Business plan preparation example. The structure and procedure for drawing up a business plan. Clear goal setting

Business plan for small businesses from scratch: guidelines and samples with calculations

How to write a business plan correctly? We share recommendations, convenient ways, samples and calculations.

Business plan Is the document that the implementation should start with. If you do not make a preliminary calculation of expenses and income, do not take into account the demand and the presence of already working competitors, you can waste your budget. In our article, you will find a sample business plan with calculations and learn how to prepare it for yourself.

But when the development of a business plan for a small enterprise is needed specifically for investors, guarantors, creditors, then the document must comply with the requirements of the Federal Fund for Small Business Support. You can learn how to draw up a business plan in accordance with these requirements from, and consider a brief structure of the plan here.

The structure of a business plan from the Federal Fund for Small Business Support:


If you follow all the recommendations of the Federal Fund for Small Business Support, then it is quite difficult to independently draw up your business plan. But there is another way to calculate the prospects of your project - using the SME Business Navigator.

How to write a business plan yourself


If you decide to open such a store, you will need to find the missing amount of 1.7 million rubles. Of course, you can take out a loan, especially since the Business Navigator offers to choose one of the partner banks. However, one should not forget that such interest-bearing borrowed funds increase the cost of the project and extend its payback period. We need to weigh well whether it is worth doing.

If you do not want to attract additional funds to the project, especially borrowed funds, the navigator will offer you to choose the type of business by the amount of investment. Go to the appropriate tab and see an extensive list of projects that you can start using only your own funds. It only remains to choose a few areas of interest to you and calculate their payback.

Now you know how to make a business plan with calculations for a small business in a specific situation. On the Internet you will find many more methods of writing and drawing up business plans, samples for different businesses (coffee shops, car service, beauty salon, etc.). But remember - you need a business plan for your specific business, individual, and no one has written such a plan for you yet. Here in this video briefly and succinctly "on the fingers of a router" tells how to do this:

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Your future project. How to write a business plan? The step-by-step instructions in this article will help in this matter.

Business plan objectives

Writing a business plan can be different depending on why you need it. One of the most common goals is to present it for investment. Such a business plan for a project is the most difficult. Often outside parties are involved in writing it - specialists in their field who will create a suitable business plan for the investor's approval.

It happens that the manager instructs to write a business plan for the company, for example, for opening a branch. In this case, too, they often turn to third-party specialists in drawing up such plans. Ultimately, the contractor may only need to make some adjustments for the needs of the company.

Well, when a business plan is necessary to start your own business, it is best to write it from cover to cover yourself. This is a difficult process, but exciting and very interesting. After all, your own business is a real brainchild of an entrepreneur. And therefore, their creation is treated very carefully and thoroughly. The article provides instructions on how to draw up a business plan for your business.

Initial idea

Basically, those who decide to open their own enterprise have already chosen and are well aware of their field of activity. But there are entrepreneurs who want to have their own business, but do not yet clearly know what they will be doing. They are looking for a business idea. It is difficult to overestimate its importance. The idea should fit the interests and desires of the entrepreneur himself.

It can be a favorite business, which a person is ready to do even for free, or a business that already brings guaranteed income. In any case, having chosen a niche for yourself, it is important to no longer be distracted by anything else and not dream of unattainable peaks, but step by step to bring your real idea to life. A business plan will really help in this matter.

How to write a business plan? Step-by-step instruction

So, having imagined what the future business will be, you can proceed to writing a business plan. There are special planning standards. Therefore, if it will be submitted for investment, you should choose an appropriate standard and adhere to it when writing.

To understand how to write a business plan, step-by-step instructions and generally accepted standards will be of great help as they are approved by people who are professionally versed in these matters. An entrepreneur will be able to sort through his, perhaps not yet fully formed thoughts and bring his business to life.

A standard business plan consists of the following chapters:

  • General Provisions.

    Market analysis.

    Marketing and strategic plan.

