How to develop an effective business plan. What is a business plan and how to write one

Don't know how to write a business plan? No panic! We will teach you how to do it with examples! Everything is simple!

How to write a business plan? This question is often asked by most people who have decided to open or have already opened their own business!

Everyone knows that a well-written business plan is the key to the successful development of any enterprise.

The completed business plan should describe your expectations for the new (or existing) business and tell the prospective lender about your great experiences.

A business plan is a kind of document, after which all business-related issues should be resolved without further explanation.

The business plan is a working document that can be reviewed and edited along with changes to current plans and strategies.

I bring to your attention 10 useful tips for the right business plan!

1) How to write a business plan? Initially, make a description (summary) of the project.

It is the first aspect of your business plan, although it should be written last.

It should explain your strategy and vision for the project (what you expect to do), outline the market and capital you need (what you intend to do with it) and your advantage over competitors.

In short, this is a mini business plan that, after reading it, allows you to explain to any person what your business is like.

2) In order to draw up a business plan - indicate the name of the company.

You must include the business name, relevant licenses, ownership, legal structure, a brief description of the product or service, and what you plan to do (provide services, retail, wholesale, or manufacture).

Indicate the address of the company, the required area, landlords.

Indicate if your business is new or if it is an expansion or purchase of an existing business.

The goals and objectives of the company and any planned changes should be described.

3) How to write a business plan? Analyze your market.

Outline your sales market, segments and consumers for each of the segments.

Indicate the scope of the market, converting this into profit for three years, and analyze the increase or decrease in your income with the growth of the market.

What value do you want to receive for services and products in order to achieve profit and become competitive?

Explain why buyers will agree to pay the price you quote.

4) To draw up a business plan - tell us about the goods and services.

Tell us about your offers regarding services and goods, about what consumers they are designed for, what benefits the buyer will have.

Justify why your product or what you offer is better than your competitors' products.

Also tell us how you search for goods, and if you intend to produce something, then raw materials.

5) How to write a business plan? Outline your business strategy and its implementation.

Show how you intend to fill your niche in the existing market.

Will you use or attend trade shows?

6) How to write a business plan? Don't forget about competitors.

Name about five of your main competitors, explain why the products / services you provide are better than others.

Do they have a stable market? Is it developing or falling? For what reason?

Highlight their strengths and weaknesses, how do you propose to act?

How will you monitor the activities of competitors in the future.

7) How to write a business plan? Characteristics of your production.

Specify how the production and delivery of goods and services will be carried out, what your financial policy is, and how you are going to collect debts from your debtors.

Also indicate how many employees you need, what professional skills they should have, and whether you will train them.

You need to clarify what equipment and related technologies you need.

Remember if you have taken into account the legal and licensing issues associated with the future business.

8) How to write a business plan? Describe the organization of the workflow.

Who will manage the company?

Invest in core managers.

Add job descriptions for all key people and a list of significant consultants.

Calculate the estimated financing costs.

Be sure to check out Amway's business plan!

Learn, my dear, how to work! 🙂

9) How to write a business plan? Do a financial calculation.

Calculate the costs associated with setting up and renting a company.

If this is a ready-made business, tell the financial history or estimated financial performance within 3 years after the start of the business.

Enter monthly income and losses for the first year and quarterly calculations for two years ahead.

Also count the cash flow and current financial statements.

10) How to write a business plan? Have supporting documents on hand.

A business plan must include a resume, job descriptions, letters of recommendation, accounting documents, credit histories, written commitments, lease agreements, other documents, market statistics, etc.

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A business plan is the first step towards the implementation of any project and activity. After all, any idea, even the most original and promising, must be confirmed by a deep analysis of the competitive environment, financial calculations. In this article, we will explain in detail what a business plan is, its basic structure, and provide a step-by-step guide to writing it.

Many aspiring entrepreneurs make a very common mistake and don't bother writing a business plan. Thinking it's a waste of time, they're missing out on the opportunities that planning provides. They do not see the benefits that can be obtained by analyzing and planning activities.

You should not treat this document as a mere formality that is necessary for meeting with investors and presenting your idea to creditors and business partners. Work on the document should be complex. Even if different sections are assigned to individual specialists: economists, marketers, etc., they must work as a team. After all, the document should take into account all aspects of the project: the technical, legal part, the nuances of taxation, sales of products.

When attracting investors and creditors, experts recommend working on two documents at the same time: on the internal and external plan. An external document is performed for business partners, people who need to be convinced to invest money. It should not distort the data, because it will be studied by specialists.

At the same time, by analyzing the competitive environment or evaluating all the weaknesses of the project, one can place more emphasis on the advantages and strengths. In this case, investors will see the promise of the idea, and you will have a better chance of getting approval.

The inner plan is your personal step-by-step guide, which should fully reflect the real situation. Here it is no longer necessary to hush up about some of the weaknesses of the project, but to try to calculate all kinds of risks that can jeopardize the implementation of the idea.

5 reasons to start planning

Business Security Assessment

Before expanding activities and investing in the purchase of equipment, renting premises, you should assess the main risks that threaten to nullify all efforts.

A business plan will help you see the failure of an idea even before it is implemented. If already at the planning stage, when calculating expenses, incomes and evaluating profitability, financial errors are noticeable, then perhaps the implementation of the idea should be postponed until better times or even switched to another project.

Attraction of additional investments from outside

Most business ideas require an impressive initial capital, which is not always present in a budding entrepreneur. At the same time, there are people who are ready to invest their money in an interesting project, provided that it is relevant and promising.

In this case, such a document is indispensable, and detailed planning, market analysis, assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the project will allow investors to evaluate the idea and make a decision on investment.

Getting a loan from a bank

Today, there are many credit organizations that are ready to issue a loan for a business, but they need to demonstrate a document that outlines the costs, payback period, and profitability calculation.

A business plan allows you to effectively manage an existing business

This moment is of interest to those entrepreneurs who are thinking about expanding their business, opening additional branches or diversifying. Detailed planning and assessment of the market situation will make sure that the company needs to expand, avoid financial losses and possible mistakes.

Clear goal setting

In addition to the desire to start your own business that will generate income, you need to set a clear goal. Of course, it should be expressed in monetary terms, but other indicators are also important, such as the volume of the company, the quality of service, the range of services, etc. A business plan will allow you not to deviate from the chosen course and calculate the shortest way to achieve your goal.

Mistakes when writing a business plan

A business plan is a kind of road map, a scheme that will allow you to move in the right direction, bypassing all obstacles and dangers. As in any other business, when writing a business plan, it is easy to make mistakes that not only prevent you from moving forward, but can also cause serious financial risks.

There are two serious mistakes that planners make. The first is to commission the writing of the plan to companies specializing in the provision of such services. The second is data distortion and errors in financial, marketing or production planning.

