Over the years, I’ve seen so many people both young and old wanting to become an entrepreneur but at the same time, they have no plan which will help them in achieving what they actually want. No doubt that this set of individuals have the knowledge and the right mind frame in doing business, but at the same time, they have little or no idea how to construct a good business plan, hence tend to start up their business without a guide or a plan which most times leads to premature business closure. Today’s article will focus on how to write a good business plan as an entrepreneur.
WHAT IS A BUSINESS PLAN?
A business plan is a written document describing an entrepreneur’s core business activities, objectives, and plans on how to achieve his/her goals. A good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing a business. it can be used as a road map on how to structure, run, build and grow your new business. A good business plan attracts funding or helps in bringing business partners or investors and this is a tool you can use in telling how good your product or services are worth and who is your target niche.
TYPES OF BUSINESS PLAN
Most people keep saying there’s no right or wrong way in writing a business plan but the truth is if your business plan is not detailed enough to sell your idea to a potential investor then it’s null and void. A good business plan is expected to speak about your potential business idea in your absence, on this note, we will be looking at two types of business plans. The Conventional Category also known as the Traditional Business Plan and the Lean Business Plan. The Conventional Plans are more commonly accepted because of their Standard structure and their well-detailed section while the Lean Plans are less common and not generally accepted because they are summarised sections only with key points. They are not well detailed. Almost majority knows how to write the Lean Business Plan but the truth is investors don’t really like it due to its scanty sections rather they prefer the traditional way of writing a Business plan.
STEPS IN WRITING A BUSINESS PLAN
In writing a Good Business Plan, here are some things you have to put into consideration which includes:
FEASIBILITY STUDY REPORT: This section gives you a general background of the proposed project. It deals with the general essence of the project and its output. The feasibility report helps the entrepreneur in identifying the market problem, justifying why the entrepreneur wants to go for such Business, the methodology to use in securing the targeted market including the end product that tends to satisfy the targeted market. The entrepreneur must ensure that a market survey has been done properly not just once not twice nor thrice but vastly to know why and which commodity is more demanding before venturing into the business.
MARKET ANALYSIS: After the survey is done, the market analysis must come into play, you as the entrepreneur must ensure to do your own market analysis which includes: Checking the market size your products are targeting. Imply market strategy which would indicate what you have in place that will be able to convince buyers to purchase from you and not your competitor. Ask yourself if your strategy will focus on branding and packaging, or will it focus on the reduction of price with good product quality and little focus on the packaging and branding aspect. This section also has to do with setting a budget for your planned business and making proper documentation of what is needed to run the business effectively.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: After market analysis has been done, then the business owner is expected to check on technical feasibility which includes: Land and location for the business, machinery, types of equipment to be used, raw materials, utilities if necessary, including labour and management experiment and working capital projections.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS: All financial records needed to run the business must be documented so as to enable investors or even the entrepreneur to watch their cash reserve. Projected profit and loss Account need to be stated at least for 1-3 years, loan repayment schedule must be included if only the capital was gotten through loan either from banks, cooperatives, investors or Family and Friends. Also, Net Projects margin, return on investment, and projected balance sheet need to be included in the financial analysis.
In summary, a good Business Plan must be able to
1. answer the current situational analysis.
2. Relate the goal of the business
3. Be smart, specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bonding.
4. Should be flexible to meet the interest and approval of the users…
You can do well to start your own Business Plan today following the guidelines… Your input and feedbacks are needed, drop me a comment below…..
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