    Costs.

    Production plan.

    Investments.

    Financial plan.

Summary

Here the essence of the matter, a description of a business idea, information about its objective necessity in the market, terms of implementation, and competitiveness should be briefly displayed.

Of course, this part is mostly intended for potential investors. It is they who, after reading the resume, conclude whether it is worth getting to know this plan further or not. Therefore, if it is supposed to be presented to the investor, it is necessary to carefully describe this part, perhaps returning to it again and again, making adjustments after the compilation of the following chapters.

However, for their own needs, this part is also important, since it helps the entrepreneur to better see the whole process of organizing the business as a whole.

General Provisions

If the resume is written approximately one - maximum two pages, then this chapter can be written in more detail. That is, in fact, the chapter "General Provisions" contains the same information as the summary, but in a more detailed form invites the reader to get acquainted with the project as a whole.

It describes the characteristics and implementation of the project, its life cycle, the possibility of additional development and the forecast of product changes with a possible change in the market trend.

The service business plan in this chapter should contain information about what the particular service is and how it will attract customers. For example, a business plan describes all the proposed services, their characteristics and distinctive features. An attractive feature here will be the legend of how celebrities undergo procedures in the salon or how individual specialists provide them with these services, how specialists were trained directly with the brand of product with which they work.

Market analysis

In parallel with writing a business plan or before drawing it up, it is necessary to conduct a market analysis. This is an extremely important part, because the success of the future project directly depends on it.

Having chosen a market niche and target audience, they conduct a thorough analysis in order to identify how relevant the project's business plan, initial proposal and its idea are. If the analysis reveals an excess of supply, then it is worth going back to the idea and trying to correct it in such a way that it matches the state of affairs in the market. If there is an increased demand, then everything is in order, and you can safely proceed to further actions.

Market analysis is done in different ways. But if there are problems with its implementation, there are companies where you can outsource market analysis.

Nevertheless, it is recommended that an entrepreneur figure out this issue himself, since any third-party organizations will give only an objective average result, not fully taking into account the business plans of small businesses and all the nuances of the business idea of \u200b\u200bthe author of the project.

Marketing and strategic planning

This plan includes bringing the product to market, its development, pricing, sales and distribution, and advertising. To display the product, it is advisable to build a Gantt chart, which will display the dates of the implementation of various activities. Based on the analysis of the market and competitiveness, a strategy is calculated, how the market will be conquered and what tactical actions will be required for implementation.

Pricing is based on economic calculations and the expected income of the company. Sales and distribution can be represented in the form of a diagram, where the entire process will be visible in stages. For example, from the receipt of goods at the warehouse and to the receipt of money for the goods and their sale.

Costs and production schedule

This chapter includes the purchase of the necessary equipment, repairs, rental of premises and other costs. In the production schedule, it is necessary to reflect how many people are required to implement the project, the schedule of their work, deductions of wages and related payments.

They will become much more attractive for the investor if there is a ready-made team that will work on the project, as this proves the entrepreneur's ability to implement his plans. Therefore, it would be appropriate to emphasize this fact in the business plan.

Production plan

If the company will be a manufacturing company, then here it is necessary to describe the production process, as well as partners and suppliers who will be involved in the case. For example, the farm business plan in this chapter should include equipment for milking, bottling, packaging milk and a mechanism for marketing it through specific suppliers.

Financial plan and investments

The most critical part of the entire business plan is, of course, the financial plan. Moreover, if the project is intended for the investor's acquaintance, then after reading the resume, a serious investor will most likely look at the financial plan. After all, it is here that the entrepreneur's real ability to implement business ideas will be visible. This is the essence of entrepreneurial activity.

The financial plan contains all the information about the possible costs and revenues of the project. Based on the marketing, strategic plan and costs, a table is compiled for several years, which displays the required investments and the schedule for their repayment, all costs and possible income.

The final part of the financial plan must necessarily be the calculation of the profitability of the future business.

