george.e.allen94 If you are considering starting a business, you will, of course, prepare well for it. You think about the products or services you want to offer, explore the market, come up with a unique name for your company and make a financial plan. After all, a good start is half the work. Such a good start only really takes shape with a business plan. Drawing up this provides guidance and insight into the chance of success of your new company. But how do you write a strong and convincing business plan? Asking yourself 5 essential questions to start with. You can read which questions these are here.
What type of entrepreneur are you?
The ideal entrepreneur does not exist. Every entrepreneur has his own style, approach, and expertise. Write a business plan; therefore, start by describing your entrepreneurial qualities. What type of entrepreneur are you? What are your talents, and how will you make the most of them to make your company a success? For example, are you rock with numbers, a real sales tiger, a genuine networker, or are you brimming with creative ideas? There are also certain things that you are less good at and that you could use some help with. Be realistic in this, too and outsource these tasks or assign them to a business partner or partner. Also, think about how you want to develop yourself as an entrepreneur. Which courses do you want to follow? Are you being coached by an experienced entrepreneur? The answer to all these questions forms the basis for your personal plan. In this part of the business plan, you present yourself. Also, include your personal details here and those of any business partner.
Make a concrete business plan; what do you want to achieve?
Now it’s time to make your business plan concrete. How will you conquer the world with your company? Do you want to successfully introduce a groundbreaking product to the Dutch market? Are you going to help students with the coolest side jobs? Or do you want to profile yourself as an expert in the field of sustainable business? Whatever you want to achieve with your company, try to make your mission as short and concrete as possible. Describe what you are going to do, for whom and what you hope to achieve with it. For example, Google’s corporate mission is:
“Organizing all the information in the world and making it accessible and usable for everyone.”
You then formulate the company objectives based on your company mission. Make a distinction between short-term objectives and long-term objectives. For example, a short-term goal could be: ‘Twice as many likes and views on social media within six months.’ An example of a long-term goal is: ‘Be a market leader in my industry in three years’ time.’ It is important that your objectives are SMART :
- Specific: make your goals concrete;
- Measurable: make sure the goals are measurable by expressing them in figures or percentages;
- Acceptable: investigate whether there is support for it;
- Realistic: make your goals achievable;
- Time-bound: link a deadline to your goals.
How will you sell your product or service?
As an entrepreneur, you cannot do without customers. So think carefully in advance about how you want to market your product or service. It is crucial to know how that market works. To find out, you do market research. Questions that will be addressed are:
- How big is your target audience?
- What are the main trends and developments?
- Who are your competitors?
- What sets you apart?
Once you have answered these questions, you can determine your sales strategy. You now know how best to reach your customers and what they find important. You can respond to this with targeted marketing campaigns and sales activities. For example, if you have come up with a new food concept that focuses on a young hip target group, promoting your products at food truck festivals might be a good idea. And you don’t just sell a children’s clothing line through a physical store, but also through social media groups for young parents. This immediately brings us to the question of what is the best location for your company. Perhaps a physical store or location is unnecessary, and online visibility is all the more important to reach your target audience. The best choice depends entirely on your product or service, the target group, and the market. Together they determine your commercial strategy and marketing plan.
How will you run your business?
Entrepreneurship is a verb for a reason. That means it’s time for action! How will you achieve all your plans and objectives? What do you need for that? Before you start setting up your company, it is necessary that you think carefully about this and translate all organizational aspects into a concrete action plan. You can think of practical matters such as renting office and storage space, arranging permits and insurance, hiring staff, investing in business equipment, ICT and logistics facilities, and purchasing materials. In addition, it is important that you think out your entire production process step by step. Remember:
- How you will work later;
- What you will do yourself and what you outsource;
- How to pass on more or less work to the customer;
- What the lead times are;
- Whether you depend on external factors such as the supply of raw materials or subcontractors how you deal with them.
When writing your business plan, you then clarify how you will manage each business unit and process.
How do you arrange to finance?
Finally, it is important to make a thorough financial overview of your company. Certainly, if you intend to apply for external financing, a good financial plan is a must not be missing. Moreover, it gives you insight into your business idea’s success rate and financial feasibility. To start with, you map out what you currently need to get your business off to a good start. This is your starting capital. Also, consider what costs you expect to incur in the first few years and increase this amount by 10% for unexpected expenses. Compare this with a realistic estimate of the returns. Make a forecast for several years. You will probably have to invest more in the first year, and your profits will show an upward trend. Calculate when you expect to break even. This is when you have earned back your investment. It is also important to know how you are going to finance all this and under what conditions. Suppose you decide to apply for credit from a bank or investment plan. A lender will always look at the overall picture. Mbplans advisers know exactly what to look out for and can help you draw up a watertight plan.
Have you answered all five questions in detail? Then you can start preparing your business plan well prepared.
Are you going to write a business plan and want to get advice?
Could you use some advice and support when writing your business plan? Maven Business Plans is happy to guide you through the entire writing process. Have their business plan writing services by visiting their website mbplans.com.
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