The first mistake can lead to third-party specialists not being able to fully assess all possible risks and specific features of the business. The second mistake is to financial ruin, because without understanding the intricacies of drawing up a document, an entrepreneur makes many serious mistakes.

There are no template business plans, just as there are no identical situations. Even if the document is compiled for similar stores that are located in the same region, they will have completely different performance indicators.

All the mistakes that novice entrepreneurs can make in a document can be divided into three categories:

1. Technical flaws. As a rule, this is due to incorrect statistical data, a shallow analysis of the market and the industry, and shortcomings in financial miscalculations.
2. conceptual inaccuracies. This is mainly due to lack of experience, misunderstanding of production technology, lack of special education.
3. methodological errors. This may be an incorrectly chosen legal basis for registering a business, an incorrect form of taxation, ambiguity regarding the ownership of the production part, premises. All this can alert the investor, demonstrating your incompetence and forcing him to refuse to invest in the project.

Where to start a business plan?

Any planning must begin with the idea itself.

The phased work on the plan can be represented as follows:

1. Search for an initial idea.
2. Analysis of the competitive environment.
3. Work on the financial part of the project.
4. Drafting a document.

By taking the time to deeply analyze the competitive landscape, assessing opportunities and threats, you will end up with a detailed, high-quality document that you can use to get a bank loan or convince potential investors that your business is a real place to put their money.

How to write a business plan yourself?

For many people who are just thinking about starting their own business, the very thought of writing such a document is intimidating and repulsive.

Beginners often find this difficult to do, and they prefer to seek help from specialists. As mentioned above, there is a certain risk in the failure of such an idea. People who are poorly versed in the specifics of the customer's business may not be able to do a deep analysis of the situation, which initially distorts the data and does not give a real idea of ​​​​the prospects and direction of the business.

To make the task easier, experts advise turning to specialists and third-party organizations only for some calculations where deep economic knowledge is required.

Plan Structure

Whatever field of activity the business belongs to, it is necessary to adhere to a clear structure, not missing any of the sections:

1. Title (company address, name, contact details).
2. Summary.
3. General description of the idea and mission.
4. Market analysis.
5. Marketing part.
6. Production plan.
7. Organizational part (search for premises, selection of personnel, purchase of equipment).
8. Financial plan (business model, calculation of profitability, payback).

Step-by-step instructions: how to write a business plan correctly

Title

This is the first front side of the document, which should reflect the name of the organization, full name. director, date.

Sometimes it is allowed to summarize the main financial indicators on the title page.

Summary

Despite the fact that this section comes first, it is written after all the calculations. By this time, you should already have a detailed analysis of the competitive environment, a SWOT analysis, and payback and profitability calculations.

It is with the resume that potential investors and lenders begin their acquaintance.

The following aspects should be reflected here:

• corporate values ​​of the company;
• mission;
• corporate vision.

Corporate values

In this part, it is necessary to briefly explain what the idea, essence and corporate values ​​are. The description of corporate values ​​is not an empty formality. This is what determines the future path of the company, indicates its further vector, the path of development.

Any company, regardless of size and staff, must have certain values ​​and goals. This is what will help keep the company afloat during the first crisis.

How to find the very corporate values ​​that will reflect the idea of ​​your company? Just enough to think about the staff that will work in the company, what it should be, briefly outline the attitude towards the client, service. Put all these thoughts on paper, and then correctly transfer them to the document.

The task, of course, is not an easy one, but a clear understanding of the principles, an understanding of the goal sometimes allows you to keep the company afloat even in a difficult economic situation.

Mission

The mission of the company allows you to briefly state the essence of the project and indicate why your company will be useful to people. In this part there should not be a word about making a profit and further developing the company.

Focus on what you ultimately plan to sell, sell, produce. Just 2-3 sentences are enough to indicate the main idea of ​​the company. For example, Apple's mission statement states that "it works to meet people's needs for knowledge and innovation." And the Coca-cola company promises to bring joy and give optimism to people.

Corporate Vision

This is also a short and capacious part, where in two or three sentences you should indicate what kind of company you see in the foreseeable future. There is no need to build long-term plans and indicate profit in numbers. The item should demonstrate the goal that the firm is striving for. Vision and mission must overlap.

After defining the goal and mission, you should move on to drawing up short-term and long-term goals. How do they differ and how to make them correctly?

Short-term goals, as a rule, are drawn up for 6-12 months and clearly answer the question of what financial indicator the company should reach in a year. Long-term goals can be drawn up for 1-5 years and allow you to see financial prospects.

When setting goals, you must adhere to the following rules:

1. They must be clear and specific. For example: “The company needs to increase profits by 20%. Open a second branch, etc.”
2. Goals should be measurable and realistic. You need to clearly understand by what maximum percentage you can increase sales, profits.
3. It is necessary to be precisely tied to the time, taking into account such factors as seasonality, conditions of the region, and the resources available to the company.

Market analysis

It often happens that, having caught fire with an idea, entrepreneurs have little idea in which direction to move on and how filled this niche is.

Deep market analysis is designed to answer questions such as:

• potential opportunities;
• definition of the target audience;
• percentage of competition;
• the main players and their strengths/weaknesses;
• development trends.

The analysis allows you to determine in which direction you need to move in order to take a worthy place in the market, bypassing competitors, and what are the development trends of the idea itself. This part of the document must necessarily take into account the specifics of the business industry, regional characteristics, product release time, seasonality, etc. You need to be objective and realistic when evaluating strong competitors and determining the market share that you can take by going out with your product / service.

Analysis of the external environment

This is a mandatory part of the business plan, which helps to identify the main players in the market. For convenience, competitors can be divided into two categories: main and indirect.

The main rivals include companies providing similar services. It is necessary to collect complete information about their product, service, price, quality of service, work experience, suppliers, etc. This information will help assess their strengths and weaknesses and outline ways to deal with them.

Indirect competitors are companies that offer a similar service but do not pose a serious threat to business development.

In this section, it is necessary to conduct a SWOT analysis that systematizes the strengths and weaknesses of the project, indicates the prospects and ways to bypass possible risks. This is a powerful tool that allows you to shape the future strategy of the enterprise.

Swot-analysis will objectively show the entire project from the outside

SWOT analysis allows you to look at the entire project objectively and work out the following questions:

• assess the strengths of competitors;
• conduct a comparative analysis of the strengths of competitors with their own;
• identify hidden threats;
• what weaknesses of the project require adjustment;
• take into account the factors of the internal and external environment.

To organize all the information, we use a standard matrix.

