The way you write your plan business will ultimately make or break your business. A detailed, strong business plan gives you a clear image of what lies ahead for your business, allows you to prove your business idea’s validity, and provides insight into your competition and business’s financials. A business plan typically covers three to five years, laying out all your goals and business objectives and how you plan on achieving them. If you’re searching for investors or looking to apply for a business loan, a business plan shows that you’ve vetted your business idea and are well-prepared to dive into the business ownership realm head first.
After all, a business plan is more than just a comprehensive document. Instead, it is a guide that helps you make strategic decisions, analyze and measure your performance, and showcase how you intend to operate and grow your business. In short, if you’re thinking of launching a business or planning on pitching your business idea to potential investors, creating a business plan will increase your chances of success. That said, writing a business plan isn’t an overly complex process. And today, we will share a step-by-step guide on how to writing the perfect business plan.
Table of Contents
1. Write An Executive Summary
The first page of your business plan usually contains an executive summary. Your executive summary should include your business’s mission statement along with an overview of the services and products you intend to offer. Moreover, it should also contain details such as your ownership structure and a short description of your goals and how you intend to achieve them.
If you don’t know how to write an executive summary of your business, you can always enroll in a business-related program such as an online MBA no GMAT required degree. Doing so will allow you to gain essential business skills and write an entire business plan while you cater to your business as well.
2. Include Your Company’s Description
This part of the business plan provides a preview of your business. It contains details such as your business’s registered name, history, nature, more information about services and products you offer or intend to offer in the future, and key players involved in your business.
3. Write An Objective Statement
The next step in the business plan writing process is to write an objective statement that clearly defines your business’s goals and objectives and a strategy that shows how you intend to achieve these goals. For example, If you’re on the hunt for outside investors, you can utilize this section of your business plan to explain the reasons behind requiring funds, how they will help your business, and how you intend to achieve your targets.
4. Include Details About Your Management And Business Structure
In this section of your business plan, you’ll list your business’s legal structure. For example, you’ll clearly state whether you are going for a corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, or an LLC business structure. In addition, you’ll also mention details about key employees, owners, and managers of your business. Furthermore, it should also include details about every owner’s shares if there is more than one shareholder.
5. List Your Services And Products
The next step is to write down details about all products and services your business offers or plans to offer in the future. It should include details such as;
- How your products work
- The pricing for every product or service
- The customers you intend to serve
- How you plan to sell and distribute your products and services
- Why your products and services are better than your competitor’s offering
You should also include information about any pending or current trademarks or patents associated with your services and products.
6. Write Your Sales And Marketing Strategy
Next, you have to write down your sales and marketing strategy. For example, in this section of your business plan, you can discuss how you plan to entice consumers to buy your services and products or how you will ensure your customers stay loyal to your business. That said, it doesn’t have to be a 500-word section. Instead, you can explain your sales and marketing strategy in 50-100 words. Furthermore, you can also highlight your business strengths and summarize what sets it apart from its competitors.
7. Include Your Financial Projections
This section of your business plan is extremely crucial if you’re searching for financing or investors. Your financial projections show how you will generate profits to pay off any loans you acquire. Here, you provide details about your plan business expenses, quarterly sales projections, and profit estimates for at least three years.
Accuracy is the name of the game here. So, ensure you analyze your previous financial statement to ensure you’re as accurate as possible with your future projections. You’d want to show potential investors that your business idea can generate enough income to turn a profit while also covering debt payments. That said, if you’re applying for a loan from a local bank, the loan officer will already know your market well. So, ensure that you don’t provide unreasonable financial estimates.
Writing a business plan is an involved process, and it takes a lot of time and experience to perfect the writing process. However, to ensure that you write a business plan that contains all of your business’s necessary information, consider going through a few completed business plans online. Moreover, by going through every step mentioned in this article, you can write a business plan that’ll make investors gather around your business like bees on honey.