The reader now knows how to write a business plan. The step-by-step instructions provided in this article are a short tutorial demonstrating the importance of understanding goals and the need for business planning.

Many business ideas come to mind - the question is, what are these ideas worth. That is why, if you are going to translate an idea into business, it is worth creating a business plan in which you can detail your concept and prove its effectiveness, both organizationally and financially.

A business plan is a document that outlines your business. In it, you talk about what exactly you will be doing, about the structure of the business, the state of the market, how you plan to sell your product or service, what resources you need, what is your financial forecast, and also give permits, leases and any other you need. documentation.

In fact, a business plan helps you prove to yourself and others whether it is worth developing your business idea... This is the best way to take a step back, consider an idea from all sides, and protect yourself from potential problems for years to come.

In this article, we share tips for writing a successful business plan, describe the points to include in the plan, and provide examples.

The translation of the article was prepared with the support of the online school of English. Before diving into the details, let's start with some basic, general tips.

Focus on your specifics

Before you dive headlong into drawing up a business plan, you should carefully consider what makes your business unique. For example, if you're looking to start a sportswear brand, you need a way to stand out from the many other sports brands already on the market.

What makes your brand stand out from others? Are you planning to design clothing for a specific workout or activity like yoga, tennis or hiking? Are you using environmentally friendly materials? Do you donate part of your proceeds to charity? Does the brand promote a positive body image?

Remember: you are selling more than just a product or service - you are selling a product, value and brand experience... Consider and answer these important questions before diving into the details of the research for your business plan.

Be short

A modern business plan is required to be shorter and more concise than ever before. Resist the temptation to include all the results of your marketing research, detail each product you plan to sell, and detail what your site will look like. In the format of a business plan, this information will not give much benefit, rather the opposite.

All of the above details are important to collect and keep in mind, but only the most important should be included in the business plan itself... Otherwise, your readers may lose interest in you.

Make a good decoration

Your business plan should not only be easy to read - it is important that the reader can understand the essence without going into details... Formatting plays a big role here. Use headings and bulleted lists, and highlight in bold or color those key points and metrics that you want to draw your readers' attention to. You can even use labels and bookmarks in your document (both digital and print) for easy reference.

Edit as you compose

Remember that your plan is a living, breathing document, which means you can edit it in a working order. For example, update the plan a year or two after starting the business before submitting a new funding request.

Here are the key elements in the business plan template:

  1. Marketing and sales plan
  2. application

Let's take a closer look at what is included in each of the elements of the business plan:

The purpose of this section is to give readers a clear understanding of the company and the market before you dive into the details. Tip: Sometimes it’s worth writing the outline after you’ve written the rest of the business plan so you can easily isolate the key points.

Fundamentals should be about a page. Please spare 1-2 paragraphs for each of the following points:

  • Overview: Tell us briefly what your company is, where it will be located, what exactly and to whom you are going to sell.
  • About the company: Describe the structure of your business, tell us about the owner, what experience and skills you already have and who you are going to hire first.
  • Products and / or Services: Briefly describe what you will sell.
  • Market: Summarize the key findings of the market research.
  • Financial forecast: Tell us how you plan to receive funding and what are your financial expectations.

Example of a Key Points section

Jolly's Java and Bakery (JJB) startup is a coffee and baked goods store located in Southwest Washington. JJB plans to reach an audience of regular customers by offering them a wide selection of coffee and pastries. The company plans to take a strong market position in the city thanks to the professional experience of partners and the mild competitive climate in the area.

JJB is committed to offering products at a competitive price, in order to meet the market demand among residents and tourists with middle and upper middle incomes.

The next item in the plan is a description of the company. Here you can describe what your company is doing, articulate a mission statement, talk about the structure of the company and its owners, location, as well as the market needs that your company is trying to meet and how you are going to do it.

