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There are two major goals one might have when writing a business plan. That is, you are either looking to approach investors, or you’re making a plan for yourself to launch a start-up.
If you are composing a business plan for the first time, you might need some professional custom writing help. This will help you to deal with the task quickly and well.
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Goal # 1. Composing a Business Plan for Investors
In this situation, you want to prove that the money investors contribute to your business will be used rationally.
To achieve this goal, your business plan should have some major characteristics:
Your presentation should be logical.
Your business plan should be clear. Further, you need to justify each described action, procedure, or term. If you have doubts about something, don’t include it unless you study this aspect in more detail. That’s because potential investors are going to ask you some uncomfortable questions. The clarity of your answers will determine whether those investors choose to invest in your company or not.
Be completely honest.
Describe everything in your business plan for investors with elegant language. Do not use negative words, and avoid using the word “risks” anywhere near your figures.
On the other hand, don’t neglect to write about possible challenges. Stress the fact that you will address each one with due diligence. However, do not make promises you can’t keep.
Express confidence.
Make the appropriate presentation and include supporting statistics. Provide examples of other enterprises that are similar to yours. Express yourself in clear and simple language.
Investors can be a head taller and a whole lot smarter than you are. So don’t try to hide behind big words, despite what we said about elegant language a few paragraphs ago. Being overly clever will only reveal your uncertainty and lack of experience.
Goal # 2. Drawing up a Business Plan for Yourself
In this case, the business plan is written solely as a guide for your own actions. This plan should be as close as possible to your actual situation. Additionally, it should contain a thorough risk-assessment. Writing a business plan for yourself with someone’s help will help you to save money.
Key Elements of an Efficient Business Plan
S.W.O.T. Analysis
The idea of a S.W.O.T analysis is to assess your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, both inside and outside the company. It should be as objective as possible so as to give the most realistic picture.
Here’s an example of a S.W.O.T. analysis:
Benefits of this solution:
- The cost of production is low
- Team will be formed only with the field specialists
- The idea is innovative
- The packaging will be attractive
- Service will be impeccable
Disadvantages of the idea:
- There is no personal retail space
- The brand has poor recognition rates
Usually, opportunities and threats are combined together and divided into two levels. The first level deals with external factors. External factors are those to which the firm itself, its managers, and its investors are not related and cannot influence:
- The political and economic situation in your area, country or in the world
- Characteristics of the population in your region and its ability to buy
- How developed the technological side is in the field of your action
- What the demographic situation is, and so on
After studying these factors, move away from macro trends and approach realities related to the idea itself. These are usually derived from global phenomena.
Opportunities:
- If the technologies in your region are not developed very well, you can bring in certain innovations and get a significant market share yourself
- You can count on additional investments from the state or other investors
Threats:
- Large customs fees for the import of raw materials
- Strong competition in the field
Clear Goals
This part of the business plan is dedicated to what you want to achieve. This will be either a certain activity or the products or services that you are creating:
Mention the technological processes that you intend to use.
In this case, do not enumerate all the details. Instead, develop a separate application that will include all the consistent and detailed information regarding the technology the goal will require.
Clearly formulate, select and sum up the evidence for the benefits that consumers will receive.
Also, if you can, prove that what you are going to do is unique. This unique difference can be the lowest cost of production on the market, an innovative product, or something else.
Immediately indicate that you are not going to stop there. Stress that you intend to develop the business further. Show possible ways of developing the same technology or increasing production. Discuss attracting new suppliers or developing new methods of achieving your goals.
Marketing Plan
Once you’ve assessed the industry, the product and its place in this market, move directly to your planned promotional strategy. To do this, calculate the volumes of consumption and elaborate on the potential buyers. In addition, describe the levers of influence on demand. These may include price fluctuations, the launch of an advertising campaign, improving the quality of goods, and so on.
Also, elaborate on the ways in which you are going to sell the product. Discuss how much it will cost, as well as your advertising policy and other promotional details.
Specify how buyers will purchase the goods. Indicate whether sales will be wholesale or retail. Discuss the status of buyers. Additionally, evaluate the product in terms of its appearance and cost. Describe the tasks it will perform, its service life, its shelf life, its safety in operation, and so on.
Conclusion
Creating a good business plan is an excellent solution for searching for investment and developing your own plan of action. Use these tips, and your business plan will provide you and your potential investors with a plan of action that will serve your business well.
