How to write a business plan yourself correctly?

It is a document that highlights all the characteristics of a future organization, analyzes possible problems and risks, predicts them and methods by which they can be avoided.

Simply put, a business plan for an investor is an answer to the question "Do I need to finance a project or send it to the trash?"

Important! The business plan is drawn up on paper, taking into account some rules and regulations. Such presentation of the project materializes your idea to some extent, shows your desire and willingness to work. Also, the design on paper makes it easier for the investor to perceive the idea.

Self-preparation of a business plan

It is not so difficult to draw up a business plan yourself, you just need to carefully consider the idea. Before you grab a calculator and calculate your income, you need to take a few steps.

Identify the "pros" and "cons" of the idea. If the number of "minuses" goes off scale - do not rush to give up. Some aspects can be turned in the opposite direction, think about ways to solve such "disadvantages".
Competitiveness and market stability are important characteristics.
The sales market needs to be thought out to the smallest detail.
The payback of the product (service) and the time to receive the first profit will allow you to determine (approximately) the required amount for investment.

If, after such a superficial analysis, you do not feel like giving up your brainchild, then it's time to take a blank slate and start creating a business plan.

It's important to know! There is no single structure and step-by-step instructions on how to calculate a business plan. Therefore, the presence and order of items included in the plan is determined independently. However, experts have established the most optimal variant of the plan structure. If there is no experience in drawing up such documents, you need to use these recommendations in order to correctly compose the work.

The structure and procedure for drawing up a business plan

The structure of a good business plan, according to economists, should include 12 points. Each of them is described below.

Title page

The following parameters are specified here:

name of the project;
the name of the organization where the project is planned to be implemented, indicating phone numbers, addresses and other contact details;
the head of the above organization;
developer (team or leader) of a business plan;
date of preparation of the document;
it is allowed to put on the first sheet of the most significant indicators of financial calculations for the project.

This document is required for copyright protection of the idea and business plan. This reflects the reader's awareness that he is not entitled to distribute the information contained in the document without the permission of the author. There may also be an indication of the prohibition of copying, duplicating a document, transferring to another person, a requirement to return the read business plan to the author if the investor does not accept the agreement.

An example of a confidentiality memorandum can be seen below.

The next 2 sections of the plan - "Brief summary" and "The main idea of the project" - are introductory. They can be used as a preliminary offer (for review) to partners and investors, until negotiations are scheduled.

Brief summary

Although a short summary of such a document is at the beginning, it is written at the final stage, as a result. A resume is an abbreviated description of a project idea and a list of the most significant characteristics of the financial component.

The following questions will help here, answering which you can get a great resume:

What product does the company plan to sell?
Who would want to buy this product?
What is the planned sales (production) volume for the first year of the company's operation? What will be the revenue?
How much is the total cost of the project?
How will an enterprise be formed according to its organizational and legal form?
How many workers are planned to be attracted?
What is the required amount of capital investments for the project?
What are the sources of funding for this project?
How much is the total profit (profitability) for a specific period, the payback period, the amount of funds at the end of the first year of operation of the enterprise, profitability. Net present value.

It's important to know! The resume is read by the investor first. Therefore, the further fate of the project depends on this section: the investor will either become interested or bored. This part should not exceed 1 page.

The main idea of the project

What is the main project goal?
What are the tasks of the enterprise to achieve the main goal?
Are there barriers to your goal and how to get around them?
What exact actions does the author propose to perform in order to achieve a result and achieve a goal as soon as possible? What are these terms?

Important! It is necessary to provide clear, real and explicit arguments that confirm confidence in the profitability and success of the project. The volume of this part is optimal within 1-2 pages.

In the same section, it is customary to use the conducted SWOT analysis. – assessment of strong, weak features of the enterprise, opportunities (prospects), as well as possible threats. It is unlikely that it will be possible to make a business plan correctly and most fully without such an analysis.

The SWOT analysis reflects 2 sides that affect the life of an organization: internal, which concerns the enterprise itself, and external (everything that is outside the company that it cannot change).

Do not forget: you describe the company, not the product! A common mistake of authors is that they begin to write the characteristics of the product in the “strength” column.

Here are the parameters you can use to describe strengths or weaknesses:

high-tech production;
service and after sales service;
multifunctionality of the product (without affecting its specific properties);
the level of qualifications and professionalism of employees;
the level of technical equipment of the enterprise.

External factors ("opportunities" and "threats") include:

market growth rates;
the level of competition;
the political situation in the region, country;
features of legislation;
features of the consumer's solvency.

Example

Characteristics of the industry on the market

the dynamics of sales of similar products in the industry in recent years;
the growth rate of the market sector;
trends and features of pricing;
an exhaustive assessment of competitors;
search and indication of new and young enterprises in the industry, as well as the characteristics of their activities;
description of the consumer market, their desires, intentions, requirements, opportunities;
assessment of the possible impact of scientific, social, economic aspects;
development prospects in the market.

The essence of the project

This section reveals the idea, the subject of the business plan. It also reflects the level of preparedness of the enterprise for going out, the availability of all the funds required for this.

The most important provisions in this section:

primary goals;
description of the target consumer segment;
key performance factors for market success;
detailed presentation of the product, the characteristics of which must be within the framework of the market segment defined above;
product development stage (if production is launched), patent and copyright purity;
characteristics of the organization;
the total cost of the project, indicating the financing schedule by periods and investment amounts;
the required expenses of the initial period for the marketing campaign and the formation of a well-coordinated organizational structure.

