Business plan writing, complete business plan structure

How to draw up a business plan yourself? What does that require? Here is a practical guide that will answer all the questions related to writing a business plan.

Your business plan should answer just three of the most important questions:

“What do I want?”, “How to do it?”, “What do I need for this?”.

But not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance. It seems that the questions are not complicated, but there are many nuances that we will analyze in this article. Be optimistic about your project, but do not overdo it, because business is tied to real life, which often presents us with many surprises that do not always have a positive effect. Be realistic about everything, soberly assessing your resources, knowledge and capabilities.

The implementation of a business idea primarily depends on the correct writing of the business plan. For the correct creation of a business plan, special rules must be followed, and it must follow the generally accepted structure. The seriousness of the approach, the study of all points and sections, as well as the level of interest - are the guarantors of the quality of the new project. The generally accepted structure of a business plan consists of several sections, I will give it below.

Do not rush to write a business plan, it can take a lot of time, but careful study of all points and nuances will allow you to create a high-quality document at the output that allows you to attract potential investors, if there is a need for them. The effort spent on writing a quality business plan will lead you to success.

An aspiring entrepreneur must first understand the need to create a business plan. Understanding what he wants to achieve and by what methods his goals will be achieved is half the success of your venture. Often times, unforeseen difficulties in the project implementation process can undermine the entrepreneur's desire to act and move forward. It is the step-by-step action plan prescribed in the business plan that will help get rid of the problems, since their appearance was theoretically predicted and the ways to solve the problems have already been spelled out.

Let's start by looking at all the sections of the business plan structure and talk about them briefly.

Title page. Summary

It is good if you already have the start-up capital to organize your business. And if you do not have one, and you are going to take out a loan for a small business, or ask for a loan? That's when you need a well-written business plan. Without it, no one will provide financial support to your project.

Money always implies a serious attitude, so be so kind as to play by the rules of serious business - your business plan must be flawlessly executed in order to make a proper impression on the lender. Yes, even if you are drawing up a business plan for yourself, everything should be neatly "laid out on the shelves" - after all, a clear and consistent statement of all points will help you not "go astray" during the implementation of your business idea.

If in many documents a resume is written at the end, summarizing everything that has been said, then when writing a business plan, it is written at the beginning. The purpose of this is to immediately interest a potential lender, be it a bank or an individual. I know of many cases when a person in charge in a bank immediately closed a business plan, denying a loan, as soon as they read the resume. Remember - the first impression is the most important!

The first section describes the very idea of ​​the project. It is necessary to outline the prerequisites that triggered the writing of the business plan. Describe your vision of the project, its brief description, principles of work. What can your business give to the community? How will you benefit people with your project? Writing a business plan will explain this to you first of all, and then show it to all interested parties.

Try to explain your purpose and methods for successfully bringing your business idea to life. Make it clear that your intentions are serious. This section can be described as the foundation for the subsequent sections of your business plan.

Activity of the company

In this section, you can write a huge number of questions that depend on the chosen activity. I will describe only a few sub-points, which, in my opinion, are the main ones. This is:

1. Determination of the organizational and legal form of doing business.
2. Distribution of the role of the founders.
3. Legal data (address, telephone, etc.).
4. Business project goals and ways to achieve them.
5. Prospects for your business for the next few years.

In this section, you must answer the questions:

• Why should consumers choose you? It is necessary to understand and explain why your idea will be interesting and competitive.
• What are your advantages over your competitors? If your actions are not aimed at meeting customer needs, then your idea will not be promising.

Provide in the structure of the business plan such a case when suddenly there will be a stop of production due to such factors as lack of raw materials or when trading you have a gap in the supply of goods. Make a plan to reduce costs in these extreme business conditions.

Description of products sold or services offered

Decide on the circle of persons to which your activity will be directed, i.e. define your target audience. Carefully work out and identify the main characteristics of the product that you will provide to your customers. These characteristics include: price, taste, color, design, packaging, etc.

Describe in detail all those attractive services that you will use to attract customers:

• The ability to order a product or service by phone.
• Through the Internet. Nowadays, the Internet is becoming the main representative and distribution channel for goods.
• Include a description of the promotions and various "promotional offers."

Maybe you have some ideas of your own, state them when writing a business plan.

Market and competitor analysis

Before entering the market with a product or service, you need to carefully study this very market. How much people need the products offered, what "gaps" you are ready to fill with your product, and so on. Well, then -

Manufacturing process

In this section of the business plan structure, all information about production, technology and equipment, personnel is prescribed. As well as information about suppliers of equipment, raw materials, materials. Indicate what resources you already have, and what will need to be attracted for the full implementation of the project.

All the collected data in the section of the production process allows you to estimate the cost of maintaining a business and its production capabilities.

The main purpose of this section is to convince a potential lender, as they say - by numbers and "bare" logic, that your company will be able to produce products of proper quality on time, or provide the services offered at the highest level.

All information can be presented in the form of a table (or in another form, as you deem necessary), in which the stages of reaching the planned capacity of the enterprise, or reaching the planned volumes of sales or services, will be spelled out for specific periods.

Financial statements

When drawing up a business plan, be sure to determine the financial performance of the business. These calculations are based on taking into account all costs and forecasts of sales (profit). Only after calculations, you will be able to understand how much you will earn and show it to your investor. In fact, this is the most important, most boring, and largest section.

At the heart of all financial calculations is the determination of the break-even point .. Let's ask Wikipedia what this mysterious point is:

The break-even point is the minimum volume of production and sales of products, at which expenses will be compensated by income, and with the production and sale of each subsequent unit of production, the enterprise begins to make a profit.

This break-even point divides the field into income and costs. The conditions under which it is obtained will be your minimum project requirements.

Let's take into account the costs of starting a business:

1. registration costs
2. purchase or rent of premises
3. arrangement of premises
4. costs for the purchase of equipment and materials
5. license costs

Costs can be divided into fixed and variable costs.

Fixed costs:

1. rental of premises
2. employee salary
3. electricity, water, heating
4. connection
5. equipment service
6. taxes

Variable flow rate:

• material costs
• piece-rate salary
• connection
• delivery

With income, everything is much easier. To determine the income from the transaction, you need to deduct the variable costs from the price.

To calculate the profitability of production, you need to take the ratio of the cost of goods per month to the amount of costs. The payback period of production is calculated by the ratio of opening costs to net profit.

Your business plan should spell out the risks that are designed to anticipate difficulties along the way of development and they will help you avoid troubles.

Possible risks:

• Accidents, natural disasters
• Economic situations (rising prices)
• Termination of contracts
• Falling demand for products
• Low sales volume
• Cash and credit gaps

Write down how you will get out of trouble with the least loss. Calculate the losses that can happen and justify their decision in your calculations.

Here, if necessary, you need to indicate the impact of your business on the environment. Environmental problems, at first glance, insignificant, may turn out to be a "braking" factor for your business project.

Applications

All tables, diagrams, graphs, regulatory documents, legislative acts, etc., necessary for your business. should be presented in the form of separate attachments attached to the business plan.