Business plan is a glimpse into the future

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Business plan is a worked out plan in which the entrepreneur formulates business objectives that we want to achieve in the future.

The business plan is underpinned by concrete steps how one thinks the business objectives to realize. An indispensable part in this is a planning, time span and order, of the sub-activities.

Click here for an overview of the business plan. Below you will find additional information about the different topics in the business plan.

Opportunities and threats

A business plan is in principle not compulsory.

Unless credit requests from the bank or when one needed to qualify for a benefit and or grant for example. Even though there is no obligation to write a business plan, it is advisable to do so. A business plan will increase your insight into opportunities and threats of the company.

Every entrepreneur may have to deal with:

• Spending patterns of customers who are changing.
• Saturated markets.
• Technological developments of your products and/or services are catches up and superfluous.
• Increasing competition, causing price erosion and consequently profits evaporated.
• Changed legislation that makes it impossible to continue to produce your products in the same way.
• Social changes.

Regularly check the starting points

For the above reasons alone it is recommended to write a business plan and to evaluate the plan once a year to see if the principles are still the same. If not, then take action and secures your business plan. This prevents that you lagging behind the present situation and it keeps you corporate objectives up-to-date .

Business plan helps in making the right decisions

It is always advisable to write a business plan when starting your own business or when you conceived the plan to take over a business.

Of course it is not easy to draw up a business plan, it requires a considerable effort to get all the information necessary to complete the plan. But if you want to take a substantiated decision, in order to start the feasibility of a new company or
investigate the risks of an acquisition than you have in fact no choice. It requires you to think deeply before you take the final step, you minimize surprises and you increase the chance to create a successful business. At a takeover of a company the business plan gives you insight into the weaknesses, strengths, and the profitability of the company, you can then take a reasoned decision to acquire the company or not.

Vision and business objectives part of business plan

The business objectives are long-term general directives aimed to realize the vision of the company.

How big is your vision, what do you want to accomplish between now and say five years? How big is your market share and where are you going to sell your products? How do you want the customers experience your products and organization? What should your company set as financial standards to safeguard the profitability of the company? How do you expect your company assesses society? What standards to set and which responsibility do you take for your employees? Which requirements you demand for your suppliers before they can become a preferred supplier? An integral part of the long term business objectives is an investment, sales and profit forecast for the next five years. All above questions have to do with the continuity and development of the business.

Business Plan

Mission and business objectives

This chapter describes the business objectives of the company summarized.

what is it the company wants to achieve within five years? Five year plan. What business objectives, the company has with regard to staff, customers, environment, quality and suppliers? Below refers to comprehensive information, you may use the information that applies to your company.

What is the mission and what business objectives the company has?

• Mission and vision: Mission, where the company stands for? What’s the companies vision? How big is your vision for your enterprise as the development phase is completed? More information to process in your business plan can be found on the Web page business plan mission and vision.

• Staff: What does the company offers to their staff and what does the company expect from them? More information to process in your business plan can be found on the Web page business plan Staff.

• Customers: Customer loyalty the ultimate goal. More information to process in your business plan can be found on the Web page business plan Customers..

• Environment: You will find sustainable enterprise important? More information to process in your business plan can be found on the Web page business plan Environment.

• Quality: Quality standard are criteria that relate to the total of all the acts, activities and processes. More information to process in your business plan can be found on the Web page business plan Quality.

• Suppliers: A chain is no stronger than its weakest link. Your supplier can negatively affect the overall quality level of your company, if no delivery standards are set. What conditions must the supplier meet before they may deliver? More information to process in your business plan can be found on the Web page business plan Suppliers.

Personal data

Curriculum vitae (cv)

The resume gives a detailed overview of the life course.

 

Especially information about training, qualifications, specialisation and work experience are important. At work experience you mention jobs occupied with a brief description of the responsibilities associated with job content. Until now, the resume is approximately equal to resume that you would write for an application. The resume is enhanced with information about the personal circumstances and, if applicable financial obligations mentioned. Of diplomas, training, etc. is a copy in the attachments added.

Private properties

The entrepreneur wears different hats

From an SME entrepreneur is expected that he / she knows how the company successfully to control.

The entrepreneur has to deal with all facets of the business, their is no extended staff to transfer part of the specialist workload to. The SME entrepreneur must be capable to manage all facets of business or must know where to obtain specialism. By carrying out self-analysis you get an idea ​​which skills you master and which skills needs extra attention.

