Who can help you draw up a business plan? How to write a business plan yourself: tips and main sections

15Jul

Why I decided to write this article

Because many who ask me questions ask something that at first you shouldn’t even bother about. There are even questions that a person may never face at all. In general, “Woe from Wit” occurs in the minds of many beginning entrepreneurs, and we will “eliminate” this grief in this article. At least I'll try my best. Now let’s talk about mistakes, and then I’ll give you a step-by-step plan as I see it.

Some errors and their solutions

1. Break-even point not calculated

Many people start a business without even calculating how much they need to sell in what period in order to break even. This is important because many business models are cut off at this stage.

Calculating the break-even point is simple. You calculate how many expenses you incur per month and then calculate how much you need to sell goods or provide services per month to recoup these expenses. If the figure is too large and seems unrealistic to you, then it is better not to take on such a business. If you think that you can sell the right amount of goods to cover expenses or start covering expenses in a few months, then you can think about this business further.

Conclusion 1: Until you have a complete financial picture of the business in your head, you cannot borrow money or even use your savings.

2. Everything must be perfect

When starting your business, you want everything to be correct and beautiful: the most modern equipment is purchased, the most functional website is created, the office is renovated, etc.

Striving for better is useful, but there is one “BUT” - before spending money, check the functionality of your business model. When planning to make an expensive website design, first make sure that your services or products are in demand at all.

Or, if you are opening a cafe, before making expensive renovations, try to start selling in the premises you have with minimal investment. If sales continue and the location in a given area of ​​the city generates at least some profit, then you can expand or do some major renovations.

Conclusion 2: Do not invest significant amounts until you are sure that people need the product itself. And there is no need to bring everything to perfection, thereby delaying the start. Start with what you have and gradually develop and improve.

3. Lack of understanding of your future business or simply no love

I personally think that a business should at least be liked. For example, I love every business project I have, and if I didn’t love them, they wouldn’t be profitable.

Some aspiring entrepreneurs write to me with questions like “What to sell”, “What services are profitable to provide”, “What business is profitable to start”, etc. I answer everyone: “Open your own bank.” And no one likes my answer, although it answers all these questions. Every entrepreneur has a different life situation, different interests and different knowledge. If one likes to sell toys, and the other likes to sell men's suits, then they will not be able to switch businesses and be as successful. This is because they don’t understand the model itself and simply don’t feel interested.

Conclusion 3: You can't build a business on an idea just because you just know it's profitable and have no interest in it. Business needs to be understood, loved and “in the know.” For example, I would not be able to open a massage parlor and lead the business to success. Not because I don’t have enough money, but because I don’t know anything about this business.

Where to start your business - 10 steps from scratch

To begin with, I want to say that below I will give 2 plans on how to start your business: complete and simplified. Let's start with the complete one.

Step 1. Business idea

Of course, to start a business, you need to know what exactly to start. I have always said, I say and will continue to say that an entrepreneur must have an idea. If you can’t even come up with an idea, then what kind of business are we talking about? You don't have to be an innovator and come up with something unimaginable. You can take an already working idea, look around, find shortcomings in it, or simply improve it the way YOU see it, and it will be a different business. It is easier to enter an established market than to form it yourself. And the idea doesn’t have to be global; you can start a micro-business or.

In order to come up with or find a business idea, read the following articles and after reading you will 100% decide on the idea:

After reading the articles and coming up with ideas, you can move on to the next step.

Step 2. Market analysis

After choosing a business idea, you need to analyze the market, find out whether people need your product at all. Assess the competition, identify the positive and negative sides of competitors, find in yourself what will distinguish you from your competitors. Compare prices, quality of service, assortment (if this is a commodity business) and look as much as possible for what you can be better at. This is a must. Why? Read!

Once you have assessed supply and demand and realized that you can compete with existing companies, you can move on.

Step 3. Business planning

Step 5. Register your business

This step cannot be skipped because the business must be registered. You can use LLC or individual entrepreneur. It all depends on your activity. The following articles will help you with this:

Once your business is registered, you can move on to the next step.

Step 6. Taxes and reporting

I indicated this step right away, because you must initially decide which tax system you will work under. This must be done immediately, because the amount of taxes and methods of payment depend on this. To do this, read the following articles:

And also read other articles in the section, because there you will always find up-to-date and complete information about maintaining tax and accounting records. You can also ask your question and get an answer from a specialist.

Step 7: Quickly test your idea

Some will say that you can test without registering a business. And you're right! This is possible, but it was not for nothing that I wrote at the very beginning that there will be 2 options for the development of events and in the second I will talk about it. Now let's move on to the testing itself.

What you initially need is quick testing - “testing in combat”. Use your own money to test the idea, give minimal advertising, make the smallest possible product and try to sell it. Study the demand in practice, so to speak. You have to look at your plan, evaluate what you minimally need to get started, and start right away. Why is this being done? At the very beginning, I wrote about one of the mistakes of beginning entrepreneurs, which is delaying the start, constant improvements, etc. There is no need to bring it to perfection, you need to start as quickly as possible in order to test the idea in action, get the first sales and be inspired to continue development.

If the start does not give the first sales, then you need to reconsider the plan, idea and look for mistakes. A quick start is also done so that in case of failure you will spend less time, effort and money. Would you agree that it would be more annoying to prepare for a year and then fail? It’s less offensive to realize your mistakes right away, while you still have little time to do. This way you can make adjustments along the way and everything will start to work out!

To test your idea and your business, it can help you. It is more for testing an idea on the Internet, but it is also suitable for the real sector (offline).

Step 8. Business Development

After the tests have been carried out, the plan has been adjusted and sales have slowly begun, you can develop your business and refine to perfection everything that you wrote in the plan. Now you can improve the site, increase warehouses or offices, expand staff, etc. When your idea and business model have shown their effectiveness, it is easier for you to set more global goals. Moreover, you have already received the first money from your first orders or sales and can reinvest it in development.

If there is not enough money, then here you can already resort to loans and borrowings, because the business brings in money and you can borrow for its development with a clear conscience. If you don’t need a lot of money, then even a credit card may be suitable. In I told you how you can use credit card money for your business without interest.

