What is a Business Plan?
Most people assume you only have to write a business plan if you are going to seek capital from a bank or other lending institution. This is not always the case.
Most plans are driven by market needs and aims. The importance of having a business plan is to ensure your business remains on target for goals and objectives set for that financial year and for the future. There is no real difference between a business plan and a 'strategic business plan'. You could say that every plan is a strategic one.
Most plans are driven by marketing, since you have to look outwards at the market, the market place, products and services before being able to look inwards at the company and finances.
Part of the business plan will include a marketing strategy, looking at how you will achieve growth, where to market and who to market to. Many people look at marketing as 'selling' but it is more than that. It's about 'branding', image and building trust within the marketplace, about identifying the people who you need to market to. It's about customer engagement and identifying your niche market and where they hang out. The Marketing strategy also looks at product development, customer service, ongoing training, the marketing system used to capture lead generation and how to retail to your customer on an ongoing basis, getting repeat customers, not just once off.
Why is it needed?
Having a plan helps you to define growth for your company, and expansion. It helps to keep you focused and on track.
Writing a business plan is not as complex as most people think, there are lots of templates out there on the market place that can help with the format.
Here are some quick tips for researching and putting together your marketing strategy:
· Determine your company values or 'mission statement', this will help to keep you on track as it is easy to get distracted without a mission statement.
· Do your market research, who are your audience? Your competitors? Who are your products aimed at? Where do they hang out?
· What is your unique selling point? What makes you stand out from your competitors
· What are your competitors activity? How do they compare to yours?
· What is it you are trying to achieve in your company / business? What are your aims?
· Are your products or services competitive? Do they stand out?
· What's your customer service level like? Compared to your competitors?
· Have you got your marketing strategy right?
· Have you determined your advertising budget, your company brand etc?
· Market expansion - any plans for this?
· What will your business be like in 3 to 5 years time? Plan for growth financially and products, service wide.
Here are some great sites that offer more information on business planning and templates that you can use when producing a business plan.
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Monday, 21 November 2011
Keeping Your Executive Summary Clear
An executive summary is a short, sharp snapshot of the key points contained in a document. It reflects the content of your detailed business plan and makes it easier for the reader to gain a good understanding of what the rest of the document will cover.
In order to prepare an effective executive summary, you will first need to write your business plan. And whilst there are many ways you can go about doing that, such as using software, writing it from scratch or using a business planning template, you will need to keep one key point at the top of your mind during the process - who the reader is. Without readily knowing who will be reading your plan, and basing decisions on what you include, then your document and executive summary may be quite confusing.
To help get this clarity up front, think about the purpose for writing your business plan. Is it for a banker or investor to review and consider loaning you money for your business? Is it for your staff so that they have a clear understanding of what the business will do in the next 1-3 years? Or is it for you, helping to shape your ideas and strategies for business establishment and growth?
Even though your plan should be applicable for all three types of readers, once you have determined who the audience is then you can shape your executive summary to highlight those areas of the plan that matter most to the reader.
For example, if your reader is a banker who you are asking for a loan, then they will want to know that the plan outlines the ways in which the business will make a profit and how you have come to your conclusions (such as market research and testing). They will also want to know how well you have captured the current and planned expenses of the business, and the projected income from the products/services you intend to sell. Including a budget in your plan will also help show the details of your financial projections which you can then refer to in your summary.
The bottom line is that an executive summary is a top-level outline of what the rest of the document is about. A good summary will mean that someone can read it and get a reasonable understanding of what you want to communicate, and then choose to dig into the plan for the areas that most interest them.
It needs to be engaging, succinct and to the point. No rambling sentences and repetition. Keep it short and sharp. As long as it communicates the essence of the plan, then it will be fine. It may help to structure your executive summary before you write it. Think about the major aspects of your plan and structure the summary in a way that each points leads to the next and builds a good understanding in the mind of the reader. You may also want to try explaining to someone what the plan is about and ask that person to write notes as you talk. Then, you can use these notes as the basis of your summary.
In order to prepare an effective executive summary, you will first need to write your business plan. And whilst there are many ways you can go about doing that, such as using software, writing it from scratch or using a business planning template, you will need to keep one key point at the top of your mind during the process - who the reader is. Without readily knowing who will be reading your plan, and basing decisions on what you include, then your document and executive summary may be quite confusing.
To help get this clarity up front, think about the purpose for writing your business plan. Is it for a banker or investor to review and consider loaning you money for your business? Is it for your staff so that they have a clear understanding of what the business will do in the next 1-3 years? Or is it for you, helping to shape your ideas and strategies for business establishment and growth?
Even though your plan should be applicable for all three types of readers, once you have determined who the audience is then you can shape your executive summary to highlight those areas of the plan that matter most to the reader.
For example, if your reader is a banker who you are asking for a loan, then they will want to know that the plan outlines the ways in which the business will make a profit and how you have come to your conclusions (such as market research and testing). They will also want to know how well you have captured the current and planned expenses of the business, and the projected income from the products/services you intend to sell. Including a budget in your plan will also help show the details of your financial projections which you can then refer to in your summary.
The bottom line is that an executive summary is a top-level outline of what the rest of the document is about. A good summary will mean that someone can read it and get a reasonable understanding of what you want to communicate, and then choose to dig into the plan for the areas that most interest them.
It needs to be engaging, succinct and to the point. No rambling sentences and repetition. Keep it short and sharp. As long as it communicates the essence of the plan, then it will be fine. It may help to structure your executive summary before you write it. Think about the major aspects of your plan and structure the summary in a way that each points leads to the next and builds a good understanding in the mind of the reader. You may also want to try explaining to someone what the plan is about and ask that person to write notes as you talk. Then, you can use these notes as the basis of your summary.
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