When working on the table, you should focus on the following points:

1. Specify the area of ​​analysis. No need to try to cover the entire business at once. If you are just entering the market, focus on a new product or service. This will give you a more accurate result. If a business involves development in several directions at once, then it is logical to conduct its own analysis in each individual segment.
2. Clearly separate the external and internal sides. Threats to the company, as well as opportunities, are external factors that do not always depend on the actions of management or personnel. But the strengths and weaknesses are internal factors.
3. Try to be as objective as possible. No need to distort the data, embellish the factors. Make a SWOT analysis based only on objective facts. When describing strengths and weaknesses, try to look at it through the eyes of a consumer and a competitor. The document should not contain your subjective conclusions.
4. State all facts clearly. The more precise the formulation, the better the result of the analysis will be.

Let's look at the technology of creating a matrix using the example of the well-known Auchan retail chain, which is represented around the world by hypermarkets with food and non-food products.

Strengths (S)	Weaknesses (W)
great experience in the market	high level of competition
a wide range of	high staff turnover
effective customer loyalty program	lack of experienced managers
wide target audience
Opportunities (O)	Threats (T)
own brands	change in the taxation system in the country
the Russian market is not yet saturated enough, which makes it possible for a large network development	the emergence of a strong competitor and the rapid capture of territory
implementation of additional services	low income of the average buyer
expanding the range of services

It can be seen from the analysis that each of the sides of the matrix is ​​balanced, which indicates a fairly stable position of the company in Russia.

SWOT analysis allows you to develop a further strategy and eliminate those weak links that hinder the development of the company.

In this regard, the following table format is convenient:

What gives such an analysis, apart from an objective picture?

The matrix allows you to combine the results and develop an action strategy. The combination of strengths and capabilities (SIV) allows you to find a competent development path for the company.

The combination of strengths and threats (SMS) helps to see how to minimize risks with the help of company advantages.

The WLS (weaknesses/opportunities) combination helps develop interventions to overcome weaknesses using the strengths that the company has.

And the work of a pair of SLUs (weaknesses / threats) will tell you what exactly can put the business at risk.

Definition of the target audience

Determining the target audience is an important stage in planning, since it is it that gives a clear understanding of the concept of the product, service and allows you to correctly calculate the development trend.

The product may be intended for the consumer or industrial market.

When working with the consumer market, it is important to consider the following factors to determine the target audience:

• the age of the consumer;
• social status;
• Family status;
• level of education and nature of specialization;
• buying behavior, etc.

For the manufacturing market, these factors do not matter. The technical features of the product and the specifics of the industry are important there.

When determining the target audience, it is necessary to create a portrait of an average buyer, describe what exactly a person is guided by when purchasing a service or product. This will allow in the next section, the marketing part, to correctly determine the direction when developing distribution channels.

Pricing

The pricing stage is an important step that largely determines the final profit and the search for distribution channels.

It should be understood that the final profit is affected not so much by the cost of the product as by the turnover. Therefore, it is very important to monitor the price of a competitor at the time of market analysis. Understand what it consists of and what is included in it. This is especially true for companies that provide services.

When setting a price tag, it is important to consider the following points:

• production cost;
• the cost of this product from competitors;
• promotion cost.

In no case should you underestimate the price in order to intercept competitors. Firstly, this can cause the enterprise to be unprofitable, and secondly, it will force the quality of service or raw materials to be reduced in order to reduce the cost. Thus, you will create a negative reputation. Therefore, it is very important to find "your buyer" and, focusing on its demand and capabilities, offer a truly high-quality and unique product/service.

Pricing Methods

Given the huge number of pricing methods, business owners use only a few that allow you to determine the price tag as correctly as possible.

Before proceeding with the choice of a pricing methodology, it is necessary to understand the purpose of entering the market. It could be:

• maintaining positions and survival in the market;
• extracting maximum profit;
• changing target audience.
  The goals may be different, but the pricing method and the calculation of the final cost of the product / service will depend on them.

When entering a highly competitive market, manufacturers often choose to follow the competitor. The essence is reduced to a choice of the company-leader. The price is set at the same level, regardless of the cost of the product and the level of costs.

The advantage of this method is to maintain market positions. The downside is the loss of control. If the leader modernizes equipment, enters suppliers with cheaper raw materials, then you will not be able to lower the price after him without incurring losses.

It is also important to mention such popular methods as:

• costly;
• costly marketing;
• value approach;
• neutral price strategy;
• cream skimming method;
• price breakout strategy.

One of the simplest methods is costly. Here it is important to correctly calculate the cost of goods and add the planned profit on top. The advantage of this strategy is guaranteed profit. Minus - it is invalid with a lot of competition in the market.

One of the varieties of the cost strategy is the method based on break-even analysis. Here it is important to determine the break-even point and, based on these parameters, make a margin that will allow you to make a profit.

The cost-based marketing method is one of the most difficult. It combines the analysis of pricing, taking into account the marketing strategy and the cost of goods. There is no clear formula here. The process should be approached creatively, but the result can be high.

The value approach focuses on the price/cost ratio. Thus, the manufacturer, in order to extract more profit, sets the maximum price that the manufacturer will be able to pay for the proposed quality of the goods.

The neutral pricing strategy is one of the most popular on the market in highly competitive niches. The bottom line boils down to one thing - setting prices, similarly to that of competitors. For a company that is just entering the market, it is important to ensure that it does not lose market positions by exceeding the average price, but also not underestimate, losing on profits.

The cream skimming strategy involves short-term profit maximization. This strategy is possible under several conditions:

• powerful advertising;
• fundamentally new product;
• a promoted brand or, on the contrary, a new company that uses the most powerful and promising advertising;

The advantage of this approach is profit maximization. The downside is that competitors can quickly take advantage of the inflated price and prevent the company from gaining a foothold in the market. Here it is important to clearly limit the time frame of such a strategy, and in the future to use a different pricing method.

It is important to understand that not every new product will allow you to operate according to the “cream skimming” scheme. It should be an expensive product, focused on the buyer, ready to pay for quality, level. By the way, Apple uses this method, every year releasing a new version of the legendary iPhone. Such a policy of price discrimination in different periods of time is entirely justified. The buyer is willing to pay for a unique premium product and recognizes that the price is somewhat overpriced.

The breakout method is the opposite of the skimming strategy. It is advisable to conduct it for enterprises that plan to occupy a large part of the niche in the market. The following conditions are important here:

• you need to be sure that competitors will not beat the price;
• the product must be in great demand among a wide audience;
• The product should not be of an everyday nature.

As can be seen from the description, each of the methods has its own advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, manufacturers often experiment at the planning stage, determining for themselves the most optimal option.

For example, when opening a grocery store in a small residential area, it is advisable to use a cost method or a neutral price strategy. To this end, it is necessary to conduct an in-depth analysis of the competitive environment and determine the pricing of competitors. But for a company that enters the market with an innovative product, you can set a price, guided by a skimming strategy.