Marketing plan

The tasks, goals of marketing policy and methods of their solution and achievement are indicated here. It is important to indicate which task is intended for which personnel, in what time frame it is required to complete it and with the help of what tools. The funds needed for the latter must also be indicated.

Marketing plan Is a strategy, a set of sequential and / or simultaneous steps, created to attract consumers and provide effective return on their part.

The investor will be attentive to such points as:

well-developed system of comprehensive research and market analysis;
the planned volume of sales of goods (services) and its range, scheduled for time periods until the enterprise reaches full capacity;
ways to improve products;
description of product packaging and pricing policy;
procurement and sales system;
advertising strategy - clearly formulated and understandable;
service planning;
control over the implementation of the marketing strategy.

Production plan

Everything that relates directly to the creation of products is reflected in this part. Therefore, it is advisable to draw up this section only for those companies that plan not only distribution, but also production of products.

Points to be indicated:

required production capacity;
detailed interpretation of the technological process;
detailed description of the operations entrusted to subcontractors;
the necessary equipment, its characteristics, cost and method of purchase or lease;
subcontractors;
the required area for production;
raw materials, resources.

It is important to indicate the cost of everything that requires costs.

Organizational plan

At this stage, the principles of organizational strategic management of the company are developed. If the enterprise already exists, then this paragraph is still required: here the correspondence of the existing structure to the intended goals is determined. The organizational part must certainly contain the following data:

the name of the organizational and legal form (individual entrepreneur, JSC, partnership and others);
organizational management system, reflecting the structure in the form of a diagram, regulations and instructions, communication and dependence of departments;
founders, their description and data;
management team;
interaction with personnel;
supplying the management system with the necessary material and technical resources;
location of the company.

Financial plan

This chapter of the business plan gives a cumulative economic assessment of the written project, accompanied by calculations of the level of profitability, payback periods, financial stability of the enterprise.

The financial plan is very important for the investor, here he determines whether this project is attractive for him.

Here you need to make some calculations and summarize them:

Risk analysis

In a risk analysis, the author must investigate the project and identify potential threats that could lead to lower revenues. It is necessary to take into account financial, sectoral, natural, social and other risks. At the same time, it is necessary to develop a detailed and effective plan to prevent them or minimize the impact on the company. Therefore, the business plan must indicate:

a list of all potential problems;
a set of techniques and tools to prevent, eliminate or minimize risks;
models of the company's behavior in the event of events that do not contribute to its development;
justification of the low probability of occurrence of such problems.

Applications

This is the last link in the structure of the business plan. It includes documents, quotes, sources, copies of contracts, agreements, certificates, letters from consumers, partners, statistics data, calculation tables used in the preparation of this document. For applications in the text of the business plan, it is required to insert references and footnotes.

General document requirements

it is necessary to write a business plan in a clear, concise language, without long and complex wording;
the desired volume is 20-25 pages;
the business plan must cover all the information required by the investor in full;
the document must be based on real facts, reasonable rational proposals;
the plan must have a strategic foundation: rigorous, delineated and complete, with clear targets;
interconnectedness, complexity and consistency are important features of drawing up a plan;
the investor must see the future, the prospects for the development of the project idea;
the flexibility of the business plan is a significant plus. If you can make adjustments, amendments to the written project are a nice bonus for the investor;
the conditions and regimes of control over the functioning of the enterprise should become part of the business plan.

Making a business plan from scratch without the help of a specialist is not easy, but possible. It is important to adhere to the above rules, build structure and avoid mistakes.

The most common mistakes

Illiterate syllable

The rules of the language cannot be ignored. It often happens that the most incredible and promising idea flies into the basket along with a bunch of plans for incompetent IP specialists. And this is because mistakes in spelling, vocabulary, punctuation and poor presentation of the text completely discourage any investor.

Sloppy design

The design should be the same throughout the document: bullets, headings, lists, font, size, numbering, spacing, etc. Contents, headings, numbering, names of figures and tables, designation of data on columns are required!

Incomplete plan

In order to correctly draw up a business plan, you need an exhaustive amount of information. The above sections of the document are the minimum that should be unconditionally included in the project.

Vague plan

The work should be "like in a pharmacy on the scales." Clear, definite, specific statements of goals and (important!) Ideas.

Too many details

The abundance of technical, financial, marketing terms will only help in exams. Only the most significant details need to be selected for the business plan. If there is a great need for a thorough description of a process, then you can put it into an application.

Unrealistic data

Such business proposals are based on assumptions. Therefore, the author needs to rationally approach the idea and have a well-grounded background, a real reason, supported by calculations.

Few facts

For each assumption - its own rationale - real, valid. Facts lend meaning and confidence to work. A fountain of facts is also not worth arranging, and if you are carried away, then we look at the rule about details.

"We have no risks!"

The main rule: there is no business without risk. There is no such business in which "quiet and smooth". The investor knows this, and the author must know it too. Therefore, it is time to descend from the clouds to the earth and study, research, analyze.

"And we have no competitors either!"

There is always a competitor, like a risk. It can be direct or indirect. Study this topic carefully and meticulously, and an opponent will surely appear on the horizon, waving a pen at you.

Neglecting outside help

Creating a business plan yourself does not mean doing absolutely everything yourself. Moreover, obtaining a high-quality result is possible through the joint efforts of several specialists. Do not be afraid of helpers!