Business Plan for a Startup Business
Entrepreneurs, you need to write out a business plan for your company. There are several reasons why. First, if you want a loan, then banks and other lenders want to see your business plan. Your business plan can convince them why you are a viable business that they should loan money too. Your plan lays out what your business idea is, where you plan the business to be in five or ten years, and it lays out many other details that lenders want and need to see to qualify you for a loan. Second, not only does it help convince your lenders that they want to loan to you, it also helps you organize your business.
To help you in your quest to write a convincing, informative business plan, we have a series of instructions. We explain what each of the sections are in the business plan and then tell you what you need to put in each section.
A business plan comes in two important parts: the narrative and the financial worksheets. The narrative is the main body of the plan and includes over 150 questions about your company divided into different sections. The sections can be completed in whatever order, except for the Executive Summary—do that one last. If you come across any questions that do not apply to your type of business, simply skip over them. When you are done with your first draft of your narrative, you’ll have a collection of small essays evaluating the facets of your business. Next, smooth out your essays so they flow together. The goal is to take all the little essays and create one big essay. The financial worksheets are self explanatory—gather all of your financial worksheets and include them in your business plan.
The best part of creating a business plan isn’t that it helps you to get a loan, but that it helps you to better understand your business top to bottom. So much research and thought and time goes into this process that it forces you, the business owner, to systematically pick apart every aspect of your business and to cement any previous gaps in your plan. Uncorrected mistakes in the planning often result in high losses, or, in some cases, the eventual demise of your business. Creating a business plan will prevent (hopefully) too many errors before you initiate your business.
This business plan is purposefully generic to fit all types of business. Before you begin, read the section Refining the Plan found at the end. Depending on your type of business (manufacturing, service, retail, etc) it will suggest emphasizing certain areas and provide tips on how to make an effective business plan. If you are planning on pitching this business plan to bankers or investors, pay close attention to the quality and style of your writing as it will also be judged.
To make it simple, this packet will reflect what a business plan should look like when finished. If you follow the instructions, and provide as much detail as possible, you’ll do great.
Next section: Executive Summary
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