A business plan is generally a written document about the business you have (or planning to start). What your business is about, the services or products you offer , goals of the business, it’s target market and most importantly, how you are planning to achieve the goals you set.
When staring a business, risks are always present. Every business is a risk. In order to minimize the risk and troubleshoot problems as it happens, a business plan will be every businessman’s bible. A business plan will guide you to make sure that your business is moving on track and according to plan.
There are numerous guides available to businessmen on how to write their business plans. Most of these guides will show them the structure, sequence and format to make a good business plan. Aside from the technical side, what will really make a business plan better?
Know the Business Inside Out
The best way to make a business plan is of course to know the business. You have to research about everything there is to know about it. The strengths and weakness of the business. It’s potential market, the operation costs and many more important details. Keep in mind that there are many factors that will contribute to a business’s success. So know all these factors and have a plan involving all these factors.
Understand Your Purpose
Every business plan has its purpose. First, you need to identify if the business plan is for generating more funds, hiring good employees or to attracting more clients. Sometimes, a business plan covers all these but focuses on one.
- Raise Money– If your business plan is for increasing your funds, you have to focus on the executive summary, management and marketing and financial aspects of the plan. How will you get more money? Will it be through loans? If so, how do you plan on paying the loan? How long do you plan to pay the loan in full? How will you prove that the business is able to pay the loan. These are the questions you have to clearly answer in your business plan.
- Attract Talented Employees- In order to get good employees, you have to focus on the business’s ability to compensate well. Also, focus on the working environment and culture. Some company have slogans like “Fun at work.” These companies showcase employee benefits like annual out of the country trip or quarterly party. Companies can also focus on the incentives their employees will get if they have a complete attendance. Most importantly, highlight the company or business’s ability to grow within the next few years. It gives prospect employees the security that they will be in good hands.
- Get More Clients/Customers- To be able to do this, you must focus on the the service or product you are offering. New concepts, ideas and plans should be focused here if you are intending to increase your market sales. How will you improve the product? Should you have a new packaging? Focus on how you will get clients to be interested to buy you product or services. You might want to focus on doing a survey on what your cutomers or clients want to improve from your products or services. Whatever plans you have, present it in a detailed manner.
Update Your Business Plan
No business plan is final. A good business plan is one that is constantly updated. Trends change all the time; what is trending now may not be trending in the next few months or years. So keep updated and improve your business plan based on the trends. Some assumptions are wrong, so update based on what you think is effective at the moment. Some companies set a specific strategy to use. Sometimes it is good to focus on a certain strategy. But this can also be risky. You need to constantly assess if the strategy you set on your business plan is actually working. It’s because if you have been blindly following an ineffective strategy, then this can put your company or business to its grave. If you find that your initial or previous plan doesn’t work, improve it. A good business plan is never finished; once it is, so is your business.