A business plan is a written document that defines your business idea, future business venture, and current and future activities and contains ways to achieve it. A business plan or plan of business activities represents “putting on paper” everything important for your entire business venture. The business plan is a tangible “guiding star” through your business because it is the basic document on which investors decide whether to grant you financial resources to start a business.
When you apply to the Investment and Development Fund of the UK, the Employment Agency of the UK or any bank in our country, and request financial resources to start a business, the central document that is read and analyzed in detail is the business plan, on which the outcome depends your credit or loan.
Five reasons why to write a business plan:
1. You will test your business idea through a business plan;
2. Writing a business plan improves the chance of success – because then you see the advantages and disadvantages of your business idea;
3. Collection of financial resources – the more detailed and analytical the business plan is, the greater the chances of receiving funds faster;
4. Increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of planning;
5. Introduction of new: partners, work rules, additional ideas or creation of additional services;
There are many forms for writing business plans, but they differ from institution to institution and of course from the business idea itself. The economist will try to cover as many sections of the business plan as possible in the series of texts “Business plan step by step”.
Previous activities
Before starting to write a business plan, some pre-activities must be carried out, which will make your business plan meaningful.
I advise you to start collecting information about your capacities. This is about the business idea itself, your future and current business, and your potential. Select the main and then potential investors of your business. I think that a good address for investors is the Investment and Development Fund because they have very good credit lines. Special attention should be paid when collecting information about the target market and competition. I remind you to write down every piece of information, even if it is less significant. Without valid information, there are no good inputs for creating a business plan. The validity and reliability of your business plan depend on the accuracy, amount of information and facts available to you. These things may not be decisive for success, but they are certainly important for failure. You cannot realistically plan and develop a business idea based on unverified, bad or missing information.
I believe you are asking yourself: “How to do all this?” You will not go wrong if you do a SWOT analysis.
SWOT ANALYSIS
It is an analysis of the environment or environment, and this implies the research of all important characteristics of both the external (external) and internal (internal) environment, all to identify strategic factors that will determine the future of your business. This analysis serves as your support in decision-making and the very process of formulating a business plan and its strategies.
S – Strength
Strengths determine the strong points of your business, these are some of the questions that should be answered:
– Are there, and if so, what are the unique differences that make your business different from the competition?
– Why should consumers choose your company over the existing competition?
– Do you have products/services that the competition cannot copy for now or in the future?
– What makes you better, unique, and better quality compared to your competitors?
W – Weakness
Weaknesses define weak elements, from your company’s point of view and the consumer’s point of view. Weaknesses are best acknowledged without holding back, these are some of the questions that should be answered:
– What and how does the competition do better than you?
– Are there any risks that your business should be aware of, and if so, what are those risks?
– Has the competition won a properly defined market segment (niche)?
Opportunities (Opportunities)
Opportunities represent an important factor that will determine how an organization can continue to grow in the market. Opportunities are all around us, such as Government policy, social patterns, research, changes in technology and the like. And these are some of the questions you need to have an answer to:
– What are the attractive opportunities on the market?
– Are there new trends that would benefit your business?
– What new opportunities can be predicted for the future of your business? Innovations?
T – Threats
Threats are external factors that your company cannot influence. It is only important that your business is ready to face them even during turbulent situations. Some of the questions:
– Do changes (technological and other) harm the position of your company?
– Are there changes in consumer demand? What are the new needs of consumers and what are the characteristics of new products and services?
– Direct and indirect impact of the economic crisis on your business?
Here are some guidelines for writing a business plan:
– Good formalization and clear writing,
– Research the market in detail – pay particular attention to the needs of target groups and customers,
– Study the competition in detail,
– Clear and realistic financial projections,
– Feasible business plan mission and set strategic goals,
– Visible understanding of the importance of cash flow i
– Write a business plan that is appealing and attractive.
Author: Oxbridge PR