Marketing part

This section explores the primary target market, including geographic location, demographics, target market needs. The section should show that you have a clear understanding of the target audience to whom you plan to sell a product or service.

When researching methods for promoting a product or service on the market, it is important to focus on the target audience and take into account the behavioral factors that you described in the previous section. It is also important to focus on the company's pricing policy, because the expansion of distribution channels will largely depend on this.

The questions that should be reflected in this part of the document are as follows:

• What group of goods or services do you plan to sell?
• What will be the sales market?
• What customer group are you targeting?

Here it is important to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the product, and you should not embellish the information or distort the data, because all this will negatively affect the promotion of services and the final profit.

It is necessary to understand what is the uniqueness of the proposal. It can be a high-quality comprehensive service, an individual approach, original packaging, high-quality raw materials, etc.

You need to understand that speaking about the uniqueness of the selling proposition (USP), we are not trying to create a truly unique product that has no analogues on the market. Today it is almost impossible to do this. And the novelty of an idea that is not presented on the market requires large initial costs, labor and time resources. Therefore, it is important to think over the uniqueness of the service, packaging, a new sales format, etc.

For example, the iPhone, created by Steve Jobs, was not in itself an innovative product. A talented businessman simply took an already finished product and came up with a unique selling proposition.

Advice. When creating a USP, think about how to interest “your customer” and offer him something that he cannot get from competitors.

When determining the sales market and pricing, it is important to take into account the seasonality of the product. Indeed, at different times of the year, the need of buyers for a particular service / product can be completely different, which will affect the price. This will allow you to correctly assess the scope of services, select the required number of staff, calculate the profitability of the business and the break-even point.

It should also describe in detail the organization of sales, ways to inform customers about entering the market, the format of advertising and promotion.

The promotion of a service / product can be implemented as follows:

• design of outdoor advertising;
• promotion in in social networks;
• contextual and banner advertising on websites;
• discounts and bonus programs for regular customers;
• distribution of leaflets, etc.

The method and type of promotion is largely determined by the target audience. For example, if the product is aimed at the age group of 50-70 years, then promotion through social networks will not give much effect. And, on the contrary, for a young audience, advertising on the Internet will be the best way.

When developing a marketing strategy, it is important to take into account not only the target audience, but also the geography of the outlet, the seasonality of the goods.

In the last paragraphs of the marketing plan, it is advisable to make a sales forecast for a specific period of time, taking into account all external and internal factors. No need to take a period of more than a year. It takes 6-12 months with a monthly or quarterly breakdown to reflect the sales forecast.

No need to overload the marketing plan with a huge number of numbers, a detailed description of your actions. Even if the document is intended for presentation to investors and creditors, it is better to use diagrams, diagrams and tables for clarity.

Production plan

This section should provide an accurate description of the process of creating a product or providing a service.

The production process consists of many links that are interconnected. In order to reduce risks and successfully promote a service or product, it is necessary to carefully design and take into account all production processes.

In the production part of the plan, issues such as the volume of raw materials, technical and labor resources, inventory requirements and product quality control are addressed.

For the successful implementation of the project, it is necessary to determine the necessary capacities, their disadvantages and advantages even at the planning stage in the production part of the document.

All the information presented in detail in this section helps to draw up an effective organizational plan, which will gradually allow you to implement your plans.

In the production part of the plan, it is important to correctly calculate the required area and location of the premises. Whether it's a workshop, a warehouse or a store in the city center. Based on the performed market analysis, the selected target audience and other factors, it is necessary to correctly determine the location of the business.

Also, experts immediately recommend considering the prospects of technology in this part. After all, when purchasing equipment, one should analyze the development of the business for more than a dozen years. It is necessary to correctly assess the need for production capacity, the level of technical equipment and the possibility of upgrading equipment over time.

It is in this part of the document that the supply of raw materials and equipment necessary for the business is determined. If the production requires additional materials, raw materials, then you need to immediately assess the quality control, determine the list of suppliers.

organizational plan

Step 1. Business registration.

In this part of the document, one should touch on the organizational and legal form of the business and take into account the development trend of the enterprise in the future.

It is necessary to dwell in detail on permits, the cost of registering a business, the time spent on obtaining all licenses.

The list of documents for registering a business and obtaining all permissive certificates must be specified in each individual case. You should immediately clarify for what period of time before the start of the business you need to submit documents.

Step 2 Room selection.

It is necessary to pay attention to the following points:

• the ability to comply with fire regulations;
• compliance with production requirements;
• required area;
• availability of ventilation, sewerage and water supply.

Location matters a lot for retail outlets. These factors must be met taking into account the selected target audience and product category.

Step 3 Personnel selection.

Dwell in detail on the employee's profile, make a list of his qualification skills necessary for work.

This will make it easier to select potential employees, save time and help you find a good team.

Step 4 Purchase of equipment.

Financial plan

The financial part is one of the most difficult. All calculations must be clearly justified and verified. Before entering an expense item into the document, it is necessary to carefully monitor prices, study a lot of documents and information.

This part of the document is worth dwelling on:

• on project costs;
• fulfill the income forecast;
• analyze funding sources.

Expenses

It is the expense item that largely affects pricing, allows you to correctly calculate the break-even point and profitability.

Many aspiring entrepreneurs make serious planning mistakes in this part of the document. They simply forget about some categories of expense, which leads to incorrect calculation of the cost of production, jeopardizing the development of the business as a whole.

The main "forgotten" expenses, as a rule, are:

• loading or unloading goods;
• taxes;
• service maintenance;
• installation of equipment;
• professional development of employees, their training;
• loss or failure of products during transportation.

This part indicates the costs of the selected taxation scheme, taking into account the organizational and legal framework.

When calculating costs, it is advisable to divide all costs into 3 categories:

• initial;
• permanent;
• variables.

Initial costs include all the funds, equipment, raw materials needed to start a business. This also includes the costs of registering a business and obtaining permits.

Permanent ones include salaries to employees, payment of rent and utilities, etc.

Variable costs include those costs that depend on the season, production volumes. This should include transportation costs, piecework, purchase of consumables, repairs.

In order to clearly demonstrate the financial part of the document, it is better to present the entire estimate in the form of a table, where the following items should be.

No. p / p	Name of the item of expenditure	Amount, rub.
1. Business registration	-	-
2. Taxes	-	-
3. Rent of premises (land)	-	-
4. Purchase of raw materials	-	-
5. Purchase of machinery and equipment	-	-
6. Expenses for auxiliary equipment	-	-
7. Wage fund	-	-
8. Shipping costs	-	-
9. Advertising and product promotion	-	-
10. Utility payments	-	-
11. Other current expenses	-	-

It is difficult to imagine business development at the first stage without additional financing from personal capital or from investors. Such "investments" are losses, as they do not allow profit from the project. But at the same time, they are aimed at business development and allow you to reach income in the future.

