Many of the beginning businessmen start their own business for the sake of self-employment opportunities. However, in order to open your own enterprise, it is necessary to draw up a very important document. He is the business plan. This document is not so difficult to compile. However, it is necessary to adhere to a certain form and take into account some nuances.
Definition of a concept
In order for any undertaking to succeed, you will need to competently and carefully weigh any of the decisions made. The same can be said of entrepreneurship. After all, starting any business, I want it to give the desired result with minimal loss of funds invested in it. And a business plan with calculations can help in this. This carefully prepared document includes a comprehensive justification of the planned project and the environment in which it will be implemented. In addition, a business plan with calculations will give a correct assessment of the effectiveness of the intended management methods. Their use will lead to the achievement of the goal.
What is a business plan? This is nothing more than a step-by-step economic program for performing various kinds of operations that are necessary at the stage of implementation of a new project. This document should reflect the main points of the future enterprise, including the scope of its activities, the range of products (services), business strategy, the expected level of profitability and marketing policy.
What is a business plan? This is a document whose main goal is either short-term or long-term planning of all economic and financial activities of the company, which is based on market demand and the ability to involve the necessary resources of a financial, material and labor nature.
Main tasks
What is a business plan? This is a document that is necessary to solve such problems as:
- formulation of the main goal of the project, its strategy and forecast of developments not only in the short, but also in the long term;
- definition of a market segment for the sale of products and target audience of consumers;
- assessment of the competitiveness of the company, which is based on market analysis;
- development of assortment policy and characteristics of the main indicators of products or services proposed for sale;
- calculation of the allowable amount of necessary financial investments in the production and non-production focus of the project;
- determination of marketing policy tactics in matters of pricing and the effectiveness of sales promotion, as well as analysis of the potential audience of customers;
- assessment of the real possibilities of the future enterprise with the goals set for the entrepreneur.
Based on the described tasks, you can better understand what a business plan is. This is a document that will be a good support for the entrepreneur both at the planning stage and in the further implementation of the business idea.
Main functions
A business start-up plan is needed not only to solve the problems described above at the planning stage.
This document is intended to perform the following functions:
- assess the actual performance of the company for a given period, which are compared with the planned figures;
- be a document designed to implement the main strategic directions of the company.
- be a tool used to implement the basic strategic plans of the company;
- develop leading concepts of business processes;
- act as a tool that attracts additional financial resources.
Role in company development
A ready-made business plan is an important document that allows you to attract additional resources of banking institutions or investment investments of partners for a company. But he plays a special role for the founder of the company. After all, a business plan with calculations includes an analysis of the situation that develops in the market, and also determines the prospects, opportunities and conditions for the further functioning of the project. The presence of this document allows the entrepreneur to think in advance about his further actions in the field of leadership and how to respond to any unforeseen situations.
Classification
Developing a business plan involves achieving specific goals. Depending on them, the document is classified in several directions. So, there are:
1. Investment business plans. Their compilation is necessary to attract investors. This document contains the statement of tasks, areas of activity and goals of the company, as well as a marketing analysis.
2. The business plan of the enterprise. This document includes the main points relating to the activities of the company, and also describes the possible problems and methods for solving them, the strategy of the enterprise and its organizational structure. Where is this business plan used? It is used, as a rule, by company management in the process of its development.
3. Business plan for a loan. It is drawn up for a cash loan in order to achieve the most acceptable conditions. Such a business plan must include information about the solvency of the borrower. They give a guarantee of timely repayment of the loan.
4. The business plan for the grant. Such a document is compiled to receive subsidies or loans from government agencies or charitable foundations.
Who should draw up a business plan?
The most active part in this process should be taken by the person who plans to organize his own business. Otherwise, you can lose potential partners who refuse to further cooperation. After all, only the head is able to correctly assess and identify possible risks, as well as simulate the activities of the company.
There are certain components of a business plan. This document must have some mandatory clauses. Let's consider them in more detail.
