First of all, let’s try to understand what a business plan is. A business plan, simply put is a draft that outlines the type of business that you are running, products and services, your market base, your financial status and any other important information relating to your business and any marketing or business strategy you’re going to put in place.
Who is a business plan for? A business plan can be produced by a company just starting up to be produced to a financial organization when requesting for funding. The same can be done by an on going business that needs to expand the business and need financial aid to do so. There is no strict rule as to whom or when a business plan can be drafted. The only real consideration is how to draft and what information is needed to be included.
A business plan is a written document detailing your business’s future plans. How long or short the plan should be is totally up to you as long as all the relevant information needed for the purpose of the plan and its reviewer (i.e. financial organization) is included.
However, a good business plan generally has some accepted guidelines that can be followed. They are;
- Business Concept – This is where you discuss the nature of your business, its products and services, business structure and how you plan to make this business a success.
- Market Position – Here you can discuss your target market, how you plan to understand this customer base, how you plan to tap into your customer and ensure your products have a demand within this market and possibly your analysis of the market and its competitors and how you plan to stand out of the rest.
- Financial Status – This section discusses your balance sheet, cash flow, income and other financial ratios. Of course, to produce this document you may need the assistance of a good accountant as well as a reliable software.
Generally a business plan will consist of 15 – 20 pages, again depending on the amount of information needed to be included.
There are several types of business plans that can be created based on the situation and requirement. The best and most important thing to keep in mind is that you review what you want out of your business plan, who is it intended for and then take it from there.
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