Step 9. Active promotion

This step could be classified as development, but I took it separately. Once you have wider warehouses, more powerful equipment and website, more employees, etc., you need to provide all this with work. This requires aggressive advertising to the maximum. You should take advantage of many advertising opportunities. Look for clients on the Internet, do offline advertising, engage in direct sales, etc. The more advertising tools you use, the better the result. But be sure to record the results and weed out ineffective advertising tools so as not to waste your budgets.

Step 10. Scaling

Your business is working well, bringing in money, you are constantly developing, everything is great! But there are also related directions or neighboring cities. If your business model is successful in your city, then you can open representative offices in other cities. If there is no desire or opportunity to go to neighboring cities, then you can simply capture an adjacent direction, if there is one at all.

For example, if you sell household appliances, you can simultaneously open a repair service and provide paid repair services. If your client’s equipment cannot be repaired, you can always offer him to buy something from your store in exchange. In general, look at your business and I am sure that you will find something to latch on to.

What else can you pay attention to?

When starting a business, there are several parameters that allow you to evaluate how effective your business is at the start; take them seriously:

If your business's net income is above zero, excluding equipment costs and taxes, then your business will survive because it generates some money. If it is below zero, it means your business is burning money and will not have enough loans and investments;

If you have planned sales for 200,000, but sell for 50,000, then this is a reason to seriously adjust your work and, possibly, the plan itself;

You should be comfortable. Business is hard. If you are also constantly having a hard time, then coping with business tasks will be difficult. Give yourself enough comfort that you don't feel left out by running your own business.

How to start and open your own business using a simplified scheme

As promised, I’ll give you a simplified diagram of how to start your own business. Because I have already described all the points above, so I will refer to them here so as not to repeat myself.

I myself have used this scheme more than once, because before I launched very small projects in which a lot could be missed. So the diagram looks like this:

1. Idea (it should always be there);
2. Easy planning, you don’t have to write it down, but put the main points on a piece of notebook. This is done in order to draw a model;
3. A quick test of an idea. Perhaps even without investing and finding money. Or you will need very little money and it will simply be in your savings;
4. Development and active promotion. After the first orders are received, you can begin active promotion and bring everything to fruition;
5. Business registration and scaling.

As you can see, I missed registration at the very end, because some business projects can be implemented without registration, because during the test you don’t get so much money that you immediately have to run to report to the tax office for it. But if the business model has shown its efficiency and after active promotion the profits are growing, then the registration should be instant.

But even in the first stages you cannot do without registration if you need retail space, an office or work with companies under contracts, because for this you need at least an individual entrepreneur.

Conclusion

In this article, I told you where to start your business, talked about the mistakes that beginners often make and that I made, and now you know what you need to do before starting your business. Read my website, subscribe to it, and try to start doing your own thing. We will not leave anyone on the site without help. Thank you for your attention!

Best regards, Schmidt Nikolay

Business plan for a small business from scratch: recommendations and samples with calculations

How to write a business plan correctly? We share recommendations, convenient methods, samples and calculations.

Business plan- This is the document from which implementation should begin. If you do not first calculate expenses and income, do not take into account demand and the presence of already operating competitors, you can waste your budget. In our article you will find a sample business plan with calculations and learn how to prepare it for yourself.

But when the development of a business plan for a small enterprise is needed specifically for investors, guarantors, and creditors, then the document must comply with the requirements of the Federal Small Business Support Fund. You can learn how to draw up a business plan in accordance with these requirements from, and we will look at the brief structure of the plan here.

Structure of a business plan from the Federal Small Business Support Fund:

If you follow all the recommendations of the Federal Fund for Support of Small Business, then it is quite difficult to draw up your own business plan. But there is another way to calculate the prospects of your project - using the SME Business Navigator.

How to write a business plan yourself

If you decide to open such a store, you will need to find the missing amount of 1.7 million rubles. Of course, you can take out a loan, especially since Business Navigator offers you to choose one of the partner banks. However, we must not forget that such interest-bearing borrowed funds increase the cost of the project and extend its payback period. You need to carefully weigh whether this is worth doing.

If you do not want to attract additional funds to the project, especially borrowed funds, then the navigator will offer to select the type of business based on the volume of investment. We go to the appropriate tab and see an extensive list of projects that you can start using only your own funds. All that remains is to select several areas that interest you and calculate their payback.

Now you know how to make a business plan with calculations for a small business in a specific situation. On the Internet you will find many more methods for writing and drawing up business plans, samples for different businesses (coffee shop, car service center, beauty salon, etc.). But remember - you need a business plan for your specific business, an individual one, and no one has ever written one for you. This video briefly and succinctly describes how to do this “on the fingers of a milling machine operator”:

Only important information for small businesses in our newsletter - subscribe:

Business plan: sample and purpose of the document + reasons for drafting + 5 stages of creation + features of writing for investors and for personal purposes + structure + 15 tips + 7 illustrative examples.

Any actions must be planned and displayed on paper. This is especially true for entrepreneurship. Without business planning, i.e. detailed optimization of resources and determination of further tasks, even an experienced entrepreneur will not be able to achieve his goals.

That's why it's so important to have on hand sample business plan and compose it correctly. This material will help you with this.

Why and who needs a business plan?

There are several definitions of a business plan on the Internet.

Here are the most common ones:

Those. A business plan is a document that describes in detail the ways of its implementation. Thanks to it, you can thoroughly justify your project, evaluate the effectiveness of decisions made from all sides, and understand the feasibility of financing a particular activity.

The business plan shows:

• business development prospects;
• volumes of the sales market, potential consumers;
• profitability of the project;
• upcoming costs for the production and sale of products, supplying them to the market, etc.

A business development plan is a tool that evaluates the final results of activities for a specific period of time. It can be used to attract investors and is necessary in creating a business concept and company strategy.

Drawing up a business plan is one of the important, responsible stages of planning. It is developed both for those enterprises that produce goods and for those whose specialization is the provision of services.

Before writing a business plan, specialists or the owner of the company determine the tasks and means for their implementation. The developed document can attract lenders to implement ideas. For this reason, it is impossible to exaggerate its importance.