Example of a "Company Description" section

NALB Creative Center is a startup that enters the market this summer. We will offer our customers a wide range of goods for creativity and handicrafts, primarily goods that are currently not available on the island of Hawaii. The Internet remains our competitor, as artists usually buy familiar products online. We will supply items that are not necessarily well known to local artists. We will also continue to monitor prices and include online products in price comparisons.

We will conduct master classes on working with new materials and techniques.

We also organize a tourist program "Artist's Oasis". We will provide local bed and breakfast reservations, open-air maps and routes, easel and material rentals, paint and other supplies, and deliver finished artwork to customers after the canvases are dry.

In the future, the store will turn into an art center, which will combine: an art gallery, where you can buy original works of art at wholesale prices; studio space with musical instruments; classrooms for music and art lessons; literature on music and art; coffee bar with live music; handicraft items such as branded T-shirts, badges, postcards, ceramics for tourist trade.

One of the first questions to ask yourself when testing a business idea is whether there is a place for it in the market. The market will dictate how successful your business is. Decide what audience you are targeting and why customers will want to buy from you.

Add specifics. Let's say you sell bedding. Don't include everyone who sleeps in bed in your target audience. First, define a small target customer group for yourself. This could be, for example, teenagers from middle-income families. Having decided on the target audience, try to answer the following questions:

  • How many middle-income teenagers live in your country?
  • What kind of accessories do they need?
  • Is the market growing or stays the same?

When analyzing the market, take into account both the already available research conducted by others, and the primary data that you have collected yourself, through surveys, interviews or in any other way.

This should also include competitor analysis. In our example, one might ask such questions: how many other bedding companies already have a market share, and who are these companies? Describe the strengths and weaknesses of your potential competitors, and the strategies that will give you a competitive advantage.

An example of a consolidated section "Market Analysis"

Green Investments has identified two distinct target groups of clients, which differ in terms of family wealth. One group included clients with a household income of less than a million dollars, the other with an income of more than a million. The main thing that characterizes both of these groups and makes them attractive to us as a company is their desire to change the world for the better by making financial investments taking into account environmental factors.

There are many different niches in the financial services industry. Some consultants provide general investment services. Others offer one type of investment, such as mutual funds or bonds. Some service providers focus on a specific niche like technology or socially responsible business.

Market segmentation

Green Investments segmented their target audience into two separate categories, based on family wealth: more and less than $ 1 million.

  • <1 миллиона долларов (семейный бюджет): представители среднего класса, которых волнуют проблемы окружающей среды и которые вносят личный вклад в ее защиту, приобретая акции компаний, которые демонстрируют высокие экономические и экологические показатели. Так как свободных денег у таких людей немного, они предпочитают инвестировать в акции без особого риска. В целом акции составляют 35%-45% от общего портфеля.
  • $ 1 million (family budget): These clients have average or above average income. They have accumulated over a million dollars and are investing rather cautiously (either themselves or the people they hire). These people are usually concerned about the return on investment, but they are also concerned about environmental issues.

Here you can delve into the details of what exactly you are selling and what your customer benefits are. If you can't articulate exactly how you can be of service to your customers, your business idea may not be all that great.

Start by describing the problem your business is solving. Then take a look at how you plan to address the problem and how well your product or service fits into the big picture. Finally, think about the competitive landscape: what other companies provide solutions to this particular problem, and how is your solution different?

Example of the section "Products and services"

AMT provides computer products and services to help small businesses. We mainly provide networking equipment and network maintenance for small and medium businesses. These are both LAN-based computer systems and server-controlled minicomputer-based systems. Our services include the design and installation of network systems, training and support.