Depending on the industry, certain parts of the business will outweigh others, what are the high lights in industry? More information to process in your business plan you will find on the web page Entrepreneurial qualities

Product and market analysis

Analyse the market and charts a course

 

Are your plans to start a business the energy, time and financial resources worth?

 

How likely is it that there are enough potential customers and what are the chances that enough profit can be made? Who are your competitors? (strength-weakness analysis). After determining the market position it becomes clear where the opportunities lie and what threats you faces. A good marketing strategy is the figurative mate of your company. Without a marketing strategy and marketing coals you have in fact no direction. You do not know where your business is going, or you will miss opportunities and overlook the threats. More information to process in your business plan can be found on the web page Market research

Strength and Weakness analysis (SWOT)

Compare your company with those of the competitors

A SWOT analysis focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of your company that you are comparing with the direct competition in your area.

 

Who are your direct competitors and the threats you can expect from them? Through a comparative research you can discover your own weaknesses and work on it to improve, but you also discover the weaknesses of the competition that you can use to your advantage. How does the company scores in respect of the competitors in the field of customer focus, comparison prices and availability of products.How effective is the technical support and has the company sales representatives?

Click above for the swot analysis and process the data in your business plan.

Business planning

What issues still need to be arranged and when?

Your business plan includes a roadmap setting out detailed information about the actions to be taken.

What needs to done before you can say, my company is ready for the real work. Create a logical structure, what have been done and what still to be done? What conversations have been held with agencies that issue permits or what about the financing if needed. Provide a summary list (roadmap) with timetable of the action to be completed. Included herein, residence permits, legal status, general conditions, financing, insurance, subsidy, etc.

Accommodation

Where is the company located?

Enter a short description of the location, which demonstrated that the property actually is suitable as a location for doing the business.

Have you thought about how growth expectations and the accessibility of the property? If necessary, there is ample parking around the premises? What are the financial obligations of the building? Is it a lease or buy property with any bank or mortgage commitments, Put a copy of lease or purchase contract as attachments to business plan.

Organization

Describe the Organization

The organizational structure is the way tasks are distributed within an organization and how subsequently coordination between subtasks is established.

This is about business processes which together aim to achieve the business goals.Here you specify a brief overview of the work to be performed with corresponding responsibilities and division of tasks.

Are you a sole proprietor then you briefly describes the tasks you will perform. Are there any particular tasks that you are not performing yourself, think of the accounting, than you must provide details how and where this is going to happen.

Click above for an example of an organizational structure and process the information in your business plan.

Financial administration

Accounting

In many cases, the financial administration is automated using an accounting program (software package).

Depending on the business is an accounting program selected that suits the business.

Which accounting program?

An accounting must match with the company and not the reverse.

Special attention must be paid to avoid a software package which is to “small” or “large” for the company. In both cases it is a bad investment, “small” and you soon runs against the restrictions of the package and to “large” you use only a fraction of the software package and it is too laborious. To determine the most suitable accounting software, you can use the example above to figure out what actual requirements are. Armed with this information you start looking for an accounting program that meets the package of requirements and fits the company.

Click above to see what business information is important when selecting an accounting program.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Larger companies need a more comprehensive financial package.

With such a program, purchase invoices, bank statements and journal entries to record. It may also be more or less automatically produce a balance sheet and income statement and performs all basic functions of accounting, namely that of the general ledger. In practice most packages offer more functionality that also features sub-ledgers (debtors, creditors and/or stock) are present. In addition, features such as telebanking, consolidation, budgeting, customer relationship management, purchasing, sales, production, etc. are part of the software package.

Small self-employed and accounting

A small or start-up company can use a simple accounts with an accounting program in Excel.

 

These are on the internet, whether for payment or not, download. All revenue and expenditure shall be entered in the Excel program including VAT. It makes monthly profit and loss account on it and it also provides for the payment of the correct amount of sales tax. Monthly and annual statements will provide insight into the results of the business.

Marketing and promotion

Marketing Policy; product, price, promotion, orders, procurement and distribution policy.

Where would you stand with your enterprise for about five years?

You probably have an idea where you want to go with the enterprise. The objective that you have in mind should be translated into a marketing strategy. A good starting point for formulating your marketing strategy is through the marketing policy; product, price, promotion, orders, procurement and distribution policy. More information to process in your business plan you will find marketing and promotionon the Web page.

Click here for the Schematic of product development.

Financial analysis

Which operating result achieves the company?

The company is a “system” that aims to a positive operating profit, earnings before interest and tax. How profitable is the company and what is the part equity and debt capital? More information to process in your business plan you will find on the Web profitability.

Click here for a schematic representation of the financial ratios.