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Preparing a Business Plan
What's a Business Plan?
Think of your business plan as being like a list of answers to
questions that people might have about your home business. You
will not get outside funding without one, because the people
giving you the funding want to know that you've thought through
what you're doing. A business plan says to them 'I've considered
this from every angle, and here's what I've come up with'.
But what should your business plan include?
What is Your Service? This is the first question every business
plan should answer. Just what is it that you plan to do? Tell
them which industry you're going to be in, and why you've chosen
it.
Who are Your Customers? Once you know what you do, the next
thing you need to know is who you're going to be doing it for,
and so that's the next thing that should be written on the
business plan. You should also include your area here.
What Makes You Different? You need to say what the 'key factors'
are that make your business different to other businesses in its
sector. What is it that you're planning to do to make the
business succeed?
What are Your Expenses? Your start-up expenses include any
equipment that you need before you can get up-and-running, while
your day-to-day expenses are staff costs and supplies.
An Example
Note that this is a very short and sweet business plan: in real
life, each one of these sections would be closer to a page in
length. That said, it is a bad idea to go into too much detail
in your plan. You're not trying to tell the reader everything,
just the basics of the business and why they should give you
money to help you build it. Always focus on profit.
The Catering & Cake Co.
Nature of Business: The business will be a home-based catering
company, producing luxury food for special occasions such as
birthdays and weddings. We will provide a comprehensive catering
service, with a special line in cakes, which have a higher
profit margin than other foods.
Target Market: Our catering business will be aimed at
middle-market customers who want luxury catering but still care
about the cost. To begin with, our target area is within a
ten-mile radius of Anytown, to include the affluent area of
Othertown.
Key Factors: We will use industrial-quality ingredients but
provide bespoke-quality design and service. This will allow us
to provide food that looks excellent and tastes acceptable,
while keeping costs low.
Expenses: Since I will be using my kitchen for the business and
making the food myself, there are only two real expenses: the
one-off cost of a larger cooker, and then the day-to-day cost
supplies. A suppliers' letter listing prices is attached -
enquiries with others in the catering industry have shown this
supplier to be the best value for my business.
To finish it all off, you should include a breakdown of
projected profit and loss per month for the first year of the
business, in the form of a graph. You would work this out by
working out a reasonable repayment of any one-off expenses and
adding this repayment to the day-to-day expenses, before
graphing day-to-day expenses against projected sales. Your
business plan should show you making enough of a profit each
month to live - if you doesn't, then it will be considered
unfeasible by anyone you show it to.
Find Real Business Plans
The best way to figure out the dos and don'ts of business plans
is to find real ones - they're out there on the Internet. Once
you've seen a few, you can start to get some idea of how much
work is going to be involved to write one of your own. Remember,
until your business exists for real, the business plan is the
only tool you have to show anyone how great it's going to be.
About the author:
Original Source: Articles-Galore.com
Information supplied and written by Lee Asher of The Home Income Portal
Home of Serious Online Business Options.