Description of goods and services

In the field of personal computers, we support three main areas:

  1. Super Home is our smallest and least expensive line of computers that are initially marketed as home computers by the manufacturer. We mainly use them as low cost workstations for small businesses. Specifications include ... [additional details omitted]
  2. Power User is our main premium line. It is our premier system for organizing high-performance home stations and basic workstations for small businesses, thanks to ... The main benefits of the system ... Specifications include ... [additional details omitted]
  3. Business Special is a mid-level system, intermediate in positioning. Its specifications include ... [additional details omitted]

In terms of peripheral, auxiliary and other hardware, here we provide a full range of necessary equipment, from cables to molds and mouse pads. … [Additional details omitted]

We offer a wide range of service and support services in our office and onsite, as well as service and warranty contracts. So far, we have not been successful in securing support contracts. Our networking opportunities ... [more details omitted]

Competitive analysis

The only way to gain an edge and stand out from the competition is by offering our clients an IT partnership. We will in no way be able to effectively compete with network providers that offer out-of-the-box or hardware-software solutions. We must offer our customers a true partnership.

The advantages of this approach include many intangible assets: reliability and confidence that the client will always receive help and answers to his questions at the right time.

The products we supply and work with require serious knowledge and experience, while our competitors only sell the product itself.

Unfortunately, we cannot sell products at a higher price just because we provide a service - market conditions demonstrate that this approach will not be effective. Therefore, we will provide service for a fee.

In this section, you can briefly describe the features of the organizational and management structure of the business (taking into account the fact that it may change). Who will be responsible for what? How will tasks and responsibilities be assigned to each person or team?

Include a CV of each member of your team here. Explain why these people are the right people for the job - talk about their experiences and backgrounds that are relevant to your business. If you haven't already hired performers for the planned roles, that's okay - but make sure to be clear about those gaps and explain what the people in those roles will be responsible for.

An example of a personnel plan in the section "Operational management"

DIY Wash N'Fix doesn't require a lot of manpower. The company will hire a general manager who will work part-time to handle corporate responsibilities and inter-organizational relationships. DIY Wash N 'Fix will also hire three certified mechanics / managers to handle the day to day tasks at the firm. These responsibilities fall into two categories: managerial and operational. Management tasks include planning, inventory and general accounting. Employees are also responsible for operational tasks: security, regulatory matters, customer service, and repair advice.

In addition, service staff will be hired to carry out the most basic tasks. Their functions will include customer service and content and storage control. DIY Wash N'Fix will hire one general manager to coordinate all external business operations and partnerships. Business relationships include accounting services, legal advice, communication with manufacturers and suppliers, as well as service providers, advertising and marketing, and investment services. This managerial position will be taken by Laurie Snyder. She will receive an MBA from the University of Notre Dame in May 2001.

The day-to-day business management tasks will be handled by a lead mechanic. While DIY Wash N 'Fix does not provide a full range of repair services, you can expect some customers to try to do repairs they have never done before, which means they will need advice. Therefore, we intend to hire three fully certified mechanics. These mechanics will be prohibited from performing any work on the customer's car, but they will be able to inspect the car and assess the damage. We believe that only professional mechanics should advise customers - this will reduce our liability for incorrectly performed repairs. The mechanics will focus on customer service and management functions.

6) Marketing and sales plan

Here you can describe your marketing and sales strategies and how you are going to sell your product. Before you start developing your marketing and sales plan, do a complete market analysis and target your ideal customers.

From a marketing perspective, you may need to answer questions like: How are you going to enter the market? How will you develop your business? What distribution channels will you focus on? How will communication with clients be organized?

On the sales side, try answering questions like: What is your sales strategy? How will the sales department work and how will you develop it in the future? How many sales calls will it take to close a deal? What is the average selling price? Talking about the average cost of sale, you can go into the details of your pricing strategy.

Example of a "Marketing Plan" section

Skate Zone will be the first inline hockey playground in Miami, Florida. Due to the extraordinary growth in popularity of inline hockey in the United States, the company has the opportunity to advertise in various media and advertising platforms. Below is a list of channels currently available.

Public relations. Press releases will be sent to trade magazines and leading business publications such as USAHockey Inline, roller sports magazine INLINE, PowerPlay and others.

Tournaments. Skate Zone will be presenting its services at annual championships throughout the United States.

