How to Write a Business Plan for your Company

Companies need to create a business plan when starting a business in order to outline their vision, strategy, goals and how they intend to achieve them. It is a written roadmap for the company, summarizing plans for its operations and growth. In this article, we will explore the importance of writing a business plan, review some examples, and provide you with a business plan outline so that you can get started on your own business plan. 

What is a business plan?

A business plan includes information about your company’s target market, competitors, marketing and sales strategies, the leadership team, and financial projections.

Why write a business plan?

There are a number of reasons why writing a business plan is essential. First, it helps you clarify and define your business’s goals and strategies. By outlining your ideas in an organized way, you can better understand your company’s goals and set out how you plan to achieve them.

Second, a business plan is an important document when you are looking for funding. Investors and banks usually need to see a business plan before they offer any financing. It’s also a marketing tool as a well-written business plan can help to persuade investors to invest in your company.

Third, a business plan is important in helping you to run your business. By setting out your strategies and expected outcomes ahead of time, you can more easily monitor your business’s progress and make adjustments along the way.

Business plans are a key tool for success and for keeping you and your team on track to achieve your pre-decided goals and objectives. It also gives you something to refer to in order to understand whether your business is progressing as you expected.

A business plan can help you to:

• Set realistic goals:

  By setting achievable goals you can celebrate reaching them and gain confidence on your journey towards achieving your vision for your company.

• Monitor progress:

  A business plan can help you check in and see if you are on the right track. By measuring the company’s progress towards its goals, you can identify areas where you need to make changes.

• Make informed decisions:

  A business plan can help you understand better what is the best decision to make, keeping in mind the overall goals of the company.

• Secure financing:

  A well-written business plan can help you find funding. Investors and lenders usually ask to see a business plan before they are willing to offer funding.

Pick a business plan format that works for you

There are several different ways of presenting your business plan. The format you choose will depend on your business’s needs and goals. The two most common types of plan are traditional business plans and lean startup plans.

Traditional business plan:

A traditional business plan is a comprehensive document that outlines your company’s goals, strategies, and expected outcomes. It typically includes the following sections:

Executive summary: This section provides an overview of your business and its goals. It should be ambitious as well as concise and compelling and it should make the reader want to learn more.

Company description: This part is where you describe your business, including the history of it, what you hope to achieve, in a mission statement, and the official structure and status of the business.

Market analysis: this section is where you define your target market, give information about competitors and the competitive landscape and general trends in the industry.

Organization and management: This section provides details about your business’s structure,  and your management team.

Service or product line: Here you can expand on exactly how your product or service works.

Marketing and sales: An in depth review of marketing and sales operations.

Funding request: In this section you should explain how much funding you are looking for and what you will use it for.

Financial projections: Here you set out your expectations in terms of revenue, expenses, and cash flow.

Example traditional business plans:

• Palo Alto Software’s Sample Business Plans: https://www.paloalto.com/resources
• Bplans’ Sample Business Plans: https://www.bplans.com/sample_business_plans.php
• SCORE’s Business Plan Gallery: https://www.score.org/business-education/business-planning-financial-statements-template-gallery

Another option: The lean startup format:

A lean startup plan is a streamlined document focusing on the key aspects of your business. It is designed for entrepreneurs who want to start their business quickly and efficiently. The lean startup plan usually includes the following sections:

Key partnerships: Here you should outline your existing or future key partnerships. Partnerships can be with suppliers, vendors, or other companies your business has synergies with.

Key activities: This section lays out the key activities your business will be employing to achieve its goals. For example, product development, marketing, and sales.

Key resources: This section summarizes the key resources your business has or plans to have. These can include physical assets, IP, as well as your management team.

Value proposition: This part describes the value your business offers to its customers describing how your product or service meets the needs of your target market.

Customer relationships: This section outlines how your company plans to build and maintain relationships with its customers. It should address customer care, support and engagement.

Customer segments: This is an outline of your target market. It should include information about the personas, ages, genders and behaviors of your target customers.

Cost structure: This section outlines your costs and how your plan to manage them. It should include information about fixed and variable costs, as well as the cost of goods sold.

Revenue streams: Explain here how you plan to generate revenue and from where. This section should talk about pricing, sales, and include revenue projections.

Example lean business plan:

Here is an example of a lean startup plan for a software company:

Key partnerships:

• Strategic partnerships with vendors to enhance product offerings
• Partnering with universities to source talent for R&D 

Key activities:

• Developing software
• Providing technical support, QA and maintenance services
• R&D to improve product portfolio

Key resources:

• Proprietary software development tools
• Experienced development team
• Strong brand reputation

Value proposition:

• Providing innovative software solutions to improve business operations and efficiency
• Offering customer support and technical know-how

Customer relationships:

• Providing personalized customer support
• Offering ongoing training and education to customers
• Regularly soliciting customer feedback to improve products and services

Customer segments:

• Small and medium-sized businesses in the healthcare sector

Cost structure:

• Salaries and benefits for development team
• Software development tools and infrastructure costs
• Marketing, advertising expenses

Revenue streams:

• Software sales through online and offline channels
• Subscription-based revenue model for maintenance and support services
• Custom software development projects for large clients

Conclusion:

Writing a business plan is the first step in starting and running a successful business. A well-written business plan helps you to define your goals, get funding, and efficiently run your business. Whichever plan you choose, whether its a traditional business plan format or a lean startup plan, make sure you clearly outline your business goals, strategies, and expected outcomes. By using a business plan template, you can quickly and efficiently create a comprehensive and effective plan for your business.

If you want to know more about working at Mindspace, you can read more about our coworking spaces, meeting rooms and private offices, and more here.