Purpose of the business development plan:

• analysis of aspects of entrepreneurship;
• competent management of finances and operations;
• justification for the need to receive investments (bank loans, equity participation of companies in the project, budget allocations, etc.);
• taking into account the financial capabilities and threats (risks) of the enterprise;
• choosing the optimal direction of development.

Entrepreneurs write business plans for the following reasons:

Features of drawing up a plan for personal purposes and creditors

It is important to see the difference between a business plan, which is written for internal use, and a “front door” document, so to speak, to be transferred to creditors.

1. Create a plan for personal goals.

If you intend to use the sample business plan and write it for yourself, please note that it will be in the form of a practical guide to further actions.

In this case, the business development plan should answer the following questions:

1. What activities are you (will you be) involved in?
2. What product/service does your company offer to the market?
3. Who are the consumers, clients?
4. What goals should you achieve?
5. What means are needed to achieve the goals?
6. Who is responsible for completing certain tasks?
7. How long does it take to get it done?
8. What capital investments will be required?
9. What results should the actions lead to?

You need to understand that when drawing up a working document, you need to reflect the real state of things in order to know in which direction to move, what to do, what to strive for.

2. Document for investors.

When developing a business plan to present to creditors/investors, the methodology is different. The person or organization that will finance your enterprise should receive a document detailing the situation and main objectives.

You must convince investors that their money will be used rationally and indicate the benefits for them. A business plan must be drawn up logically, every action must be justified.

If you have doubts in any area, study it more carefully, because lenders will likely have “uncomfortable” questions regarding the program you outline. And the amount of initial investment to open/develop your own business will depend on how you answer them.

Confidence in delivery is also of particular importance. It’s good if you can display statistics in a business plan, citing the example of another company. This will increase your chances of receiving investment.

When writing a business plan, you should adhere to a business style and follow the structure.

Sample business plan: structure

Regardless of the purpose for which you draw up a plan, working with it takes place in 5 stages:

As a business creator, you will have no problem making up the first two points. But what should be the proper structure of a business plan?

Let's look at the main sections, what information they contain and how to compose them correctly.

No. 1. Front page.

It acts as a calling card for itself. It indicates: the name of your company, contact information, address information, phone numbers of the founders.

In addition, the title must contain the contents of the entire document (chapter - page number). When writing your title, be brief and present information concisely.

The total volume of the business plan is about 30-35 pages, including applications.

*Business plan (sample title page)

No. 2. Introductory part of a sample business development plan.

It takes up approximately 2 A4 sheets. The introduction describes the main aspects of your business, its essence, and what advantages it has.

It is necessary to write down why the product/service is attractive to buyers and what the expected profit is. If you intend to raise funds for your business, the introductory part indicates the amount of capital you need.

Typically, the introduction is devoted to the following points of the plan:

The introductory part is compiled last, because it describes the overall picture of the company's activities.
You can fully portray it only after studying all the nuances of the case.

You can study a sample of this and other parts of the plan at the end of this material - examples of this document for the main areas of business are collected there.

No. 3. The main part of a business plan.

The main section concerns the type of activity and all its key points, the cost of the project.

It consists of subsections:

• production;
• financial;
• marketing;
• organizational;
• calculating business efficiency;
• risks.

We will look at them separately.

At the end it follows final part. In it you need to summarize the work done and give a clear definition of the tasks.

Subsections of the main part of business plans

No. 1. Development of the production subsection of the business plan.

The main section of the document is the most capacious. Its subsections describe each aspect of your business.

For example, industrial shows what equipment will be used, what premises you have, how much money you will need to purchase and start a business.

This plan is also designed to allow you to calculate production capacity and determine the likely prospects for growth in production volumes.

In addition, it contains information on the full supply of raw materials, components, and covers issues about the need for labor, temporary and fixed costs of the business.

To ensure that the production subsection of the plan has a clear structure and contains all the necessary information, indicate:

• How streamlined is the production process, are there innovative solutions;
• methods of supplying resources, the degree of development of the transport system;
• a complete description of the technologies and why they were chosen;
• Do you need to buy/rent premises to run a business;
• composition of the required personnel and all data about them, labor costs;
• possible maximum volume of output;
• information about suppliers, subcontractors of the business;
• the cost of each product;
• estimate mentioning current expenses, etc.

No. 2. Development of the financial subsection of the plan.

Financial plan summarizes all the presented data with economic indicators for the business, i.e. in cost terms.

This includes business reports:

• Balance sheet plan (confirming the company’s ability to timely pay its monetary obligations).

About financial results, profits and losses.

It highlights the sources of profit, how losses occurred, provides an assessment of changes in business income/expenses that occurred during the reporting period, etc.

About the movement of money.

This report allows you to see operating results, long-term creditworthiness, and short-term liquidity.

The financial subsection of a business plan is also characterized by the presence of:

• schedules of future financial activities,
• descriptions of likely investments.

Carefully consider the possibility of investing, whether it will be profitable, and the target orientation of the investment. Write how you will return the funds raised into the business.

Try to ensure that the financial part of your business plan includes:

No. 3. Development of the marketing subsection of a business plan.

The marketing subsection concerns the analysis of the sales market for the products manufactured by your company. You must indicate in the plan the size, dynamics and trends of the market, its segments, and conditions.

In addition, the subsection informs about who the consumers of the business’s products are and what product promotion strategy will be used.

Here, consumption volumes are calculated, the estimated share occupied in the market, the levers used to influence demand (advertising campaign, pricing, product improvement, etc.), and business competitiveness are described.

It is necessary to evaluate your product from the consumer’s perspective, why it is attractive, what its consumer value is, whether it is safe to use, and its service life.

When drawing up a marketing plan, rely on the following points:

To draw up a marketing plan, information is taken from the external environment, relevant research and surveys are conducted, and professional marketers are hired to study the market situation.

No. 4. Development of an organizational subsection of the plan.

In terms of doing business, organizational issues are considered no less important. Therefore, in this subsection you are required to describe all the steps that will be taken to implement the project.

For example, as shown in the example in the picture:

It is better to present the information in the plan in tabular form so that the sequence of your actions is clearly visible. It would not hurt to mention the regulatory and legislative acts that regulate the selected industry.

