| A business plan is essential to your business and must | | | | your business plan to make sure that they understand |
| be realistic. It is a written statement of intent that | | | | what your business is about and what it hopes to |
| describes your business, its objectives, strategies, | | | | achieve. |
| market and financial forecasts. | | | | Within your business plan you need to set out your |
| Many people only see a business plan as a way of | | | | vision for your new business, this includes who you are, |
| securing external finance for their business when in | | | | what you do, what you have to offer and the market |
| fact it should be used for so much more. There are so | | | | you want to address. You also need to include an |
| many benefits that a business plan can bring to your | | | | overview of your business as well as describing your |
| business, such as securing external finance but also for | | | | products or services. Some of the key areas of your |
| more personal business reasons such as helping you | | | | business that you need to include are: |
| to spot potential pitfalls before they happen within your | | | | Your market, which includes its size, historical data |
| business, structuring the financial side of your business | | | | about its development and key current issues |
| efficiently and focusing your development efforts as | | | | Your target customer base such as who they are and |
| well as working as a measure of success within your | | | | how you know they will be interested in your products |
| business. | | | | or services Your competitors including who they are, |
| As well as helping you in many areas of your business | | | | how they work and the share of the market they hold |
| your business plan is also wrote for a variety of | | | | The future, including anticipated changes in the market |
| potential audiences. There are many people that may | | | | and how you expect your business and your |
| want to look at your business plan; banks, investors, | | | | competitors to react to them |
| grant providers, anyone interested in buying your | | | | Although your business plan needs to be used for |
| business and potential partners make up just a few of | | | | more than financial forecasts, it is this area that |
| the people who may wish to see your business plan. It | | | | remains the biggest within your business plan. In this |
| is because of this that you need to ensure that you | | | | section you need to translate what you've said about |
| outline everything about your business in a clear and | | | | your business into numbers. |
| simple manner. Remember the person who is reading | | | | Your business plan needs to cover the next three |
| your plan may not understand your business and the | | | | years of your business but the first 12 months should |
| products, services or processes that your business is | | | | contain the most detail. |
| offering, due to this fact it is important to try and avoid | | | | If you are hoping to start up your own business it is |
| using jargon and it is also a good idea to get someone | | | | essential that you start work on your business plan |
| who isn't involved in your business, for example a | | | | straight away to give yourself the best possible start. |
| friend or family member to read through sections of | | | | |