Business Plans

A business plan is any plan that works for a business to look ahead, allocate resources, focus on key points, and prepare for problems and opportunities. A business plan is used for starting up or evaluating a new business or applying for business loans. They are also vital for running a business, whether or not the business needs new loans or new investments.

The most important driver for almost any business plan (whether it's called a business plan, a sales plan, an operational plan, an organisational plan, marketing plan, marketing strategy, strategic business plan, or other department business plan) is return on investment, or for public services and non-profit organisations, is effective use of investment and resources.

Business plans typically cover four major content areas:

• Background information
• A marketing plan
• An operational plan
• A financial plan

What is most important in a plan?
It depends on the case, but usually it’s the cash flow analysis and specific implementation details.

• Cash flow is both vital to a company and hard to follow. Cash is usually misunderstood as profits, and they are different. Profits don’t guarantee cash in the bank. Lots of profitable companies go under because of cash flow problems. It just isn’t intuitive.

• Implementation details are what make things happen. Your brilliant strategies and beautifully formatted planning documents are just theory unless you assign responsibilities, with dates and budgets, follow up with those responsible, and track results. Business plans are really about getting results and improving your company.

Can you suggest business plan outline?  Here’s a suggested outline order:

1. Executive Summary: Write this last. It’s just a page or two of highlights.
2. Company Description: Legal establishment, history, start-up plans, etc.
3. Product or Service: Describe what you’re selling. Focus on customer benefits.
4. Market Analysis: You need to know your market, customer needs, where they are, how to reach them, etc.
5. Strategy and Implementation: Be specific. Include management responsibilities with dates and budget.
6. Management Team: Include backgrounds of key members of the team, personnel strategy, and details.
7. Financial Plan: Include profit and loss, cash flow, balance sheet, break-even analysis, assumptions, business ratios, etc.