In organizational terms, it is worth describing the management side, the responsibilities of all employees, the system of subordination and incentives (remuneration), and describing the internal regime of the company.

Remember that you need to follow the structure as in the example:

No. 5. How to calculate the effectiveness and probable risks?

In the penultimate sections, you need to give an objective assessment of the company’s performance, show the expected prospects based on the estimate, balance sheet, profitability threshold, and planned sales volume.

The business plan developer must write the payback period, NPV (net present value).

The best option would be to arrange this in a table, as in the example below:

Business risks should also be taken into account. Be sure to indicate in the plan what measures you will take to minimize them if they arise, and what self-insurance program you will resort to.

Experienced business plan authors pay special attention to risks, and consider the likelihood of the worst outcome. Making notes on how to resolve perceived difficulties will make your future work easier. If losses and financial losses occur, you will already know how to compensate for them.

When this section of the business plan causes difficulties, turn to experts for help.

A SWOT analysis of a business is often used for this purpose:

This is a method of identifying external/internal factors that influence business development.

Thanks to it you will be able to appreciate:

• your weaknesses (for example, the need to rent a building, lack of brand recognition),
• advantages (low price, high service, professional staff),
• indicate opportunities (these may include the availability of funds for introducing innovations, the use of modern equipment, coverage of a larger market segment, etc.).

And, ultimately, threats that you cannot cancel occur are considered, for example:

• economic crisis,
• deterioration of the demographic situation,
• increase in customs duties,
• growing political tensions,
• tough competition, etc.

If you provide a clear and justified algorithm for solving risks in the document, this is guaranteed to attract partners and creditors for your business.

15 tips for beginners to competently draw up a business plan

very painstaking and complex. In the process of compiling it, many questions will arise. For this reason, most beginners make mistakes.

To avoid them and make your business plan worthwhile, follow these recommendations:

Before you start writing, it is better to look at more than one example of a business plan.

It’s easy to find illustrative examples on the Internet, and perhaps they will even relate to your line of business.

There is no need to “pour water”, thinking that the document is supposed to be voluminous.

A business plan should contain only important, realistic information that is interesting to investors and useful to you in running your business (as in the samples below).

1. Errors, corrections, and typos are strictly prohibited.
2. The business plan should reflect the possibility of your enterprise reaching a higher level and the strengths of the management team.
3. When developing a business plan, one cannot underestimate competition and possible difficulties.
4. If the information you want to display is sensitive, you should skip it.

Do not complete the document hastily.

Such a plan will not have the desired effect on creditors. If you are composing it for yourself, all the same, it should not look like a draft version.

Use more tables, graphs (as in the samples below).

Providing statistics in this way makes the material more visual.

Market analysis is often inaccurate.

Therefore, approach the marketing section responsibly and collect all the necessary data.

Be sure to include competitive and distinctive characteristics in your business plan.

Throw out too abstruse expressions from your business plan, as well as those that are understood ambiguously and demonstrate your inconsistency.

For example, “a product that has no analogues”, “at the stage of consideration”, “ease of sale”, etc.

Take into account absolutely all business expenses.

Lenders consider this column particularly important. Therefore, they may have a lot of questions for you on such items as staff salaries, taxes, purchase of raw materials, etc.

Don't ignore risk considerations.

As mentioned, this will protect you from problems encountered on the way to achieving your goals, and will also allow investors to see you as a serious, responsible entrepreneur.

5. In your business plan, focus not on the first profit or big earnings, but on a stable cash flow.

Don't forget to include time limits.

Any task has a deadline (a quarter, a year, several years).

If you are not sure that you can complete a business plan on your own, even using the samples below, do not waste money on a specialist.

He understands this issue more than you, so he will draw up the document accurately, without technical, methodological and conceptual mistakes that you may make without proper experience.

A detailed outline of a high-quality business plan with explanations

you will find in this video:

Ready-made business plans (samples) for different areas of activity

The pharmaceutical business does not lose its relevance, because the need for medicines does not disappear. Moreover, most of the family budget, as a rule, goes to medicines.

Because of this, opening a pharmacy is a very profitable business.

Therefore, it makes sense to take a closer look at the example of drawing up such a business plan in this sample:.

If you want to enter a different field, consider opening a cafe.

There are quite a lot of similar establishments and the competition is great. However, the demand for them is growing. If you take into account all the aspects of the arrangement and offer healthy food, you will definitely be successful.

To draw up a document correctly, check out the sample cafe business plan!

The male half of the population may be interested in the idea of ​​organizing a car service center.

The owner of a service station will not be left without income if the repair and maintenance of vehicles is outlined in detail with all the ensuing factors in the business plan.

Women will find it more pleasant to open a beauty salon.

We assure you that, regardless of the number of existing establishments providing cosmetic services, your “enterprise” in the beauty industry will be in demand. This is due to the fact that every client wants the salon to be nearby and not have to travel to another block.

Representatives of the fair half of humanity can delve into trading activities and create a flower shop. The main advantage of the idea is the small start-up capital.

This small business also requires planning. And although flower shops are not exactly popular in Russia, who knows, maybe you will change that.

To do this, you need to draw up a well-thought-out business plan (a sample of which you can study at this link).

Hotel business is a much more complex option, which involves taking into account many factors, especially marketing ones.

If you don’t know what size room you need or what investments are required, get the information you need in a standard sample:
business plan for a hotel.

The process of implementing a farming project is no less labor-intensive. But in this case, you will have the opportunity to receive financial support and benefits from the state.

A good sample plan that can attract public investors, clearly demonstrates the goals, .

The implementation of any idea begins with drawing up a business plan. Without it, it is impossible to determine the necessary tasks and understand the feasibility of investments and costs. Many businessmen needlessly ignore this fact and do not use this useful tool.

If you have no experience in writing, any sample business plan given here will help you understand all the drafting standards, thanks to which you can easily set yourself a guideline for further actions.

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Useful instructions on how to write a business plan. Take note!

Even if you first asked the question, how to write a business plan, then you understand that it is impossible to get a finished document in 10-15 minutes. However, all the time spent will be fully paid off.