Income

In this section, it is necessary to justify the feasibility of the project from an economic point of view. It is important to demonstrate profitability and correctly fulfill the expected profit forecast.

With a clear cost estimate and projected income, it is important to correctly determine the break-even point.

The break-even point is one of the key economic indicators, which indicates exactly how much it is necessary to sell products in order to equalize expenses and income. The break-even point is the extreme line below which you can not fall, otherwise you can suffer bankruptcy. It's not about profit here. The indicator only shows the necessary income so that after paying all taxes, rent, utilities, wages, the enterprise remains afloat.

To calculate the efficiency of doing business and assess the prospects of an enterprise, a variety of economic indicators are used. One of the key and optimal is the calculation of profitability.

The simplicity and transparency of this indicator makes it almost the main indicator that allows you to objectively assess the feasibility of conducting a particular project.

For comparison, the analysis of total revenue, turnover or net profit are not objective indicators, as they do not reflect the true state of affairs and do not allow for an analysis of the work of a similar company.

If the implementation of a business requires the involvement of investments from outside, then the profitability should be calculated taking into account these investments.

Profitability is calculated using the standard formula:

R=(total profit from sales/cost)*100%

Risk assessment

This is an important section of the document, which must be taken seriously and carefully considered all the options, unfavorable conditions that may become a threat to business.

Often, investors, having read the summary and the financial side of the issue in passing, study the risk assessment section in detail. The investor must be 100% sure that the money invested will pay off and that in any situation you have a clear plan of action.

When describing all the risks and adverse conditions that may affect the project, divide them into two parts:

• external (do not depend on you);
• internal.

External risks include fluctuations in the foreign exchange market, inflation, natural disasters, fire, theft, damage to property, changes in the legislative framework, adverse weather conditions (if we are talking about a business that is directly dependent on these conditions), etc.

The internal ones include:

• failure of the technical part of production;
• incorrect actions of personnel or management;
• negligent attitude to control over production technology or quality of service;
• lack of sufficient qualifications or experience among employees.

In order to protect yourself from force majeure situations as much as possible, experts recommend creating the most pessimistic scenario possible. This will allow developing a clear algorithm of actions in any of the situations and in real life successfully overcome difficulties.

The final section, but optional, can be an appendix. In this part, it is advisable to present all documents, letters, contracts, price lists, commercial offers of competitors that helped to make analysis, calculations.

7 Rules for Successful Planning

1. Do not distort the data and do not deceive yourself. No matter how pessimistic the forecast is, there is no need to deliberately underestimate the item of expenditure or increase income.
2. When describing your resume, try to be as concise as possible. Try to imagine how you can describe your business project in two or three words and present it to investors in a favorable light. Often, lenders and investors pay attention to the part and financial calculations.
3. When developing a marketing strategy and forecasting revenue, be sure to set clear time targets. They will allow you not to deviate from the vector and analyze the success of the enterprise after a certain period. Reconciliation of real and projected indicators will allow you to quickly make adjustments if the business does not bring the expected profit.
4. Be concise, adhere to a clear structure of the document, but at the same time do not ignore a deep analysis of economic indicators, the market environment. This data will give you a complete picture of the environment in which you plan to develop your business.
5. Do not use templates downloaded from the Internet when planning. Remember that each project is unique and individual. Therefore, more than one typical business plan will not allow you to carefully work out internal and external factors, analyze the specifics of the company's activities and outline a development strategy.
6. During the planning phase, clearly define the authority and responsibilities of the staff. This will allow you to choose the right state.
7. When analyzing the competitive environment, dwell on the description of their strengths in detail. The document should analyze at least 5-7 competitors from a similar and related field in order to form a complete objective picture.

Successful business development directly depends on the preparation of a business plan.

It is not enough just to make a plan, it is necessary to constantly adjust it in accordance with market changes.

This will allow your business to "stay afloat", receiving income and conducting a clear planning of the expenditure side of the budget.

Every successful individual entrepreneur (IE) knows that a well-written business plan is the “foundation” of any activity. Using a business plan, an individual entrepreneur can attract investors or apply for a loan from a bank.

A business plan is a complete program for launching and developing a business, containing detailed information about a product, its release and distribution. The business plan reflects the planned profitability of the company, and also demonstrates the financial return on investment.

The preparation of a business plan for lenders should focus on specific financial indicators. The basic rule for writing a successful business plan is to be dynamic and short (no more than 15-20 sheets). Consider how to write a business plan yourself?

Title page

How to draw up a business plan? This requires a sample, especially for a beginner. Any work, first of all, consists of a title page.

This is the "face" of your business. The title page "acquaints" a potential investor with a business idea, so it is very important to learn how to correctly draw it up.

The title page should be attractive and briefly inform the investor about the essence of the business. The obligatory items of the title page are:

• IP name;
• contact details of the enterprise (telephone, address, etc.);
• privacy note;
• short name of the project;
• Full name of the head of the IP, his contact details;
• information on the preparation of a business plan (who made it, when, where);
• information about the timing of the project.

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1. Summary.
2. Project descriptions.
3. Carrying out market analysis, evaluation of competitors.
4. Marketing strategy.
5. Production, organizational and financial plans.

The summary is a brief and general information about the project. The volume of the resume should not exceed 1 printed page. The summary contains information about the scope of activities and financial results of the company, which are expected. The summary also substantiates the goals of creating the project, its uniqueness and benefits for investors.

Product Description

When compiling a description of products, it is necessary to focus on the usefulness of this good.

You can also make a brief comparison of this product with analogues, dwelling on the main differences.

The Product Description section should provide an opportunity to analyze the future development of the business.

Description of the business model

The business model is a simplified version of the functioning of all IP systems and business processes. Creating a business model is one of the most important steps at the stage of strategic planning of a company's activities.

A business model succinctly describes how a company creates and sells its product. The development of the business model is entrusted to the IP management team.

Market and industry analysis

At the stage of market analysis, it is necessary to get acquainted with the situation in detail, analyze the total volume of potential sales for the products produced. You can also make a trial batch of goods in order to study the behavior and reactions of buyers to it. Analyzing the market, it is necessary to evaluate competitors.

The general scheme of a competent business plan

How to write the right business plan? A competent business plan contains detailed information about the main competitors to understand the prospects for the development of IP.

Strategic SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is carried out in order to determine the actual state of the company and highlight the prospects for its development in the long term.

At the stage of conducting a SWOT analysis, the strengths and weaknesses of the company are studied, risk factors and market opportunities are assessed.