Print ads and articles. Our advertising campaign includes advertising in publications such as The Yellow Pages, Miami Express News, The Skate Zone Mailing, as well as printing school flyers and publications in specialized inline hockey magazines.

the Internet... Skate Zone already has its own website on which we have already received several applications. At the moment, work is planned to optimize the site. We expect the site to become one of the company's main marketing platforms in the future.

Finally, detail your financial model, including start-up costs, financial plans, and required investments if reaching out to investors.

The initial cost of your business includes all the resources you need to get started, as well as an estimate of how much each of those resources will cost. Do you rent an office space? Do you need a computer? Telephone? Make a list of your needs and expenses, try to be objective and frugal. The last thing you need is to run out of budget.

Once you have decided on the costs, justify them. To do this, write down your financial forecast in detail. This is especially important if you are looking for outside funding for your business. Make sure your financial model is 100% accurate to convince investors and lenders to support your business for sure.

An example of a financial plan for an online store

application

You can add an attachment at the end of the plan if you want. Here is a place for your CV and CV of co-owners, as well as legal documents, including permits and leases.

That's all. We hope this article helped you better understand what your business plan should look like. There is little left to do - to translate the idea into reality. Good luck!

Short briefing

You have an idea. You want to create your own business. Excellent. What's next? Next, you need to "put everything on the shelves", think over the details (as far as possible), in order first of all to understand: is it worth developing this project? Perhaps after researching the market, you will understand that the service or product is not in demand, or you do not have sufficient funds to develop your business. Maybe the project should be slightly improved, abandon unnecessary elements, or, on the contrary, introduce something?

A business plan will help you consider the viability of your venture.

End justifies the means?

When starting to write a business plan, keep in mind its purpose and function. First of all, you carry out preparatory work in order to understand how realistic it is to achieve the planned results, how much time and money is needed to implement the plan.

In addition, a business plan is needed to attract investors, receive a grant or a bank loan. That is, it should include information about the potential profit of the project, the necessary costs and the timing of its payback. Think about what is important and interesting for your recipients to hear.

Use a little cheat sheet for yourself:

  • Analyze the market you are going to enter. What company leaders exist in this direction. Study their experience and work.
  • Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your project, future opportunities and risks. In short, do a SWOT analysis *.

SWOT analysis - (eng.)Strengths,Weaknesses,Opportunities,Threats - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The method of planning, strategy development, allowing to identify the main factors affecting business development.

  • Decide clearly what you expect from the project. Set a specific goal.

The main thing the business plan is aimed at is helping, first of all, to you yourself in developing the company's strategy and planning its development, as well as assistance in attracting investments.

So any plan has a structure. Regardless of the specifics of the project and the requirements of investors, a business plan, as a rule, contains the following elements:

1. Company CV (short business plan)

  • Product description
  • Description of the market situation
  • Competitive advantages and disadvantages
  • Brief description of the organizational structure
  • Distribution of funds (investment and own)

2. Marketing plan

  • Definition of the "problem" and your solution
  • Determining the target audience
  • Market and competition analysis
  • Free niche, unique selling proposition
  • Ways and costs of attracting customers
  • Sales channels
  • Stages and timing of market conquest

3. Production plan for goods or services

  • Organization of production
  • Infrastructure features
  • Production resources and areas
  • Production equipment
  • Manufacturing process
  • Quality control
  • Calculation of investments and depreciation

4.Workflow organization

  • Organizational structure of the enterprise
  • Distribution of powers and responsibilities
  • Control system

5. Financial plan and risk forecast

  • Cost estimation
  • Calculation of the cost of a product or service
  • Profit and loss calculation
  • Investment period
  • Break-even point and payback point
  • Cash flow forecast
  • Risk forecast
  • Ways to minimize risks

It is clear that a business plan is one whole and its parts are inextricably linked with each other. However, a well-designed structure will help you not to forget the important, as well as take a deeper look at each of the aspects.