A well-drafted plan will help outline the stages of opening, a project development plan, assess the risks of the activity and get help from investors.

Being able to articulate what you want and how you plan to achieve it means doing half the job.

It often happens that a novice entrepreneur, faced with risks that he did not draw up on paper in advance, loses motivation and gives up developing his business. Therefore, you need to pay due diligence and write a competent business plan.

How to create a “Summary” section in a business plan

This part of the document is the shortest; 5-7 sentences are enough.

But its value cannot be underestimated. This is especially true for those who need to draw up a business plan to receive financial assistance from investors or a bank!

The summary should concisely indicate the essence of the project. Depending on how interesting and capacious this section of the business plan is, potential investors will either enthusiastically study everything from cover to cover, or immediately close and put the document aside.

Having outlined your goals, you can move on to specifying practical information, figures and activity forecasts.

We draw up a business plan: company activities

To draw up this section of the business plan, you need to dwell in more detail on the activities of your future company. Moreover, we are talking not only about the name, details, location and other characteristics.

• What goals do you set?
• How should you achieve them?
• If there are several founders, indicate the distribution of roles.
• What will be your competitive advantage?
• What prospects for the development of the business do you see?

Be sure to conduct an analysis of your target audience. It needs to be presented as specifically as possible in order to be able to determine the ways of “enticement”.

A separate item in the business plan should include a description of the product or services provided by the company. This includes any information: from technical parameters to color and packaging design.

How to Analyze a Market Niche When Writing a Business Plan

An analysis of the current state of affairs on the market will help you and potential investors correctly identify a possible niche, potential business risks, customer flow and other important parameters.

The phrases “has no competitors” and “one of a kind” should definitely be avoided when drawing up a business plan. Even if at the time of opening you have a monopoly on the market.

In the case where the services or goods offered really have great prospects for development, tomorrow there may be those who also want to make money on it. This must be taken into account and be able to predict.

If there are already competitors, the situation becomes simpler. You just need to specify them and describe the activity using the following parameters:

• Quantity and names.
• The share that each holds in the market.
  If there are too many competitors (as is often the case in retail), describe the main ones.
• Determine their strengths and weaknesses independently and honestly.
  Based on this data, you need to create competitive advantages for the previous section.
• Describe the advertising methods used and their effectiveness in such activities.

During this work, you also need to isolate the strong behavioral drivers of these firms (pricing, customer acquisition, special services) and use them to grow your business.

How to create a “Production” section for a business plan

Planning without action is a dream. Taking action without planning is a nightmare.
Japanese proverb

No less important is the section of the plan describing production.

The business plan must indicate how, from what and on what equipment products will be produced or services will be performed. What equipment do you need to achieve your goal, and what do you need to purchase? Technology also matters, especially if you plan to introduce any innovations that no one else has yet introduced.

But what if you do not plan to produce products, but will order them from suppliers?

In this case, you need to indicate from whom you will buy the finished product. All details are important: names of organizations, terms and conditions of delivery, confirmation of reliability.

The main task of this section of the business plan is to convince investors that the activity will not “stop” a day after the start due to the banal lack of necessary materials.

Drawing up the financial section of a business plan

No matter how important all the previous chapters of the plan are, it is impossible to draw up a business plan without financial calculations and you need to pay special attention to them.

You can easily analyze your expenses yourself. They are divided into two categories: opening costs and monthly development costs.

What does it include?

Start-up costs

1. Equipment cost.
   To describe the equipment, it is worth creating a separate section in the business plan. You need to make a list of equipment, indicate technical characteristics and supplier.
2. Purchase of raw materials and consumables.
   As with equipment, you need to not only list the items and their costs, but also where you will order them. The supplier must be reliable and, in addition, offer the best prices.
3. Preparation of documentation.
   This includes the costs of registering your state of emergency, purchasing a seal, and obtaining permits from the relevant authorities.
4. Repair and decor.
   If the room requires renovation (and most often it does), you need to indicate who will do it and why. Also indicate in the business plan who will supply the building materials.
5. Purchase of premises (only if it is not rented).

Monthly expenses

1. Staff salaries.
   In a separate section of the business plan, you should make a list of positions that will participate in the company's activities. For each, you need to write down your responsibilities, based on the labor code. The salary is also indicated. The total data on regular expenses for paying wages is entered into the corresponding column of monthly expenses. If you plan to increase your salary in the future, as well as conduct training courses and advanced training courses, you also need to write about this.
2. Rental of premises.
   Most ideas for organizing a business require just such a solution. If in the future you want to become the full owner of the premises, look for an option with the possibility of subsequent purchase. As long as the building is leased, you do not risk anything. If the business fails, you simply break the contract. But if it is purchased, if it fails, you will have to suffer significant financial losses.
3. Replenishment of materials.
   Indicate in your business plan what, in what volumes and from whom you need to buy. The list of consumables may include food, stationery, household chemicals and other small related products.
4. Public utilities.
   Most often, utilities are paid separately from the rent for the premises. Therefore, data on the amounts also needs to be entered into the expenses table of the business plan.
5. Tax deductions.
   To analyze the potential income from an activity, you need to study the sales figures of close competitors. It is somewhat easier for those who already have an existing business that requires additional investment. Then it is enough to take the current indicators and calculate their potential growth. Those who have not yet entered the market can make calculations based on data on the future cost of the most potentially popular positions or services.

Based on these data, it’s as easy as shelling pears to calculate the amount of future profit and the time the activity will reach the so-called break-even point.

P.S. Potential investors and bank representatives issuing commercial loans pay particular attention to this data in the business plan.

All the above data must be compiled in the form of tables and placed in a separate application. This makes it easier to study the indicators.

But information about profit growth or the development of sales levels should be presented in the form of a graph. Don’t overdo it, because a curve that sharply goes from negative to sky-high profit is more likely to arouse suspicion than delight and approval.

We draw up a risk analysis in the business plan

No one will invest money in a project that may fail immediately after the start due to a lack of analysis of potential risks. Therefore, this data also needs to be included in the business plan.

What might be included in this category?

