How To Write a Brilliant Business Plan
Business plans are a critical, but not required document, for your business. Before digging into the best way to craft your business plan, let’s decide if you even need one? Don’t do it unless you know why and what you are trying to achieve with it.
Business plans are needed if you don’t feel organized or have clarity on your goals. They create a framework to organize all parts of your business. They should be considered your flexible, modifiable bible. When you are feeling challenged in your business, they allow you to identify where you are feeling concerned and re-address your plan for that particular area. They also serve to ensure a viable business potential.
If clarity is all you need - and you don’t plan to raise money, apply for loans, or bring on partners - you can probably stop there. Check out our mini-business plan template for this clarity and to get you started.
If you need capital or partners to get your empire launched, you might want a legit, professional business plan to ge
t all parties comfortable. If this is you, keep reading…
What makes a great business plan?
Format, substance, and key data are all important to an investor, partner, or creditor. Here are the key questions they look for?
How the business will be vested and what is the runway?
What are the main business objectives?
What is the Mission? Do they buy in?
How will you define success?
What does your industry analysis show?
What does you market analysis predict?
How do you stack up in your competitor analysis?
What are the core strategies to get you to your main objectives?
What marketing plans do you have in place?
What is the management structure / organizational structure?
Do you have key operations in place?
What do your financial projections and pro-formas project?
What does the break-even analysis show?
What financial needs do you have to be successful?
Most executive business plans are organized into the following sections:
Executive Summary
Company Description
Products and Services
Marketing Plan
Operational Plan
Management & Organization
Expenses & Capitalization
Financial Plan
Appendices
In Summary,
a business plan plays a critical role in launching a profitable and sustainable business. No matter how you do it, and who you’ll show your plan to, make sure to have someone with experience review it for you.