Entrepreneurs Brief Guide
“How to Develop a Business Plan”
Dr Jim Porter
When starting a new business, it is essential to have a viable business plan for your new venture. A good business plan helps you gain the requisite financial support from your creditors and bankers, garner support from your customer base and focus your efforts on what is important.
In 30 minutes, learn how to:
Identify your target audience for your business plan
Write a good business plan
Appreciate the importance on an Executive Summary
Present your business plan
Copyright
How to Develop a Business Plan
Dr Jim Porter
Revision: SW1.003.001
Copyright © 2011 – All Rights Reserved.
Smashwords Edition
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ISBN:
978-1-4659-5462-6
Publisher: Smashwords, Inc.
When starting a new business, it is essential to have a viable business plan for your new venture. A good business plan helps you gain the requisite financial support from your creditors and bankers, garner support from your customer base and focus your efforts on what is important.
It also helps in clearly defining your long term objectives and in ensuring smooth operation for your business. Therefore, it is important to understand what information you should include in your business plan and how to portray your financial predictions.
The target audience for your business plan
Creating and managing a realistic business plan has many benefits, even if you plan to use it within the company. It can:
Help you identify potential pitfalls and risks before they happen, thus giving you the opportunity to avoid them
Enable you to structure the financial side of your business efficiently
Focus your efforts on what is important to your business
Be used as a measure of your success and can help you track your progress
The majority of people view a business plan as a document used merely to secure external financing. This is of course very important since potential investors, such as banks, may invest in your business idea and work with you or lend you money as a result of the quality and strength of the business case presented in your plan.
A number of people or institutions may request to review your business plan at some stage of the business cycle:
Banks
External investors such as friends, venture capitalists or business angels
Grant providers
Potential business partners
Irrespective of the objectives of your business plan and who is likely to use it, it should still take an unbiased look at your business. Failure to do so may result in loss of confidence in your business idea or projection forecasts.
Please remember that a business plan is a living document that will require regular reviewing, updating and changing as your business evolves.
Your Business Plan
The following are to be included in your business plan:
The Executive summary:
The executive summary is the most important section of any business plan. It is usually placed at the start of the plan. It is the first to be read and the last to be written.
Based on this part alone, interested parties such as banks and venture capitalists make their decision whether a business plan is worth further consideration considering for funding or not.
It represents a brief outline of your whole business proposal and should avoid all the technical jargons so that people unfamiliar with your business can understand it.