• Decrease in consumer demand for your goods or services.
• Sales level is too low.
• Changes in the economic state of the country (“jumps” in exchange rates, price changes).
• Emergencies (fire, work injury, natural disasters).

All these and other potential risks need to be more than just listed. You need to draw up a business plan for solving them for the company if you suddenly find yourself in such a situation. Such an analysis will help in an emergency to save the business and act correctly. In addition, it instills confidence in your activities and in yourself.

where practical and life recommendations are presented

on the correct preparation of a business plan!

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Before you start implementing your own business, you need to carefully analyze the competitive environment, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the project, calculate the amount of investment and the payback period. Without preliminary preparation, it is impossible to implement a single business project. In this article we will tell you how to write a business plan, what are the nuances of document preparation, and share 10 tips for effective planning.

A business plan is a step-by-step guide that will allow you to clearly follow your goals without deviating from the main idea.

From idea to implementation

Before you start drawing up a document, it is important to understand why it is needed. This document briefly outlines on paper the essence of business activities and describes the implementation of the idea step by step.

A business plan reflects all aspects of activity and helps plan the sequence of actions necessary for the successful implementation of the company's goals.

The document is drawn up for:

• internal use;
• external use.

Moreover, these can be completely two different documents, with different calculations of the payback period, investment, etc.

For external use, a plan is drawn up to show the business idea at its best. This information, as a rule, is intended for investors and business partners, which demonstrates the strengths of the project, shows its quick payback with minimal investment.

For internal use, a more detailed and realistic calculation of risks and possible factors is compiled. All the weaknesses of the process are reflected here in detail, which can reduce profits, increase the payback period, etc.

It is this document that will serve as the main tool for business management and suggest in which direction to move further. The main rule that should be followed when writing an internal business plan is the real picture.

If a document for external use can be slightly embellished in order to advantageously demonstrate the strengths of a business idea, then a document for internal use will serve as a kind of step-by-step guide that will indicate the direction and help calculate all possible risks along the way of implementing the idea.

It is better to start drawing up a business plan immediately with a document for internal use, so that during the creation process you can consider production taking into account its weaknesses, analysis of the competitive market, and identification of risks. Most likely, a lot of information will not end up in a document intended for investors and business partners. But this will be a serious help for you in properly organizing your business.

What is the document?

A business plan describes all the features of the future organization of the business, it reflects an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the business idea, describes possible risk factors and problems, and identifies solution options.

A good business plan is the key to success

Competently drawing up a business plan is the key to the successful future of your enterprise.

The development of an internal document will not only help calculate the overall budget, but will also indicate whether it is necessary to attract investor money. It is important to understand that attracting investors is not always advisable and will have the best impact on the business. Perhaps at the first stage it will be possible to make do with existing capital, and as production develops, think about attracting external investments.

Attracting an investor only at first glance seems to many to be a lifeline that will help launch a project. But sometimes such an investment results in unfavorable terms of cooperation and financial bondage, from which the entrepreneur will not be able to escape for a long time.

On the other hand, significant financial investments from outside in some cases help to take the first step, purchase equipment, rent premises, hire staff, etc. And if, apart from the idea, a novice entrepreneur has no financial resources, then, of course, he cannot do without third-party investments.

How does a business plan help an entrepreneur?

• find a sales market;
• determine development prospects;
• assess the potential market capacity;
• act as a tool for attracting investors and business partners;
• define short-term and long-term goals;
• assess production potential;
• calculate production and commercial costs;
• reflect the performance of the company.

Rules for a successful business plan

1. Never deceive yourself! The biggest mistake in business is misrepresenting data at the initial planning stage. Draw a clear line between two documents: for internal and for external use. And, if a business plan for external use can demonstrate mainly the strengths of the idea, then the internal document must fully reflect reality. It is on the basis of this document that you make a decision on the possible implementation of this idea.

   

2. A resume is one of the key points of business planning. This point is one of the first in the document, but is compiled last. In this chapter, you clearly outline the essence of the business idea, the purpose and mission of the enterprise. Imagine that you were asked to voice the goal and idea of ​​a business in a nutshell. The resume should answer these questions.
3. Do long-term planning. When drawing up a document, keep in mind that the payback may take several years; profit does not always come in the first six to twelve months. And this does not mean that the business idea is unsuccessful. This only indicates high resource costs. Ideally, the plan is drawn up for 2-3 years. Only by the end of this period can one determine how profitable it is to engage in production.
4. Place temporary landmarks in your plan that will serve as kind of beacons indicating whether you are moving in the right direction. This is especially important when long-term planning a large project, the payback period of which is 3-4 years. This is a very important point that will allow you to feel the course of doing business, not to lose heart and objectively evaluate the results that have already been achieved. When planning long-term, mark the entire implementation period into 6-12 points. Calculate how much income the company should generate in 3 months, in 6, in 12? If you deviate from these points, you will be able to assess the factors influencing the decrease in profits, find solutions and correct the situation.

   

5. Realistically assess the weaknesses of a business idea. You should not turn a blind eye to possible risks that could jeopardize your business. In order not to encounter a force majeure situation already in the process of implementing a business, you need to calculate in advance all the pitfalls, calculate the possible consequences and find ways out of the situation in advance.
6. Stick to a clear plan structure. The document should be concise and understandable. This is important on two counts. Firstly, investors and partners will read it, so you shouldn’t write out a 50-page plan. The optimal length for a successful business plan is 15-20 pages. Present information and figures as clearly as possible. Secondly, do not forget that this is a reference book, a guide to action. Therefore, as you work, it should be easy for you to work with it, add and correct existing information.

