It’s been a lovely day both weather and work wise. Camped out down on South Bank we’ve mostly focused on the business plan and it’s been a really useful exercise.
The value of your business plan
When you start a business, particularly together with someone else, one of the key things is to make sure you’re both on the same page. That you share the vision of the company, both short term and long term and that you make sure that both parties are clear on every aspect that is critical to the business. Unless you talk about it and really go through it, you’re only assuming that you’re on the same page and that is dangerous. Working through a business plan forces you to go through all of the aspects related to starting and running your business. It asks difficult questions and by working through them any disagreements are brought to the surface. Hopefully you address them rather than say “We’ll just leave that for later”. Most importantly however, a business plan helps you go through the aspects you need to address and the things you should know about your business. It’s an invaluable checklist and roadmap that can help you spot risk and opportunities and be your measure of success.
A living document
Writing a business plan can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be and more importantly, your business plan is never complete. It’s a living document that should be updated as you go along.
In terms of starting out there are a number of templates and examples available online and via your bank that can be used. Depending on your business not all the sections you find in these templates will be applicable, but they do provide a good starting point for a first draft that you can then share with someone who’s more experienced in the matter.
We’ve still got some way to go and there are aspect of the plan that we are less experienced in so we’ll definitely need some advice and help, but having someone review your plan is highly recommended anyway.
What the business plan should cover
Taken from the Business Link website here are the areas that your business plan should cover:
- An executive summary
This is an overview of the business you want to start. It’s vital. Many lenders and investors make judgments about your business based on this section of the plan alone.
- A short description of the business opportunity
Who you are, what you plan to sell or offer, why and to whom.
- Your marketing and sales strategy
Why you think people will buy what you want to sell and how you plan to sell to them.
- Your management team and personnel
Your credentials and the people you plan to recruit to work with you.
- Your operations
Your premises, production facilities, your management information systems and IT.
- Financial forecasts
This section translates everything you have said in the previous sections into numbers.
From the Business Link website
Summary
There are a lot of very useful resources online for when it comes to writing a business plan. From why you need one to how it should be used, what it should contain, to off the shelf templates that you can start to fill in. Though I know some articles online say you don’t necessarily need one up front, unless you’re seeking finance, I highly recommend going through and start completing one either way. It’s an invaluable guide when you’re just starting out and it can help you avoid a lot of headaches and expensive mistakes further down the line.
Tomorrow – Day 057 | Week 8 summary
