Business Plan Basics for First-Time Business Owners
If you’re a first-time business owner, putting together your business plan can be exciting and a little daunting at the same time.
Business plans are crucial for a number of reasons. Firstly banks and investors will insist on seeing one before they hand over any cash to help you get your business off the ground. A plan also affords you the opportunity to gain greater clarity on your goals and target market as well as forcing you to think about competitors, challenges and potential pitfalls.
With such an overwhelming task of putting pen to paper ahead of you, we wanted to share a few business plan basics to help get you started.
Executive Summary
All business plans need to start with an executive summary where the owner gives an overview of what the company does. Here you should include why you’re qualified to succeed and what you hope to achieve by opening for business.
Top Tip! This is your opportunity to impress anyone that reads your business plan, so make it concise and to the point.
Market Analysis
All businesses need to undertake an in-depth market analysis to show that they understand the environment that they’ll be launching their brand into. From identifying key prospects now and in the future to communicating your USP, you need to show that you fully understand your market and any challenges or opportunities you may face.
Top Tip! Don’t forget to include any snippets of market research that you’ve discovered to back up your analysis.
Service or Product lines
No good business plan would be complete without a full description of the products or services your business will offer. Although you might be starting small with just one product, it's important to include details of any ranges that you're hoping to add in the future as your business grows.
Top Tip! Don’t be afraid to include images or detailed descriptions of your product or service in this section as the person you will be presenting your business plan to might have no knowledge or experience of it as yet.
Financial Projections
Now we get into the real heart of your business plan with the financial projections section. You need to outline what your business will achieve financially over the next three to five years so that any investors know what they can expect as a return from your business.
Top Tip! Make sure that you go over this section with someone qualified and experienced in financial projections, speak to the team at HiThrive for some expert help.
Meet the Team
Here you’ll be able to formally introduce yourself and any other people that will be on board with your new business idea. Don’t be afraid of mentioning any relevant skills or experience if it relates to your new venture.
Top Tip! If you're going solo for the time being, then it doesn't hurt to mention any future plans you might have to engage more staff later on down the line.
The information above represents just the bare bones of any basic business plan, so if you need any help fleshing it out then feel free to give the team at HiThrive a call.