   

7. If you feel that you cannot draw up a good and competent business plan, attract outside experts. No matter how relevant and attractive your business idea may be from an investment point of view, a poorly drafted document can ruin all your efforts. Starting from searching for investors and presenting the document to them, and ending with a step-by-step strategy towards the implementation of this idea. Therefore, if you feel that you do not have sufficient knowledge in the field of strategic planning, but at the same time clearly understand the purpose and objectives of the future business, turn to professionals.
8. When drafting a document, do not forget about your competitors. This is the first thing you should pay attention to when calculating profits, payback periods and assessing weaknesses. Carefully study the market in this area and identify about 5 main competitors. At the same time, carefully study their products, services, descriptions and prices. Get realistic about their strengths and your key differentiators. This will help to form the right price segment for your own goods/services, and secondly, it will allow you to assess your weaknesses and chart the right course for implementing your business.
9. Describe in detail the organization of the work process and who will manage the enterprise.
10. Do not use a ready-made business plan downloaded from the Internet for your company, even with a suitable type of activity. Each business has its own geographical location, market characteristics and position in the competitive environment. Therefore, it is necessary to create your own plan, which would take into account the specifics of the region and include a thorough analysis and calculation of financial risks.

Today, experts work with several classifications of business plans and mainly distinguish them according to the following criteria:

1. The type of plan is determined depending on the field of activity for which the project is being developed. It could be:

• organizational;
• technical;
• investment;
• social;
• economic;
• mixed business plan.

1. A business plan is determined by class depending on the size of the object. It could be:

1. Depending on the scale of the plan, there are regional, sectoral, state, and national.
2. According to the project implementation period:

• short-term (less than three years);
• medium-term (3-5 years);
• long-term (more than 5 years).

1. The nature of the sphere is divided into educational, organizational, research, etc.

As mentioned above, when starting to write a document, you should immediately determine what type of plan is being developed: internal or external.

There is a distinction between an internal production plan, which is written to modernize or expand production, and a marketing plan, the purpose of which is to improve the company’s position in the market, reach the next level, etc.

The internal manufacturing business plan should take into account the following points:

• analysis of the technical condition of the enterprise;
• the need to modernize production;
• development of measures to implement modernization;
• information about the resources that should be involved in the modernization program;
• risk analysis and solutions.

Outline of a standard business plan

A standard business plan consists of the following chapters:

1. Resume.
2. General provisions.
3. Product Description.
4. Marketing and strategic plan.
5. Production plan.
6. Organizational plan.

When studying the document, investors will pay attention to the following points:

• market analysis;
• planned volume of sales of goods, its assortment;
• description of product packaging;
• pricing policy;
• procurement and sales system;
• advertising strategy;
• control over the implementation of marketing strategy.

Regardless of the scope of activity of the future enterprise and the direction of the business, the document has its own standards that must be relied upon when drawing up a plan.

1. Justification of economic feasibility.
2. Analysis of the economic environment in which the business will develop.
3. Financial results (sales volume, revenue and profit).
4. Sources of financing.
5. Task execution schedule.
6. Attracting personnel.
7. Economic indicators that allow monitoring intermediate results.

How to write a business plan yourself: detailed step-by-step instructions

Before writing a business plan, prepare a title page.

The following parameters are specified here:

1. Resume.

This section contains the most important part of the document about the company being created. The goal, short-term and long-term plans for the company’s development, and the specifics of the product or service being created are indicated here.

This paragraph must necessarily contain information about the amount of required investment and an indicator of efficiency.

Despite the overview information, it is the resume that investors and business partners pay attention to first, so when writing this paragraph, be sure to adhere to the principle of conciseness.

1. General provisions (description of the company + information about the founders of the company)

It describes the main activities of the enterprise, mission, goal, organizational and legal aspects.

In this chapter you need to provide information about the author of the business idea, the company responsible for its implementation (name, legal address, share in the authorized capital), partners.

This chapter reflects the principles of organizational strategic management of the company.

The organizational part must necessarily contain the following data:

• name of the organizational and legal form (individual entrepreneur, JSC, partnership and others);
• management system, leadership structure, interrelationship of departments;
• founders, their description and data;
• management team;
• interaction with staff;
• supplying the management system with the necessary material and technical resources;
• location of the company.

This chapter not only monitors the competitive environment with a detailed analysis and description of the main players in this market. Here the possible risks are calculated.

This chapter evaluates:

• target audience of the product;
• geographic location of competitors;
• market capacity;
• consumer interests.

When assessing the degree of financial risks, it is advisable to use an analysis scheme where the following data is filled in: name of the threat, essence, options for minimization and financial costs.

If problems arise with conducting market analysis, there are special companies where you can turn to for this service, but experts recommend that the entrepreneur still figure out this issue on his own, since any third-party companies will provide only an objective average result, not fully taking into account the business plans of small businesses and all the nuances of the business idea of ​​the project author.

When drawing up a business plan, you must clearly remember that it must correspond to the tasks and goals of the enterprise and directly provide answers to specific questions.

When carrying out strategic planning, you should conduct a SWOT analysis, which evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the project, development opportunities and threats (risks) that may arise in the implementation of the idea.

Strengths typically include:

• novelty of the product (service);
• inexpensive resources (as a result, low cost);
• professional team;
• creative and high-quality packaging, etc.

The weaknesses of the project include:

• low advertising effectiveness;
• lack of novelty of the service (product);
• lack of warehouse;
• low efficient transport logistics;
• high cost of goods, etc.

When conducting a comprehensive market analysis, it is necessary to take into account all aspects and factors: political, economic, social, etc.

What threats can influence the low efficiency of business development? These may be strong competitors, customs and government clearance, market instability in this industry.

But potential opportunities include the likelihood of obtaining a new product, changes in legislation, and increased professionalism.

1. Description of the product or service.

Describes in detail the product, its technical features, the possibilities of using the product (service), the degree of relevance and novelty of this proposal.

The level of readiness for a given product (service) to enter the market is determined.

1. Marketing and strategic plan.

When compiling this section, it becomes clear how to attract customers and expand sales channels. Here you can calculate in great detail the ways to sell products, ways to attract customers, and in the future this part of the business plan will become a step-by-step guide to action.

In this part it is important to reflect the following aspects:

• distribution channels;
• pricing;
• ways and methods of sales promotion;
• advertising;
• image creation;
• technical and post-sales service.

Particular attention should be paid to pricing, which is one of the key factors in the success of a business idea.

Consider the following points:

• the price of the product must be higher than its cost;
• the market must determine the price itself;
• it is the price that will determine the maximum profit margin.

It is a mistake to believe that a cheap price will stimulate successful business development. It must clearly meet the quality of the product, demand and take into account the market analysis that you will conduct in the previous section.

