4. People mainly struggle with the market research and cash flow sections of a business plan, so leave these until last. The best way to approach a business plan is to do the easy sections first. Your business plan should have the following sections in there:
Section Executive Summary: A summary of the business plan. Leave this until the plan is written.
A summary of the business: This bit has contact details of the business and your goals for the business (where do you see it in a year’s time?).
Management: This is where you write why you wanted to set up the business, what you hope to get out of it and why you’re the best person to run it.
The business: What is your business and how will it work?
Marketing and market research: Who are your customers, competitors and market trends? How will you market and promote the business both on the internet and off the internet?
Financial & Funding: This is where you write your pricing strategy, any funds you’re needing and the purpose they’re needed and how you came up with your cashflow forecast.
Cashflow Forecast: The dreaded spreadsheet – more about this later.
Appendices: Anything else that doesn’t fit into the above sections
When you’re putting your plan together, start with the sections you find easiest i.e. description of the business and how it will work, the management of the business, pricing and marketing. Once you’ve done this, you’ve done over half and it’s not too bad to put the rest of it together.
5. The market research section is one of the hardest bits people have to complete. So, I would advise that you break this one down and complete it in the following order:
(a) Go to www.yell.com and the Internet. Look for other companies who are running the same type of business as you. Go to their websites, visit them or phone them up. What do you like about them? What don’t you like? How will you be different? What are their prices?
(b) Create a spreadsheet and list your competitors with the good bits and bad bits about them.
(c) Write a summary of your competitors and what you’ve found in your Business Plan.