What is a business plan and how to write one

Drawing up a business plan for an enterprise is a very painstaking work that requires a significant amount of time, effort and knowledge. But this work is necessary, because a poorly presented idea for entrepreneurial activity can cut down an attractive project at the root. Writing a business plan is necessary when you start a new business, implement a business idea for beginners, expand an existing company or enter new markets, as well as if you are looking for investors.

Content of the article

Business Plan Development: Basic Techniques

There are two main development methods:

- with the involvement of an outsourcing company.

If you are creating a business from scratch or want to expand it, think about it, maybe it is worth contacting an outsourcing or consulting company, which has experienced financiers and managers on staff. In this case, to write a business plan, you will be asked for the following data:

1) The main goals and objectives for which funding is needed.

3) The market in which your company operates.

4) Main items of expenditure.

For small businesses, it may be best to develop a business plan yourself. Naturally, it will be cheaper. In its basic concept, this document contains an assessment of the company's need for financing. It is described using verbal and numerical indicators. A business plan for a small business should include:

- what is the essence of your business, what is your strategy and goals;

- what you will produce or sell;

Drawing up a business plan is a top priority for anyone planning to start their own business. Such a plan will be a platform for future work. People who ignore developing a plan before starting an investment are taking significant risks. We can say with confidence that at the first stages of “setting up” a business, they face a lot of difficulties that can be eliminated when developing the aforementioned document.

It is the preparation of a business plan from A to Z that is the topic of today's publication. We will tell you what a business plan is, how to write it, in what situations it is most expedient to draw up it, and, of course, we will consider the typical structure of a document.

Business plan and its purpose

Before talking about how to draw up a business plan correctly and what this document is for, let's define this term.

A business plan is a document that describes the key points related to the work of an enterprise planned to open. The document provides meticulous analysis and calculations. In particular, the expected prospects, probable problems and the best ways to solve them. The document can be called an instruction, which spelled out a business idea, the mechanisms for its implementation, as well as set specific goals and developed algorithms for their achievement.

The document under consideration allows you to solve several important tasks:

• analysis of sales markets and the work of competitors, as well as the relevance of a business idea;
• assessment of probable profitability;
• identification of possible risks and problems and finding ways to solve them;
• setting benchmarks.

The document is drawn up based on the requirements, which we will talk about next. In addition, it is recommended to make proper calculations for each specific investment project. Creating a business plan on your own or with the involvement of experienced specialists is the first step for a successful start, regardless of the chosen field of activity.

Conventionally, each drawn up plan has its own classification. As practice shows, the creation of such a plan is most relevant in the following situations:

• In order to attract investment, when a document is drawn up for a loan or subsidy, a grant and the interest of potential co-founders. A step-by-step business plan for an investor assumes the main goal of demonstrating the viability of an investment project and efficiently solving financial issues. It should pay attention to the formulation of the problem and its solution. An investment plan is distinguished by clarity, consistency, consistency and accuracy. It is important to emphasize the rationality of the actions planned at all stages of the project implementation. An investment plan should only contain facts.
• For self-starting a business. This plan is developed if you plan to open your business without attracting outside investors, relying on your own capabilities and strengths. On the basis of the developed plan, in the future, certain actions will be taken aimed at the successful implementation of the project. This plan will allow at the initial stage to determine all the positive and negative aspects of the project, but most importantly, the feasibility of its implementation in general.

Important! Experts recommend creating a business plan with a clear structure and elaboration of actions. You should not enter incorrect and false information into it. Subsequently, this can affect the activity of investors and the successful development of your enterprise.

Another recommendation of the experts is as follows: it is highly desirable to draw up a business plan for 2-3 years. Moreover, it is advisable to break the first 12 months into stages, where actions will be scheduled in each specific period of time. For the next period of one year, the duration of the stages increases (up to 3-4 months). And only then to determine the indicators for the full calendar year.