Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Creating Your First Business Plan

By Mark Walters


Any viable company requires a good business plan, one that allows its stakeholders to get a clear vision of the venture's future. Usually, these people need to see something in writing before they can feel truly comfortable with a business. You have to have it in writing. As you can see, it is vital for new companies to have a business plan. But just how do you put together one of these elusive prototypes?

A cogent business plan needs to inform all interested parties how the enterprise will thrive and why, and how they will make money from it. Remember, you're business plan will always be a work in progress. It will be continually reworked. If all goes well, your business plan will be adjusted for a long time to come. But the first draft will always be the most important for a startup company.

The business plan will start with an opening act: The cover page. This first statement should consist of the business's name; it's address and the mission statement it will be built upon. Next should come the table of contents, which will be a guide to each chapter of the report. An executive summary must come next, giving a brief about the entire business plan in no more than a couple of paragraphs. You will now move into the bulk of the report.

You will begin the body of the plan with a company overview. What is it exactly the company will sell or provide, and what are its intentions? This leads into the business offering, which is a detailed explanation of what the organization does for its clients. The report will proceed to spell out the marketing strategy and what will be done to put it in place. You will then want to give a full list of your management team, complete with job descriptions.

In conclusion, include financial projections as a guide to what stakeholders can expect from your new venture. This portion of the report is designed to be an educated guess, not precise predictions of monetary success. Keep in mind that your business plan is the first thing your investors, or loan providers, will need to look at. It is of the utmost consequence that you prepare it with great care, not relying on cheap services available online or in seedy strip malls. Give yourself an edge up when starting a new company and write a comprehensive business plan.




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