How to write a business plan on your own?

It is a document that highlights all the characteristics of the future organization, analyzes possible problems and risks, their forecast and methods by which they can be avoided.

Simply put, a business plan for an investor is the answer to the question “Should the project be financed or should it be thrown into the trash?”.

Important! A business plan is drawn up on paper, taking into account certain procedures and rules. Such a presentation of the project to some extent materializes your idea, shows your desire and willingness to work. Also, the design on paper simplifies the perception of the idea by the investor.

Self-drawing up a business plan

Drawing up a business plan yourself is not so difficult, you just need to carefully consider the idea. Before you grab onto the calculator and calculate income, you need to take a few steps.

Identify the "pros" and "cons" of the idea that has arisen. If the number of "minuses" rolls over - do not rush to give up. Some aspects can be turned in the opposite direction, think about ways to solve such "cons".
Competitiveness and market stability are important characteristics.
The sales market needs to be thought out to the smallest detail.
The payback of the product (service) and the time of receipt of the first profit will allow you to determine the (approximately) required amount for investment.

If, after such a superficial analysis, you do not want to abandon your brainchild, then it's time to take a clean slate and start creating a business plan.

It is important to know! There is no single structure and step-by-step instructions on how to calculate a business plan. Therefore, the presence and order of the items included in the plan is determined independently. However, experts have established the most optimal variant of the plan structure. If there is no experience in compiling such documents, you need to use these recommendations in order to correctly compose the work.

Structure and procedure for drawing up a business plan

The structure of a good business plan, according to economists, should include 12 points. Each of them is described below.

Title page

The following parameters are specified here:

name of the project;
the name of the organization where the project is planned to be implemented, indicating telephone numbers, addresses and other contact details;
head of the above organization;
developer (team or leader) of a business plan;
date of preparation of the document;
it is allowed to place on the first sheet the most significant indicators of financial calculations for the project.

This document is necessary to protect the copyright of the idea and business plan. This reflects the awareness of the reader that he is not entitled to distribute the information contained in the document without the permission of the author. There may also be an indication of the prohibition of copying, duplicating the document, transferring it to another person, a requirement to return the read business plan to the author if the investor does not accept the agreement.

An example of a confidentiality memorandum can be seen below.

The next 2 sections of the plan - "Brief summary" and "Main idea of the project" - are introductory. They can be used as a preliminary offer (for review) to partners and investors until negotiations are scheduled.

Brief Summary

Although a short summary of such a document is at the beginning, it is written at the final stage, as a result. A summary is an abbreviated description of the project idea and a list of the most significant characteristics of the financial component.

The following questions will help here, by answering which you can get a great resume:

What product is the company planning to sell?
Who wants to buy this product?
What is the planned volume of sales (production) for the first year of the company? What will be the revenue from this?
What is the total cost of the project?
How will the enterprise be formed according to the organizational and legal form?
How many workers are planned to attract?
What is the required amount of capital investments for the implementation of the project?
What are the sources of funding for this project?
How much will be the total profit (profitability) for a specific period, payback period, amount of cash at the end of the first year of the enterprise, profitability. net discounted income.

It is important to know! The resume is read by the investor first. Therefore, the further fate of the project depends on this section: the investor will either become interested or bored. This part should not exceed 1 page.

The main idea of the project

What is the main design goal?
What are the tasks of the enterprise to achieve the main goal?
Are there any barriers to the goal and how to get around them?
What exact actions does the author propose to perform in order to achieve results and achieve the goal as soon as possible? What are these timelines?

Important! It is necessary to give clear, real and explicit arguments that will confirm the confidence in the profitability and success of the project. The volume of this part is optimal within 1-2 pages.

In the same section, it is customary to use the conducted SWOT analysis – assessment of strong, weak features of the enterprise, opportunities (prospects), as well as possible threats. It is unlikely that it will be possible to make a business plan correctly and most completely without such an analysis.

The SWOT analysis reflects 2 sides that affect the life of the organization: internal, relating to the enterprise itself, and external (everything outside the company that it cannot change).

Do not forget: you describe the enterprise, not the product! A common mistake of the authors is that they start writing product characteristics in the “strength” column.

Here are some parameters that can be used to describe strengths or weaknesses:

high-tech production;
service and after-sales service;
multifunctionality of the product (without affecting its specific properties);
level of qualification and professionalism of employees;
the level of technical equipment of the enterprise.

External factors (“opportunities” and “threats”) include:

market growth rates;
the level of competition;
political situation in the region, country;
features of legislation;
features of the consumer's solvency.

Example

Characteristics of the industry in the market

dynamics of sales of similar products in the industry in recent years;
growth rate of the market industry;
trends and features of pricing;
exhaustive assessment of competitors;
search and indication of new and young enterprises in the industry, as well as a description of their activities;
description of the consumer market, their desires, intentions, requirements, opportunities;
assessment of the possible impact of scientific, social, economic aspects;
prospects for development in the market.

Essence of the project

This section reveals the idea, the subject of the business plan. It also reflects the level of preparedness of the enterprise for the release of "public", the availability of all the funds required for this.

The most important provisions in this section are:

primary goals;
description of the target consumer segment;
key performance factors for market success;
a detailed representation of the product, the characteristics of which must be within the market segment defined above;
stage of product development (if production is launched), patent and author's purity;
characteristics of the organization;
the total cost of the project, indicating the financing schedule for the periods and amounts of investments;
the required expenses of the initial period for the marketing campaign and the formation of a coherent organizational structure.