SWOT analysis helps the IP management to evaluate the following points:

• the presence of an IP advantage in the market for similar goods;
• vulnerable ("bottleneck") places of the company;
• chances of making a profit;
• threats from the market and competitors.

Risk assessment and management

An integral part of the business plan is the concept of risk management.

This section is designed to prevent the occurrence of adverse events in the company's activities in order to avoid significant financial losses.

Active risk management implies their prevention at the decision-making stage. In this case, risk management is associated with market research, which shows the likelihood of losses based on an assessment of demand and the pricing policy of competitors.

Any investor who decides to invest funds pays attention to the risk of losing the invested capital.

Sales strategy

A sales strategy is a comprehensive planning consisting of answers to the following questions:

• How (through what channels) will the product be distributed?
• What will be the price of the product?
• How to interest buyers?
• How to create an ad? How much money to allocate for this?

In this section, it is necessary to analyze the market and make a clear description of the conditions under which potential buyers will become clients of the IP.

organizational plan

In the section "Organizational plan", as a rule, the general structure of the IP and the role of each of its links in the process of production and sale of goods are indicated. In addition to the general structure of the enterprise, investors are interested in information about each member of the management (if the company plans to raise capital).

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Financial section of the business plan

The Financial Plan section is perhaps one of the main parts of any business plan.

This paragraph demonstrates the general table of income and expenses of the company, draws up a forecast balance sheet, and calculates the calculation (cost) of goods.

When compiling a financial plan, it is necessary to calculate the payback period of the project with a breakdown of cash flows by months.

When working on a business plan, you should not overdo it. Consider only basic information. It is important that the investor, after reading the first two pages, already understands what is at stake. The data used in the preparation of the business plan must be 100% reliable.

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Cheat sheet for dummies, how to write a business plan.

A serious project must begin with writing a competent business plan. This is a document that describes the main points of future activities, anticipated risks, financial performance and much more.

Writing a business plan from scratch is often placed on the shoulders of third-party firms. This entails a number of disadvantages:

• extra costs - drawing up a document costs at least 50,000 rubles;
• consultants create it according to standard tracing paper, without delving into the individual features of the case, understandable only “from the inside”;
• if the document is written in a dry language, it will not attract the attention of investors.

The work should be done by current or future project leaders. They see the intricacies of the matter and will take responsibility for the implementation.

If you figure out how to write a business plan, you will not only be able to forecast future business activities, but also strengthen faith in the success of the business.

How to write a good business plan?

If the business plan is written correctly, it will perform three tasks:

• outlines the course of action for the entrepreneur;
• helps to assess development prospects;

The document should answer the questions: what is the value of the described project, who is the future competitor, what risks lie in wait?

In order not to miss the details, it is worth writing the document, adhering to the standard structure.

The most important point, which is necessarily disclosed in detail, is the financial side of the issue. You need to write future income and expenses, and supplement with information about the starting capital.

P.S. As for income, it is important to write in the document not only the amount of profit, but also when the amount will begin to be credited to the account. This item is especially relevant in the case of writing a business plan for the purpose of lending.

A section with financial indicators (for an existing company) or a reliable forecast for a future one is included in the text or drawn up as an appendix. Use more numbers, graphs.

Choose the type of plan

In Russia, there are several varieties of a business plan:

• Business plan of the company.
  The most popular and widespread type. To write a document, use a standard schema. Needed by entrepreneurs for market and financial analysis.
• Credit document.
  Used to justify getting a loan from a bank. Answers the questions: where will the money go, how soon will the debt be repaid?
• Investment plan.
  Used for presentation to investors. Contains detailed characteristics of the case and data on niche market research and target audience.
• grant document.
  Used to receive development assistance from the state. Display the benefits of future activities for the region or the whole country.

Business plan structure

The plan looks like a complicated document. In fact, it is well structured. To write a business plan yourself from scratch, you need to follow each item.

The history of the existence of the company is written in stages: from the moment of creation to gaining stability. The text should be written in a business language, but lively and exciting enough for a potential investor to want to study it in its entirety.

Any type of activity has its own characteristics, so the standard tracing paper of the document exists to build on it, adjusting it to your own needs.

How to write a business plan point by point?

This part is called the “introduction” to the business plan or the “summary”.

It briefly reveals the essence of the project and consists of 5-7 sentences. It may seem that this part is not as important as the rest. However, the more interesting the section is written, the more likely it is to captivate the reader.

Goals and objectives.

Here the entrepreneur must write what and how he wants to achieve. Unlike the summary, this part of the document is revealed in detail, but without "water".

Write in the business plan the address of the location, the schedule of work, the characteristics of the building that is being purchased or rented.

Staff.

Be sure to include a section on the future state in the plan. It is necessary to write a list of positions, official duties, a table of payroll calculations is made.

There should also be information about the work schedule.

If you plan to raise your salary in the future, arrange refresher courses, or organize home deliveries for those who work late, indicate this.

Financial part.


The most important section of a business plan. It describes here:

• income and expenses;
• unexpected expenses;
• the movement of finance;
• taxation system;
• form of receiving money;
• types of contracts for future partners.

If it seems to you that writing this part of the document from scratch is beyond your power, delegate the financial section of the business plan to professionals.

The best data format for a business plan is graphs, tables and charts. Visual information is digested better and easier. All these figures must be supported by calculations.

Marketing.

This section of the business plan includes the following sub-items: an analysis of the state of affairs in the market, the presence or absence of a niche for the company, describes competitors and the advantages that will allow them to get around, the potential target audience.
Based on these data, you need to write in the document a conclusion about the most appropriate advertising techniques that will be used.

Production.

This point of the business plan is necessary if a manufacturing business is planned.

In this case, in the section you need to specify all the details of the release of products from scratch to the finish line (from ordering raw materials to shipping goods to sales outlets). It highlights all the important points: technology, the need for equipment, know-how. Taking into account every detail will help to avoid problems in the implementation of the plan.

If you are not going to manufacture products, but make bulk purchases with further sale, indicate in the document the suppliers, the method of delivery, and the place for storing the goods.

Risk analysis.


If the main purpose of the document is to find investors, this section of the business plan is a must.

It is important for any person who has a large sum of money sufficient to finance a project to invest in a reliable company. To confirm the seriousness of your intentions, you must write down all possible risks for the enterprise. These may include:

• drop in the level of demand;
• decrease in the level of sales;
• deterioration of the economic situation in the country;
• failure to deliver raw materials or send products to customers;
• emergency (war, fire, volcanic eruption).

Problems need not only to be listed in the document, but also to write solutions in a given situation. This will not only emphasize your level of responsibility, but also instill confidence in your own abilities. In case of emergency, you will not panic, but will use the ready-made instructions from the business plan.

At the end of the business plan, the results are summarized.

