Feb 6, 2009
I strongly suggest that entrepreneurs make a business plan. As a result of implementing the plan will be much better prepared and know whether your business idea is viable. Try the following article for a shortcut. However, as a precaution following a shortcut unless you have experience or knowledge about your area. Proceed with caution, without a business plan!

How is your business unique, and for what goods or services attractive to customers? What are the main differences between your company and your competitors? What are the determining factors in choosing your company over another?

In other words, what is the underlying reason for a customer to do business with your company?

1) Define your business and Vision

Defining your vision is important. Will become the driving force behind your business. Here are questions that will help you clarify your vision:

* Who is the client?
* What business are you in?
* What do you sell (product / service)?
* What is your plan for growth?
* What is your biggest competitive advantage?

2) Write down your goals

Create a list of objectives with a brief description of action items. If your business is a start, we will put more effort into their short-term objectives. Often a new business concept has to go through a period of research and development before the outcome could be longer to accurately predict timing.

Create two sets of objectives:

1. In the short term from six to 12 months.
2. In the long term can be two to five years.

Explain as specifically as possible what you want to achieve. Start with your personal goals. After his list of business goals. Answer these questions:

* As the owner of this business, what do you want to achieve?
* How large or small you want to do this business?
* Do you want to include the family in your business?
* Personal: you desire to provide employment, or perhaps you have a strong opinion on not wanting to manage people.
* Is there any reason you want to deal with the company?
* Describe the quality, quantity and / or service levels and customer satisfaction.
* How would you describe your main competitive advantage?
* How do you see the business making a difference in the lives of their clients?

3) Know Your Customer

It is unrealistic to expect that it can meet the needs of all, no company can. Choose carefully your target market. Ignore this field, and I guarantee you will be disappointed with the performance of your business. Get this right and be more than pleased with the results.

* Needs: what unmet needs do your future customers? How does your business meet those needs? It is usually something the customer does not have or need not currently met. Identify unmet needs.
* Would you like thinking of it as the desire or wish of their client. It may also be a weakness.
* Problems: remember people buy things to solve a specific problem. What problems does your product or service solve?
* Perception: what are the negative and positive perceptions that customers have about you, your profession and your products or services? Identify both the negative and positive. You will be able to use what you learn when you start marketing and promoting your business.
4) Learn from the competition

You can learn a lot about your business and customers in search of how their business competitors. Here are some questions to help you learn from your competition and focus on its customers:

* What do you know your target market?
* What competitors do you have?
* How are approaching the market for competitors?
* What are the weaknesses of the competition and strengths?
* How can we improve the skills of the approach?
* What are the lifestyles, demographics and psychographics of your ideal customer?

5) Financial

How to make money? What is your break-even point? How much potential business is not? Take time to invest in the preparation of financial projections.

These projections should take into account the period of collection of accounts receivable (outstanding customer accounts) and payment terms to its suppliers. For example, you can pay your bills in 30 days, but have to wait 45-60 days to obtain payment from your customers.

A cash flow projection will show the amount of working capital will be required during the "gaps" in its cash position.

I recommend thinking about these six key areas:

1. Launch Investment
2. Assumptions
3. Monthly General Running
4. Streamlined sales forecast
5. Cumulative Cash
6. Breakeven point

6) Identify your marketing strategy

There are four steps to create a marketing strategy for your business:

1. Identify all target markets: defining who your ideal customer or target market. Most companies experience 80% of its business from 20% of its customers. It makes sense then to manage their time and energy to customers that are most important.
2. Rate the best target markets: this step is to further identify the requirements and meets customer profile with the best chance of success. The strategy is to position your company at the same level as most buyers are addressed. It is essential to know who your best customers are and how best to position your company in the market.
3. Identify tools, strategies and methods: a market can not enter a market can not serve. Marketing is the process of search, communication and education of its main market for their products and services. Choose a combination of tools and strategies, which when combined, increase your chances of success.
4. Test Tools and Marketing Strategy: the assumption that not usually check that have the potential to create business problems. Take the time to test all scenarios, especially when they are making major expenditures.
You need to explain the type of business you are in. You will be expected to explain the state of your industry and the nature of the business, especially if the plan goes out of his business to banks or investors.

If you are a service business, manufacturer, distributor, or any other business, you must make an Industry Analysis, describing:

* Participants Industry.
* Patterns of distribution.
* Competition and buying patterns.

Analysis of the industry
Everything that happens in your industry outside of your business affect your business. The more you know about your industry and the advantage to take more protection.

A complete business plan discusses the economics of the industry in general, participants, distribution patterns, the factors of competition, and anything that describes the nature of this business to outsiders.

