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How To Write A Business Plan

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37 views4 pages

How To Write A Business Plan

Uploaded by

dave
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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How to Write A Business Plan (2024 Guide)

Every business starts with a vision, which is distilled and communicated


through a business plan. In addition to your high-level hopes and dreams, a
strong business plan outlines short-term and long-term goals, budget and
whatever else you might need to get started. In this guide, we’ll walk you
through how to write a business plan that you can stick to and help guide
your operations as you get started.

Brainstorm an Executive Summary

Drafting the Summary


An executive summary is an extremely important first step in your business.
You have to be able to put the basic facts of your business in an elevator
pitch-style sentence to grab investors’ attention and keep their interest.
This should communicate your business’s name, what the products or
services you’re selling are and what marketplace you’re entering.

Ask for Help


When drafting the executive summary, you should have a few different
options. Enlist a few thought partners to review your executive summary
possibilities to determine which one is best.

Create a Company Description

After you have the executive summary in place, you can work on the
company description, which contains more specific information. In the
description, you’ll need to include your business’s registered name, your
business address and any key employees involved in the business.
The business description should also include the structure of your business,
such as sole proprietorship, limited liability company (LLC), partnership or
corporation. This is the time to specify how much of an ownership stake
everyone has in the company. Finally, include a section that outlines the
history of the company and how it has evolved over time.
Brainstorm Your Business Goals
Wherever you are on the business journey, you return to your goals and
assess where you are in meeting your in-progress targets and setting new
goals to work toward.

Numbers-based Goals
Goals can cover a variety of sections of your business. Financial and profit
goals are a given for when you’re establishing your business, but there are
other goals to take into account as well with regard to brand awareness and
growth. For example, you might want to hit a certain number of followers
across social channels or raise your engagement rates.

Another goal could be to attract new investors or find grants if you’re a


nonprofit business. If you’re looking to grow, you’ll want to set revenue
targets to make that happen as well.

Intangible Goals
Goals unrelated to traceable numbers are important as well. These can
include seeing your business’s advertisement reach the general public or
receiving a terrific client review. These goals are important for the direction
you take your business and the direction you want it to go in the future.

Describe Your Services or Products

The business plan should have a section that explains the services or
products that you’re offering. This is the part where you can also describe
how they fit in the current market or are providing something necessary or
entirely new. If you have any patents or trademarks, this is where you can
include those too.

If you have any visual aids, they should be included here as well. This would
also be a good place to include pricing strategy and explain your materials.

Conduct Market Research

This is the part of the business plan where you can explain your expertise
and different approach in greater depth. Show how what you’re offering is
vital to the market and fills an important gap. You can also situate your
business in your industry and compare it to other ones and how you have a
competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Create Financial Plans

Other than financial goals, you want to have a budget and set your planned
weekly, monthly and annual spending. There are several different costs to
consider, such as operational costs.

Business Operations Costs


Rent for your business is the first big cost to factor into your budget. If your
business is remote, the cost that replaces rent will be the software that
maintains your virtual operations.

Marketing and sales costs should be next on your list. Devoting money to
making sure people know about your business is as important as making
sure it functions.

Other Costs
Although you can’t anticipate disasters, there are likely to be unanticipated
costs that come up at some point in your business’s existence. It’s important
to factor these possible costs into your financial plans so you’re not caught
totally unaware.

Bottom Line

Business plans are important for businesses of all sizes so that you can
define where your business is and where you want it to go. Growing your
business requires a vision, and giving yourself a roadmap in the form of a
business plan will set you up for success.

How do I write a simple business plan?


When you’re working on a business plan, make sure you have as much
information as possible so that you can simplify it to the most relevant
information. A simple business plan still needs all of the parts included in
this article, but you can be very clear and direct.

What are some common mistakes in a business plan?


The most common mistakes in a business plan are common writing issues
like grammar errors or misspellings. It’s important to be clear in your
sentence structure and proofread your business plan before sending it to
any investors or partners.
What basic items should be included in a business plan?
When writing out a business plan, you want to make sure that you cover
everything related to your concept for the business, an analysis of the
industry―including potential customers and an overview of the market for
your goods or services―how you plan to execute your vision for the
business, how you plan to grow the business if it becomes successful and all
financial data around the business, including current cash on hand,
potential investors and budget plans for the next few years.

FORBES 2024 Written ByJulia Rittenberg

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