Your business plan

It takes time and money to start one’s own business – that is why it is important to have a business plan. A business plan not only helps you as entrepreneur to formulate short and long-term ideas, but it is also required when you start looking for business partners and investors or applying for financing.

Here is a business plan template to help you.

ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF A BUSINESS PLAN

• Executive summary
• Business overview and objectives
• Products and services
• Competitive and market analysis

• Market and sales strategy
• Staffing and operations
• Financial projections

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Start your business plan with a two-page outline of your company’s purpose and goals.

• Name of your company
• Description of your company
• In which industry will you operate?
• Who is your market?
• Why does your business have potential to succeed?
• Your business’s growth potential

2. BUSINESS OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVES

• What type of legal entity is your company?
• What products will your company specialise in?
• Will your business be solving any problem?
• How are you solving the problem?
• How will your business be different from your competitors?

3. PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

• Describe your products/services in detail
• Why is your product/service needed by your customers?
• What makes your product/service better than those of your competitors?
• Have you applied for any patents, copyrights or trademarks?
• How will you source or manufacture your products?
• How will they be distributed to customers?

4. COMPETITIVE AND MARKET ANALYSIS

You need to convince your financiers or investors that there is a demand (need) for your product or service.
It is therefore important to understand your market and your competition. This is called market research.

• Your target market: Which type of customers will you be targeting with your product or service?
• Market need: Is there a demand for your products and services?
• Competition: What do your competitors offer and how will your products and services be better than theirs?
• Barriers to entry: What prevents someone else from providing the same or better offering?
• Regulations: Which regulations apply to your industry?

5. MARKETING AND SALES STRATEGY

How will your potential customers know about your business? This is where your marketing and sales strategy comes into play.

• Who is your marketing audience?
• Where will you find your audience?
• What message do you want to relay to them?
• What is your marketing budget?
• Sales staff required?

6. STAFFING AND OPERATIONS

• Where will your store or office be based?
• What is your management structure?
• What staff will you require?
• What equipment, facilities and supplies will you need?
• Where will you find suppliers?
• What will your production methods entail?
• How will your service deliver goods to customers?

7. FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS

It’s important to come up with credible financial projections for your business to illustrate that it is feasible. Ask someone with accounting skills to help you draw up the following financial documents.

You need to include:

• An estimate of your company’s start-up cost
• A 12-month profit and loss projection
• Cash-flow projections for the next 12 months
• Projected balance sheets – at the launch of your business and at the end of each year
• Your break-even point calculation (when the business will start to make money)