They include data on the amount invested, a graph of profit growth and the payback period of the project. All words must be supported by specific figures, calculations and graphs.

Traditionally, calculations for a business plan need to be written for 3-4 years.

However, in the conditions of our unstable economy, it makes sense to take a period of no more than 1-2 years. Moreover, for the first year it is necessary to make a breakdown by months. And already from the second one can be reduced to a quarterly plan.

Don't pour water.

A good business plan requires conciseness, but at the same time the disclosure of all necessary aspects. It is enough to write 40-70 pages of a business plan.

It is allowed to include additional materials in a separate appendix of the document.

Don't try to turn it into War and Peace. The presence of details and full coverage of the topic is good. But only if dry facts are used, and not “water”. Leave artistic turns for personal correspondence.

There is no need to write in the business plan the phrases “a product without analogues”, “there is no competition”.

The service market is huge and growing rapidly. Due to the long-term planning, no one can guarantee that a product like yours will not appear in the near future. Even if at first glance it seems that you are a monopolist, tomorrow the situation may change.

Accurately analyze the market for prospects, potential customers.

The data in the business plan must be written in specific numbers. If you can't do that, then you don't understand the situation well.

Try to stick to the standard document structure above.


Pay special attention to financial tables and charts: they must be complete and correct. Otherwise, the document may simply not be accepted for consideration.

The text of the business plan should be literate, understandable and "alive".

Your goal is to interest the investor and make them read to the end.

Avoid strong emotional assessments in the business plan.

To give credibility and realism, you need to use only numbers and reliable facts.

To find an approach to future investors, study their activities: the history of projects, work with other entrepreneurs.

Before starting to draw up a business plan, be sure to study ready-made examples.

Even if your activity is unique in its kind, find the closest analogues. This will help you better understand the structure and writing style. But the calculations should be unique and based only on your specific indicators.

All calculations for the business plan must be written as accurately as possible.

Of course, it is simply impossible to correctly indicate the amount of future profit to the penny. In this case, it provides an analysis of the sales of the nearest competitors and the average cost of the most popular of your services.

A detailed methodology for writing a competent business plan

featured in this video:

« How to write a business plan? - this is only the first question that the future businessman must answer.

The finished document should not be left gathering dust on the shelf. It is not enough to simply write a development course from scratch until a break-even point is reached. You need to constantly return to it: analyze successes, correct mistakes, fill in the gaps ...

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The business plan acts as the foundation of the future organization. A person who does not write the submitted document before starting his investment project is an adventurer who agrees in advance to serious risks. With a high probability, we can say that in the process of implementing a business, it will face a number of serious problems that could be leveled at the initial stage. Below we will look at how to write a competent business plan so as not to get bogged down in debt and not face pitfalls as a project opens.

As you know, any investment project begins with a business idea. However, it does not act as a great value in itself, since most people generate dozens and even hundreds of ideas every day. Many well-known entrepreneurs agree with this opinion. Surely you have had situations when an idea for a business was born, but there was not enough time and effort to bring it to life. The main thing, in most cases, a person simply does not know where to start. Any thriving project starts with a clear plan of achievement. How to compose it correctly and what should be included there?

Any term has a large number of definitions. To understand what a business plan is from scratch, we will give one of the most accurate concepts.

In an etymological sense, a business plan is a document that describes all aspects of the desired enterprise, analyzes possible problems for a future project, as well as ways to solve them. The business plan acts as a guide that describes the idea of ​​the project, the processes and mechanisms for its implementation, goals and ways to achieve them.

A business plan, like any process, should have a main goal. In this case, the success of the investment project will depend on three main factors:

1. The level at which the businessman is at the current time.
2. A clear end goal that the company plans to achieve.
3. A clear understanding of the steps, tasks, stages that need to be worked out in order to move from the first point to the second.

The business plan is drawn up in accordance with the requirements indicated below. Calculations are also made for a specific investment project. This will help to understand what problems and pitfalls await the entrepreneur, the possibility of overcoming them and securing. Drawing up a business plan is a conscious first step for a future businessman in almost any segment of business.

Basic principles and objectives

In practice, the development of a business plan may be required in two separate cases. They can be classified according to purpose.

• Writing a document for investors.

In this case, the business plan is written for creditors, bodies providing support in the form of subsidies, possible co-founders. The main purpose of such a document is the need to show the viability of the project and the effective use of funds. The main emphasis here should be on setting goals and their implementation, as well as on the logic of the actions that you plan to take. It is recommended to make a business plan with a clear structure and precise elaboration of steps; it is not recommended to mislead investors about a series of points. This could have a negative impact on future funding. Of course, you can embellish something, but this should not happen on a global scale.

Summing up, we can say that such a business plan should be clear, logical and accurate. Make sure that there are only facts here, not speculation.

• Writing a document for yourself.

This business plan is required if you plan to open a business on your own. According to it, you will actually take some action for the successful implementation of the project. This is necessary in order to immediately understand their advantages and disadvantages.

In most cases, a business plan is required for your own project. In it, you can identify those moments and pitfalls that are usually not indicated in a document for obtaining a loan, for example. In the first case, you should be prepared for investors to ask uncomfortable questions in order to know how well you have worked on your project. Remember that business does not tolerate lies, especially do not deceive yourself.

What tasks does a business plan solve?

1. Analyze the sales market, the relevance of the idea, competitors.
2. Estimate the potential profit of the business.
3. Show possible problems and risks that you will face and find ways to solve them in advance.
4. Define benchmarks.

It is recommended to write the document for three years in advance. For the first year, it is worth making a breakdown into stages, which will prescribe what project activities you will perform each month. The second year denotes the actions in the quarters, and only the third year allows you to reach the annual figures.

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Main components

In order to competently draw up a document on your own, taking into account all the features of your particular business, it is recommended to study an example of a business plan similar to the concept in your niche. The classic document has a clear structure, it contains the following sections:

• Introductory part or summary of the project. It describes the essence of the investment project in such a way that it becomes clear to anyone who reads the information what exactly you want to do.
• Description of goods and services or project idea. In this section, you will need to specify general information and information on the direction, as well as business conditions, a description of goods, range, services.
• Market and competitor analysis. Deeper study of the market segment in this area. This section describes potential consumers, as well as the capabilities of competitors and methods of dealing with them.
• Marketing plan. A marketing strategy and a possible advertising campaign for the business are described. It is also recommended to prescribe the financial support of the advertising campaign.
• Production plan. The main stages of the project. Features of the selection of premises, equipment, suppliers, personnel, as well as other nuances.
• Organizational plan. This section describes the main points on the state registration of a business. You will need to indicate the rationale for choosing the legal form of the company and the tax system. The structure of the organization, the distribution of responsibilities between staff, labor resources, information about the management team are prescribed.
• Financial plan or budget calculation. In this section, a detailed plan of expenses and their justification are signed. As well as income forecast. You also need to remember about the company's financing strategy, profitability forecasts, and analytics of possible risks.