Summary
How to draw up a business plan? His first point, which is required when writing any kind of such a document, is a summary. This is nothing more than a brief description of the business plan. The summary may contain information about the amount of the proposed loan, about the goals that are pursued in this case, as well as about available own funds. This section describes all aspects of the future enterprise, that is, its area of activity, requirements for investing funds, possible risks and economic indicators of profitability.
Description of services or products
This is the second section of the business plan. It includes a description of goods and services proposed for release that will be further offered to customers. It describes the general aspects, as well as methods of producing goods, their main characteristics and advantages over similar things produced by competitors.
The production business plan in the section describing the products should include information on the availability of copyrights or patents for inventions, the possibility of using innovative technologies and the highest quality raw materials, while leaving the possibility of establishing the lowest level of cost. This part of the documents contains information on ways to improve the technological process, as well as on the degree of readiness of the product for implementation.
Marketing and sales
The main objective of this section is to identify dissatisfaction with demand, which will subsequently form the necessary implementation scheme.This part of the document is the marketing plan of the company, which indicates its market goals and ways to achieve them.
Production plan
This is the next required section of the business plan. It describes in detail the scheme using which the company will work for the efficient production of products or services for the implementation of their target audience.
When preparing a project for launch, this section indicates: the location of the company, the presence of roads or the need for them, the need to purchase special equipment, qualified personnel, engineering services, etc. Here, the tables provide data on the capital costs and expenses necessary for the start-up of the enterprise.
Organizational plan
This is the next section of the business plan.
It consists of certain points that describe:
- organizational structure of the company;
- work schedule and staffing;
- legal support;
- schedule for the implementation of the project.
Financial plan
This section considers issues that are related to the cash security of the enterprise. Information about:
- forecast financial results;
- cash flow chart;
- the projected balance sheet of the company.
Project Efficiency and Focus
This section considers the sale of products through export supplies, product imports, environmental issues, ways to reduce the cost of basic resources, etc.
It also evaluates the scope and significance of the project, as well as provides indicators indicating the effectiveness of the implementation of the goals. An analysis is also needed to determine the economic sensitivity of the enterprise.
Warranties and Risks
This section is very important for any business plan. In addition to identifying all likely risks, it discusses methods to reduce the possibility of their occurrence or minimize losses after their negative impact. If the project involves large financial investments, then this part of the document should contain an analysis of experts on the likelihood of force majeure situations.
Applications
The business plan should include all additional and reference documentation necessary for the implementation of the activity. This list contains:
- copies of papers confirming the registration of the company;
- documents describing the products;
- conclusions of marketing analysis;
- copies of insurance documents to reduce the likelihood of risks.
Possible mistakes
Before preparing this important document, it is advisable to take a business plan (sample) with calculations.
This will help to avoid many errors, among which are:
1. Wrong syllable. Do not neglect the rules of the language. After all, sometimes the most promising idea just flies into the basket. And this is due to elementary errors in spelling, vocabulary, punctuation, poor presentation of the text. All these moments immediately discourage any desire from the investor.
2. Negligence in design. It is important to take a business plan (sample) for the correct writing of the text of the document. It should be designed the same way. This applies to its headers and lists, font and spacing, numbering and bullets.
3. Incompleteness of the document. The business plan should have an exhaustive amount of information. Those sections that were listed in this article are just a minimum.
4. Vagueness. All work on the preparation of a business plan should be carried out in such a way that in the end we get clear and concrete formulations of goals and objectives.
5. A large number of details. It is important that the business plan includes only relevant details. An abundance of financial, technical and marketing terms can be given only in the application.
6. Unrealistic data. Sometimes an entrepreneur draws up a business plan that is built on his assumptions. It is unacceptable.The author should rationally approach his plan and have real calculations for the implementation of his project.
7. No risks. This factor is always present. There is no business in which you can be confident in generating income. This fact is well known to the investor, and the author should describe it.