is important to let them know that you are up to date with the current market and perhaps to explain what part of the market your product will fit into. It is always good to provide information about the trends that are out there in market at the moment. You need to explain how you will be able to draw in customers despite other competitors.
It is important to know your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses as compared to your own -and to show analysis of this. You should also demonstrate that you have considered and drawn up contingency plans to cover alternative scenarios.
You have to be prepared for questions and perhaps the investor questioning your plan. So it is important to be precise and not to over complicate points.