A more detailed description of each section is given below. When starting to write a document, it is recommended not to paint it immediately in detail. It is advisable to initially describe your idea in several theses, and then proceed to fill in the sections. Remember that before this you will have to collect the maximum amount of information on the topic of the project.

You can use:

• industry analytics with qualitative and quantitative indicators;
• data on advertising in the segment, promotion of services or goods;
• study of existing competitors in your city or region;
• technologies that are applied in your niche.

It will certainly be necessary to evaluate the resources of the future project: both financial and intellectual, and even personnel. All this will help you write a business plan as efficiently as possible.

How to draw up a business plan

The preparation of the document should begin with a preliminary analysis of the current market situation. Before you start wording, filling in sections, and describing them, you need to collect as much material and information as possible. You definitely need to study the scope of future activities, if you do not understand it. You can use third-party sources or even seek help from specialists. A very good pre-analytics technology is swot analysis. It is very simple and helps to clearly structure the data that you already have.

Swot-analysis is an analysis that highlights the strengths, weaknesses, as well as opportunities and threats of the project. This type of analytics allows you to qualitatively assess the external and internal factors of the company.

So, internal factors will become strengths and weaknesses. Try to evaluate them objectively. Among the strengths of the company, one can single out a unique business concept, an attractive cost of production, and high professionalism of employees. Among the weaknesses, one can single out the entrepreneur's lack of experience in business, a high investment burden. In each case, the factors will be different.

Threats and opportunities act as characteristics of the external environment. They can affect your organization independently of you. It can be:

• income level of citizens;
• the level of the demographic situation in the region;
• degree of technology development;
• economic situation in the location;
• socio-cultural factors.

Swot analysis gives a clear understanding of how promising your project is.

In order to correctly draw up a business plan, it is also necessary to understand the purpose for which it is written. Above, we have already dwelled on the varieties of business plans. If we consider them in more detail, we can distinguish four options:

1. For the company. It is an effective tool for managing an organization, increasing profits, and improving business quality. Here it is necessary to focus on development strategies, aspects of activities, and features of overcoming possible problems.
2. To attract investment. The main emphasis in this business plan is on a broad description of the future of the enterprise, marketing tools, and prospects. You need to show exactly how you will achieve success in the activity.
3. To get a loan. If you want to get a loan from a banking organization for business development, you may need a business plan. In this document, the emphasis is on describing the company's budget and justifying the need for certain financial resources. It is also necessary to show how the stability of the enterprise will be achieved. In the submitted document, it will be necessary to add a section on how exactly the borrowed funds will be paid.
4. To receive a grant. This business plan is written in order to obtain funding from state or municipal authorities. In such a document, it is recommended to focus on the contribution to the development of your city or region. Information is indicated on what problems can be solved, that is, on the creation of a certain number of new jobs, the amount of taxes for the state budget and other nuances.

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Knowing for which organization you are writing a business plan, you will be able to demonstrate exactly the information that will lead to the successful implementation of the idea.

What sections should be in a business plan

The information for the main sections of the document has already been indicated above. Let's consider them in more detail.

Project Summary

Acts as a business card for your organization, which potential investors will see when they open the document. Here the idea of ​​the enterprise is described. How well this text will be written, so much reading people will be interested in the investment project. This may include the following information:

• goals set by the investor;
• a brief description of the concept of the organization;
• attractive factors of your business idea;
• graphs, calculations, indicators that will demonstrate the future potential of the company.

Description of products or services

This section of the document should include a description of all types of goods that you plan to sell or produce, and services that will be offered to your potential customers. However, one range is not enough. The business plan prescribes the main aspects and methods of technical achievement of tasks. If you open a production, you will need to provide information about the products being manufactured with a description of the key features and benefits that the client will receive.

If you have copyrights, patents, innovative technologies, special equipment - any factors that make your concept unique, it is imperative to provide information about them. Also, in this part of the business plan, it is recommended to indicate information about the possible prospects for the growth and development of the company.

Market and competitor analysis

In order to write information in this section, you will need to study the market segment you want to enter. Analyze economic indicators, the number of similar enterprises in your region or city, the share of business, its prospects. It helps a lot to understand how the industry is moving if you analyze its market share over several years.

Competitor analysis is carried out according to some factors. First of all, you need to consider direct competitors for your business, that is, analyze the activities of companies located in a location directly next to you. Next, we consider competitors of the second level, that is, those firms that do not create direct competition with you, but are engaged in activities similar to you. Highlight their positive and negative characteristics at once, and also take care of identifying the qualities due to which the client will give preference to you.

Marketing plan

The presented section is necessary in order to set marketing tasks in the development of the company. It is recommended to immediately describe the promotion tools, goals, and ways to achieve. The following components will help with this:

• Target audience analysis. This tool helps you to see a portrait of your end customer. You will know exactly which people you should focus on, and you will be able to influence them directly when advertising.
• Analysis of competitive advantages. This was discussed in the section above. Be sure to highlight the strengths of your business and understand exactly how you will apply them.
• Development of the company's pricing policy. You should think about the cost of goods and services in advance. This is done after analyzing the proposals of competitors. Competent pricing policy can become the main factor in attracting a potential consumer.
• Development of an advertising campaign. The tools that will be used for promotion are analyzed and described. Pay attention to finding the most effective tools specifically for your business industry. The budget for advertising is specified in advance.

All this gives you the most accurate understanding of exactly how the product, service and brand will be positioned in the market.

Company production plan

This section of the document is necessary in order to understand the stages of starting your business. At the moment when your project is just getting ready to open, the production plan contains information about everything that is required to start the enterprise:

• location;
• search for premises;
• repair and remodeling works;
• development of interior and corporate identity;
• development of the company concept;
• equipment selection;
• formation of engineering communications;
• recruitment;
• development of a line of assortment of goods or services.

The production plan is a very important stage of the document, thanks to which you will be able to complete all the necessary tasks to open an organization step by step.

organizational plan

The organizational plan defines the structure of your enterprise, the personnel policy of the company, as well as its legal support. All the necessary documents and permissions from the authority that you need to obtain for work are registered. It is recommended to indicate the calendar schedule for the implementation of the project, as well as the main features of the company's work.

Financial plan

Contains complete information about the calculations of investments that will be required to open the project. In this section, it is recommended to consider all issues that are somehow related to the financial support of your enterprise. Be sure to think over the scheme of cash flow and predict financial results for the next few years. So you can understand how quickly your company will reach the break-even point and how profitable its activities will be.