The Internet has had an enormous impact on the state of business information. Finding information is not really the problem, after the explosion of information and the enormous growth of the Internet from the 1990s and continues into the 21st century. Even 10 or 15 years ago, the processing of information was more a problem of sorting through it all to the search for raw data. Generality that is increasingly true. There are websites for business analysis, financial statistics, demographics, trade associations, and almost everything you need to complete a business plan.

Industry participants
You should know who else is sold in its market. You can not easily describe a type of business without describing the nature of the participants. There is a big difference between, for example, a service industry like broadband television, where only a few large firms in the same country and as a dry cleaning, in which there are tens of thousands of participants smaller.

This can make a big difference to a company and a business plan. The restaurant industry, for example, is what we call "spray", which, like the industry of dry cleaning, is composed of many smaller participants. The fast food business, on the other hand, consists of a few national brands participating in thousands of branded outlets, many of them franchised.

Economists talk of consolidation in an industry as a time when many of the participants tend to disappear and a few large players emerge. In accounting, for example, there are a few large international firms whose names are well known to tens of thousands of small businesses. The automotive business is composed of a few national brands participating in thousands of branded dealers. In computer manufacturing, for example, there are a few large international firms whose names are well known, and thousands of small businesses.

Distribution patterns
Products and services that can keep many roads between providers and users. Explain how the distribution in your industry. Is this an area where retailers are supported by regional distributors, such as products, magazines, or auto parts? Your industry is dependent on direct sales to large industrial customers? Support for manufacturers to make their own direct sales forces, or they work with representatives of the product?

Some products are usually sold through retail stores to consumers, and sometimes these are distributed by distribution companies that buy from manufacturers. In other cases, products are sold directly to stores from manufacturers. Some products are sold directly from manufacturer to final consumers through mail campaigns, national advertising, or other means of promotion.
Business planning is about results. You should take the contents of your plan match your purpose. Do not accept a scheme just because it's there.

What is a business plan?
A business plan is a plan that works for a company to look ahead, allocate resources, focus on the key points, and prepare for the challenges and opportunities.

Unfortunately, many people think of business plans only for starting a new business or applying for business loans. But they are also vital for the functioning of a company if the company needs new loans or new investments. Businesses need plans to optimize growth and development according to priorities.

What is a boot?
A simple starter plan includes a summary, mission statement, keys to success, market analysis and threshold analysis. This type of plan is good for deciding whether or not to proceed with a plan as to whether a business is worth, but not enough to run a business.

Is this a business plan?
A normal business plan (which follows the advice of business experts) includes a number of elements, as shown below. Plan formats and outlines vary, but generally a plan to include components such as descriptions of the company, product or service, market, forecasts, management team and financial analysis.

Your plan will depend on your specific situation. For example, the description of the management team is very important for financial investors, while the story is more important for banks. However, if you are developing a plan for internal use only, it is not necessary to include all the background details that you already know. Make your plan match its purpose.

What is more important in a plan?
Depends on the case, but usually the analysis of cash flow and the specific details of implementation.

* The cash flow is vital for a company and hard to follow. Cash is usually misunderstood as profits, and they are different. Do not guarantee profits in cash in the bank. Many profitable businesses go under because of cash problems. It simply is not intuitive.
* Detailed rules are what make things happen. His brilliant and beautiful form of strategies for planning documents are just theory unless you assign responsibilities, with dates and budgets, follow up with those responsible, and track results. Business plans are really about getting results and improving your business.
Can you suggest a pattern?
If you have the main components, the order does not matter much, but here is a suggested outline for software Business Plan Pro:

1. Summary: Write this last. It's just a page or two of the most prominent.
2. Description: Legal establishment, history, implementation plans, etc.
3. Product or Service: Describe what you are selling. Focus on customer benefits.
4. Market Analysis: You need to know your market, customer needs, where they are, how to reach them, etc.
5. Strategy and Implementation: Be specific. Include management responsibilities with dates and budget.
6. Management Team: Includes funds from leading members of the team, personnel strategy, and details.
7. Financial Plan: Include gains and losses, cash flow, balance sheet, threshold analysis, assumptions, business ratios, etc.

View enlarged outline business plan

Not recommended development plan in the same order they were presented as a finished document. For example, although the executive summary is presented as the first part of a business plan, we recommend that you write after everything else is done.

What I can help write a business plan?
It may be useful to see the real sample business plans to get ideas for your own business plan.

Fill in this free template blank business plan follows the format that is preferred by the SBA and the lenders and can be a useful guide to writing your plan.

As mentioned earlier, the revision of a standard business plan outline can also be a good starting point.
You might also be interested in:

* Start a home based business
* Different Types of Business Plans
* Understand your competition
* Competitors are a fundamental reality of business
* The right business for you