There are many reasons to write a business plan. It is not only of interest to companies that want to secure financing to start or expand their business. A business plan can help you gain more clarity about your strategy, identify potential obstacles, clarify your resource requirements and evaluate the feasibility of your idea or growth plans – all before you actually start up .
Our article is intended to help you better understand the structure and layout of a business plan. We will therefore show you what your business plan should consist of and what content you need to include in each chapter.
Key facts about the business plan
- A business plan reduces the risk of failure because you deal intensively with your business idea and its financial implementation
- Always write a business plan yourself and make sure it is in an appealing format to convince investors
- A template can help you meet the expectations of banks and investors and avoid unpleasant questions
What is a business plan?
A business plan is a document that describes a company, its products or services, its leadership and staffing, its financing, its operating model, south africa email list and many other details critical to its success, and how it makes (or will make) money.
Creating a business plan: structure and content
Few things are more intimidating than having a blank page in front of you. To avoid this situation, start your business plan with a structured outline and the effectiveness of the marketing mix the key details you want to include in each section.
This outline is a hugely important step in the process of creating a business plan. For this reason, we have put together a comprehensive overview that you can copy into your blank document. This will make it easier for you to get started and avoid looking at that intimidating, burkina faso leads blank page. If you have the opportunity to get business plan examples from well-known entrepreneurs, you should also take this opportunity to use their templates as a guide.
In this video you will find detailed instructions on how to create your business plan:
Here is a sketch of an example business plan.
- Executive Summary
- company description
- market analysis
- products and services
- customer segmentation
- marketing plan
- logistics and operating plan
- financial plan
You can also start with a business plan template and use it to define the structure of your plan. An online tool can also help you create one. You can find various providers on the Internet who offer their business plan tools either free of charge or for a fee.
Now that you’ve created a basic framework or template, it’s time to create content. We’ve broken down our business plan template into sections so you can create your business plan step by step.
Executive Summary
A good executive summary is one of the most important sections of your plan. This page gives readers a comprehensive overview of the rest of your business plan. It is also the last section you should write.
The purpose of the executive summary is to condense everything that follows and give readers with little time (e.g. potential investors or financiers) an overview of your business plan that will convince them to read on.
An executive summary should not exceed one page. Of course, this space limitation can make condensing all the important information a little stressful, but it is not impossible.