Marketing plan

Here the tasks, goals of the marketing policy and methods for their solution and achievement are indicated. It is important to indicate which task is intended for which personnel, in what time frame it is required to complete it, and with what tools. The funds needed for the latter must also be indicated.

Marketing plan is a strategy, a set of successive and / or simultaneous steps, created to attract consumers and effectively return on their part.

The investor will be attentive to such points as:

a well-developed system of comprehensive market research and analysis;
the planned volume of sales of goods (services) and its range, scheduled for time periods until the enterprise reaches full capacity;
ways to improve products;
description of product packaging and pricing policy;
procurement and marketing system;
advertising strategy - clearly articulated and understandable;
service planning;
control over the implementation of the marketing strategy.

Production plan

Everything related directly to the creation of products is reflected in this part. Therefore, it is advisable to compile this section only for those companies that plan not only distribution, but also production.

Points to be noted:

required production capacity;
detailed interpretation of the technological process;
a detailed description of the operations entrusted to subcontractors;
the necessary equipment, its characteristics, cost and method of purchase or lease;
subcontractors;
required area for production;
raw materials, resources.

It is important to indicate the cost of everything that requires costs.

organizational plan

At this stage, the principles of organizational strategic management of the company are developed. If the enterprise already exists, then this item is still mandatory: it determines the compliance of the existing structure with the intended goals. The organizational part must necessarily contain the following data:

name of the organizational and legal form (IP, OJSC, partnership and others);
an organizational management system that reflects the structure in the form of a scheme, regulations and instructions, communications and dependencies of departments;
founders, their description and data;
management team;
interaction with staff;
supplying the control system with the necessary material and technical resources;
company location.

Financial plan

This chapter of the business plan gives a cumulative economic assessment of the written project, accompanied by calculations of the level of profitability, payback periods, and financial stability of the enterprise.

The financial plan is very important for the investor, here he determines whether this project is attractive to him.

Here it is necessary to make some calculations and summarize them:

Risk Analysis

In a risk analysis, the author must investigate the project and discover potential threats that could lead to a decrease in revenue. It is necessary to take into account financial, industry, natural, social and other risks. At the same time, it is necessary to develop a detailed and effective plan to prevent them or minimize the impact on the company. Therefore, the business plan should include:

a list of all potential problems;
a set of methods and tools that prevent, eliminate or minimize risks;
models of the company's behavior in the event of events that do not contribute to its development;
substantiation of the low probability of occurrence of such problems.

Applications

This is the last link in the structure of the business plan. It includes documents, quotations, sources, copies of contracts, agreements, references, letters from consumers, partners, statistics, calculation tables used in the preparation of this document. Attachments in the text of the business plan are required to insert links and footnotes.

General document requirements

write a business plan in a clear, concise language, without long and complex wording;
the desired volume is 20-25 pages;
the business plan must cover all the information required by the investor in full;
the document must necessarily be based on real facts, reasonable rational proposals;
the plan must have a strategic foundation: strict, delineated and complete, with clear targets;
interconnectedness, complexity and consistency are important features of drawing up a plan;
the investor must see the future, the prospects for the development of the project idea;
The flexibility of the business plan is a significant plus. If you can make adjustments, amendments to the written project is a nice bonus for the investor;
conditions and modes of control over the functioning of the enterprise should become part of the business plan.

Making a business plan from scratch without the help of a specialist is not easy, but possible. It is important to adhere to the above rules, construction structure and avoid mistakes.

The most common mistakes

Illiterate syllable

The rules of the language cannot be ignored. It often happens that the most incredible and promising idea flies into the basket along with a bunch of plans of mediocre IPs. And all because mistakes in spelling, vocabulary, punctuation and poor presentation of the text completely discourage the desire of any investor.

Careless design

The design should be the same throughout the document: bullets, headings, lists, font, size, numbering, spacing, etc. Contents, headings, numbering, names of figures and tables, designation of data on graphs are required!

incomplete plan

To properly write a business plan, you need an exhaustive amount of information. The sections of the document listed above are the minimum that should be unconditionally included in the project.

vague plan

Work should be "like in a pharmacy on the scales." Clear, specific, specific statements of goals and (important!) ideas.

Too many details

The abundance of technical, financial, marketing terms will only help in exams. For a business plan, you need to select only the most significant details. If there is a great need for a thorough description of a process, then you can put it in an application.

Unrealistic data

Such business proposals are based on assumptions. Therefore, the author needs to rationally approach the idea and have a reasonable background, a real reason supported by calculations.

Few facts

For each assumption - its justification - real, valid. Facts give the work meaning and confidence. The fountain of facts is also not worth arranging, and if you are carried away, then we look at the rule about the details.

"We have no risks!"

Rule of thumb: no business without risk. There is no such business in which "quiet, yes smooth surface." The investor knows this, and the author should also know this. Therefore, it's time to descend from the clouds to the ground and study, explore, analyze.

“And we have no competitors either!”

The competitor, as well as the risk, is always there. It can be direct or indirect. Carefully and meticulously study this topic, and an opponent will definitely appear on the horizon, waving your pen.

Neglect of outside help

Creating a business plan on your own does not mean doing absolutely everything yourself. Moreover, obtaining a high-quality result is possible through the joint efforts of several specialists. Don't be afraid of helpers!