Summary of the firm. Briefly about the main

Marketing plan. There are empty seats?

When drawing up your marketing plan, you will need to analyze the market you are about to enter. Thus, you will identify trends for yourself, collect information about competitors and get to know your consumer, your target audience better.

After assessing the potential client, his interests and preferences, you must determine the optimal location for the office, retail outlet, etc. It should be comfortable. Calculate the number of clients you need to pay back your business and match it with the audience living or working around the proposed business location. For example, for a business in the field of public services, the number of this audience should not be less than 2% of the number of people living within a radius of a short walk or a five-minute car trip.

It is possible that the market you were going to conquer is oversaturated at the moment. Analyze the actions of competitors, create your strategy, focus on your uniqueness, introduce something new in order to occupy an empty niche in a certain area.

Of course, creating something that is not yet on the market is quite difficult. However, you can carefully analyze the situation and open, for example, a point where the consumer really needs it, or play on the difference in prices and the level of services provided relative to nearby competitors.

Also, you definitely have to decide on the sales channels. After reviewing the methods existing on the market, find the best ones for yourself. Calculate how much it costs you to acquire each customer.

Finally, when deciding on pricing, you will need to calculate: which is more profitable? High price with a small number of sales or the price is lower than that of competitors, but a large customer flow. Service should not be forgotten either, because for many consumers it is critical. They are willing to pay a price higher than the market average, but receive high quality service.

Production plan. What are we selling?

This is where you finally go into detail about the essence of your business: what do you do?

For example, let's say you decide to make dresses and sell them. In the production plan, indicate the suppliers of fabric and equipment, where you will locate the sewing workshop, what the production volume will be. You will write down the stages of manufacturing products, the necessary qualifications of employees, calculate the necessary deductions to the depreciation fund, as well as logistics. The costs of the future business will also depend on many factors: from the cost of threads to the cost of labor.

Prescribing the technology for creating your course product, you will pay attention to many little things that you have not thought about before. You may have questions with the storage of goods or difficulties with imported raw materials, problems with finding employees of the necessary qualifications, etc.

When you have finally prescribed the entire path of creating a product or service, it's time to calculate how much your project will cost you. It may well be that later, drawing up financial calculations, you will understand that you need to make adjustments to the production plan: reduce some costs or radically change the technology itself.

Organization of the workflow. How will it work?

Will you manage the business alone or with partners? How will decisions be made? You need to answer these and many more questions in the section "Organization of the workflow".

Here you can write down the entire structure of the enterprise and identify duplication of authority, mutual exclusion, etc. Having seen the whole organization chart, it will be easier for you to optimally distribute rights and responsibilities between departments and employees.

Having understood, first of all, for yourself, how your company functions, it will be possible to more effectively develop a system of interaction between structures, a system for monitoring employees and the entire personnel policy.

The importance of this section is that it describes who and how will implement the project in reality.

A business plan is a project that allows an entrepreneur to reflect all the moments of organizing his future business. A competent and convincing business plan makes it possible to attract large investors, lenders and start a promising business.

Careful study of each point of the business plan is the key to drawing up a competent and promising project. Initial points to pay attention to.

