Sep
9th
How to write an effective business plan? - Part 1
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“Writing a Business Plan forces you into disciplined thinking, if you do an intellectually honest job. An idea may sound great, but when you put down all the details and numbers, it may fall apart” - Eugene Kleiner, Venture Capitalist
Let’s start with the basics. Do you know what are the characteristics of a successful Business Plan ? A successful business plan should be :
- Clearly written, well structured and standalone
- The objective is accurate, positive, and critical
- Must be consistent, should have analytical depth, and style
- Should be written in plain English, without technical terms
- It is your calling card, therefore it is the document the reader will remember you by
Well, we know what is needed for a successful business plan. I am sure the next question in your mind is “what are the elements of a business plan?” Let me summarize item by item, then we will go into detail later.
Elements of a Business Plan
- Executive summary
- Product or service
- Management team
- Market and competition
- Marketing and sales
- Business system and organisation
- Implementation schedule
- Opportunities and risks
- Financial planning and financing
I know writing an effective business plan seems like a big deal to you when looking at above items. However most of them are already known by you. You will discover all of them by asking some key questions to yourself. Let’s start with the executive summary.
Key Questions for Executive Summary:
- What is your business idea?
- Who are your target customers?
- What is the value for those customers?
- What market volume and growth rates do you forecast?
- What competitive environment do you face?
- What additional stages of development are needed?
- How much investment is necessary?
- What long term goals have you set?
We will further discuss other items of the elements of the business plan. I want to give a break here for you to think thoroughly about above questions and come up with answers until i post Part 2.
In case you need some good food for thought on business plans, i listed some great books herebelow:
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[…] Today i would like to introduce you a great book which i believe every entrepreneur should have read before evaluating an opportunity or writing an effective business plan […]