This section must contain information about production costs.

It is necessary to take into account everything that should be included in the cost of the product:

• transport services;
• taxes;
• public utilities;
• wages;
• raw materials;
• rent, etc.

When calculating potential profit, we take the formula:

Profit = income from sales – costs.

If at this stage of planning you do not take into account any part of the costs, it is difficult to talk about the correct calculation of profit and payback period.

When determining product pricing, marketers use several classic schemes:

1. Scheme No. 1 “Following competitors.” This option is relevant if an entrepreneur enters a market where the capacity of a given product or service is dense. The disadvantage of this behavior is that by focusing on the leader’s company, you lose the ability to control situations. Today the leading company can offer such a price, but tomorrow, having modernized its production, the competitor will reduce prices, and you will not keep up with it and, as a result, will suffer a loss.
2. Scheme No. 2. "Profit + costs." This method will be effective if there are no competitors in the market as such.
3. Scheme No. 3. "Cost-marketing". This method combines price formation and analysis of the cost of goods. The price is largely influenced by the cost factor from marketing.

Advice! When writing this section, you must understand that, in principle, you cannot release a product or service to the market that your competitors do not already have. But you can offer the product to the desired category of customers. It is on this concept that most successful business plans are built.

When describing product sales channels, you must be guided by the principle of the “Four Hows”.

• How to find clients?
• How to interest them?
• How to sell a product?
• How to satisfy the client's needs?

When determining your target audience, you need to consider the following:

• gender, age and marital status;
• geography of residence;
• social status;
• income level;
• occupation and hobbies.

Advice! Don't overload this part of the plan. As a rule, SWOT analysis and market analysis takes up a very large part of the entire business plan and it becomes difficult for investors and partners to study it. Use graphs and tables for this part of the document.

1. Production plan.

Don't confuse a production plan with a production process. This section of the document provides answers to specific questions:

• production technology;
• what capacities will be used;
• where the production will be located;
• on what conditions and how the raw materials will be purchased;
• how control over product quality will be carried out;
• who will be involved in performing production tasks.

The main task of this section is to confirm with calculations that the company being created is able to actually produce the required quantity of goods (services) in the required time frame and with the required quality.

This part describes the cost pattern in detail. It is better to use graphs and diagrams to clearly see the entire cost part.

Prepare your estimate as follows:

• purchase of fixed assets;
• purchasing materials;
• rental costs;
• utility costs;
• expenses for the purchase of auxiliary consumables;
• wage fund;
• current expenses.

1. Financial plan and investments.

This part of the plan is one of the most important, and investors will look at it first when getting acquainted with the project (after the summary).

This chapter reflects the real picture of the viability of a business idea.

The section provides for planning expenses and investments for business expansion. The owner needs to develop a sales volume plan and different scenarios, each of which must be calculated:

• favorable – with good consumer demand;
• unfavorable – when low;
• pessimistic.

Here it is necessary to reflect information about the possible costs and income of the project, attach a schedule with the required investments, a schedule with the repayment of these investments, etc.

The final stage of the financial plan is the calculation of business profitability.

Additional chapters of the business plan

In some cases, it is advisable to draw up a Memorandum of Confidentiality. This document is necessary to protect the copyright of the idea and business plan. As a rule, such a document is resorted to when the author submits an innovative business idea.

This document reflects the prohibition on the dissemination of information and copyright protection.

There may also be an instruction prohibiting copying, duplicating the document, or transferring it to another person, or a requirement to return the read business plan to the author if the investor does not accept the agreement.

Remember that a business plan is a kind of advertising business card for your business, so pay great attention to its writing and design.

Divide the chapters according to functionality, do not overdo it with tables and graphs, but at the same time give them a lot of attention.

A plan written in continuous text will also not attract attention and will not allow you to quickly find the sections of interest.

Video. How to write a business plan from scratch

What’s better: order a business plan from professionals or write it yourself

Many aspiring entrepreneurs who are just starting out on their own business path begin to panic before developing a business plan.

Considering the key role of this document and the importance of its information, many entrepreneurs order such a document from third-party organizations that provide this service at a professional level.

Is this correct from a business point of view?

On the one hand, a well-drafted business plan is the key to successful business and an effective tool for attracting investors. But on the other hand, having ordered a document from a third-party organization, the entrepreneur does not understand the essence.

As a rule, companies that provide services for writing a business plan work according to a template, and no one will analyze the market and competitive environment as scrupulously and thoroughly, identify the strengths and weaknesses of the company, assess possible risks and ways to solve problems, as the owner himself companies.

Often, when turning to an agency for writing such documents, the owner of a business idea receives a Talmud of 100 pages, which reflects the essence of the business in very vague and general phrases, without going into its specifics.

What to do in this situation? You can order purely mathematical and investment calculations from a specialized company that reflect projected profits, payback, etc.

But it is better for the business owner to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the business idea, a description of possible risks and prospects himself. Only he will be able to do this specifically with reference to the specifics of the company and assess its real potential.

To make it easier for you to develop and write a competent, clear and understandable plan, let's look at the main mistakes that novice entrepreneurs make when drawing up such documents:

Mistake #1. Illiterate syllable. Sometimes even the most promising business idea can die at the inception stage just because of mistakes in the business plan. No investor or partner will accept a document written with grammatical or punctuation errors.

Mistake #2. Careless design. The document should be clear, contain structure, and numbered chapters and pages.

Mistake #3. Incomplete information. We have analyzed a detailed list of all chapters that must necessarily be contained in the document. Incomplete information can distort the meaning of a business idea.

Mistake #4. Too much unnecessary information. Try to succinctly and clearly answer the questions posed in the document and not go into the smallest details, stretching the plan to 100 pages.

Mistake #5. Distorted data. Wanting to attract investors and demonstrate a business idea in a favorable light, many authors provide unrealistic data that is immediately visible. Stick to clear data and calculations.

Mistake #6. No risks. Silence about weaknesses and risks only indicates weak analysis. In fact, there is not a single industry in business where no risk exists.

To make it easier to draw up a plan and clearly reflect all the necessary data in it, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the video instructions.

Video. How to write a business plan