Key pointsDescription
Line of businessDetermining the direction of work is the starting point when drawing up a business plan. It is important to clearly describe the type of activity that the entrepreneur plans to engage in. It is necessary not only to determine the direction of development, but also to justify why this particular type of activity, in the opinion of the compiler of the business plan, will bring him profit. Here is a list of goods and services that will be the products of the entrepreneur
Business locationIn modern conditions, a business can be located not only in a real room, but also on the Internet. In the second case, the business plan indicates the address of the site and the dwelling from which the entrepreneur plans to go online. In the first case, it is important to indicate not only the location of the retail space, but also the method of its operation (purchase, rent, leasing). It is necessary to justify the choice of the location of the business
ControlThe entrepreneur must determine for himself who will be the manager. This can be directly the owner of the business, or an outsider, empowered by the manager
StaffThe staff plays an important role in the formation and development of any business. The more qualified the specialists working in the company, the more profit they will bring. The desired number and quality of employees is indicated in the business plan together with the calculation of the approximate costs of maintaining this team and the justification for the need for these costs
The target audienceThe entrepreneur must decide which categories of citizens will be his clients. The business plan provides a description of these categories of consumers, as well as ways to attract them (advertising, marketing business strategy)
CompetitorsIt is important to soberly assess the situation in the market for the provision of similar services, or the sale of similar goods. In the business plan, you need to list all major competitors, study their activities and describe possible ways to fight
Cost amountThe business plan must indicate the total cost that will have to be incurred in the implementation of this project. It takes into account the cost of equipment, employee salaries, rental and advertising costs, purchase costs, unexpected costs, etc.

In order to draw up a competent business plan, you need to carefully study the factors presented in the table.

Key research pointsDescription
Market conditionThe region of residence of potential customers, age and gender of potential buyers, existing prices, variability of demand (for example, for a seasonal product), etc. All these data can be found in the media, on the Internet, through observations and surveys, in statistical reports.
Competitors' activitiesName of companies, location, characteristics of goods and services, distinctive features, price level, ways of promoting products, rate of development. Competitor analysis makes it possible to adjust your plans at the initial stage and focus on goods and services that compare favorably with what competitors offer
Price for similar productsTo calculate the estimated price, you can take into account: the prices of competitors, the demand for the product, the cost of production, the expected profit, the margin for uniqueness, etc.
Existing risksThe threat of falling demand, unreliability of suppliers, inflation, government activities, increased equipment costs, etc.
Sources of financingPossible subsidies, investments, loans, leasing.
Taxation methodsIt is important to study all methods of paying taxes and choose the best option. There are three types of taxation in Russia: general, simplified, imputed.

When drawing up a business plan, it is advisable to take into account the following recommendations:

  • at the beginning of the business plan, make a short discussion of it, which will concisely state the essence of the document;
  • describe the future company in as much detail as possible (name, actual address, legal address, description of the line of business, area of \u200b\u200bpremises, landlord, etc.);
  • give a detailed analysis of the sales market (market segments, consumers, development trends, possible risks, expected profit, etc.);
  • talk about future goods, services (reasons for choosing this particular product, target audience, advantages over competitors, the process of producing goods, etc.);
  • describe the chosen strategy (a way to conquer the market and find your niche);
  • carefully study the activities of dozens of the closest competitors, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses;
  • to draw up a complete description of production, paying attention to even the most insignificant at first glance moments (method of delivery of goods, procedure for writing off debts from debtors, the process of training and personnel training, equipment, technologies, licenses, legal aspects of activities, etc.);
  • describe the workflow. You can attach CVs and letters of recommendation of key employees (for example, a manager and key managers), describe job descriptions, calculate the approximate costs of staff salaries;
  • attach all relevant documents to the business plan. In addition to documents describing the duties and qualifications of employees, it is necessary to attach accounting documents, credit documents, lease or leasing agreements, statistical reports, etc.


At the initial stage of drawing up a business plan, it is important to avoid common mistakes. These errors include:

  • excess of unnecessary information. The business plan should be dedicated exclusively to the description of the proposed business activity. The presence of a large amount of secondary information (personal merits of the author, professional terms, too detailed description of the production process, etc.) can make a negative impression on future investors;
  • blurry and unattainable goals. The tasks set by the entrepreneur must be realistically achievable;
  • adequate financial performance. Indicating an unnecessarily high percentage of the profitability of an enterprise in order to impress investors can lead to the opposite result. Financial indicators should be based on real research and calculations, and also take into account possible risks;

Thus, when drawing up a business plan at the initial stage, it is important to determine the direction of activity, collect all the necessary information. A competent project will be the key to building a successful business.

 

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