The business plan explains the operational and strategic implementation of your business model. Please note: this is not a succession of numbers. The business plan is 80% Word and 20% Excel. It must be done when all the rest is done. In this chapter, we discuss with you in detail how to bring it to life.
What Is A Business Plan?
Literally “business plan”, the business plan is a document which details the company’s creative project and its development during the first years of its existence. Several things should be detailed:
- The context in which the activity is developed;
- The targets and they’re identified needs to which it is proposed to respond;
- The strategy implemented to respond to them;
- The team (in particular those dedicated to management);
- The method of financing the project during its launch;
- The development plan;
- The expected return on investment.
As such, it is clear that the business plan is an outcome. It is written after having carried out the market study, after having fixed the business model, after having decided on the legal form of the company.
It is a communication tool. Like any communication tool, it is used with partners to be convinced to work with you (funders, distribution network, franchisor, etc.). Like any communication tool, it should make readers want to follow you in your project.
The purpose of this chapter is to help you write your business plan in the best possible way.
Prerequisites : As mentioned above… you have to have done everything! The business plan is the document which summarizes and makes concrete all of your research, procedures, studies, strategies.
Also Read: Entrepreneurial Skills For A Successful Business Creation Project
Building A Business Plan: Why It’s Important
The entrepreneur who arrives at this stage has normally already thought a lot about the launch and development of his project. He carried out his market study, defined his business model and reflected on his commercial and operational strategy. Why also write a business plan?
Quite simply because it is important to be able to explain your project to third parties (funders, distributors, commercial partners…) and it is, therefore, useful to have a practical, concrete and costed document for this. This is the role of the business plan. It also makes it possible to manage its internal development and to note any deviations. Finally, it gives substance to everything that has been fixed before.
How To Make An Effective Business Plan?
Your business plan is a tool that should allow you to approach partners and funders to develop your business. It is therefore important not to do it just any old way! It must contain specific information. It must also meet presentation requirements.
In this article, we suggest that you follow ten very simple rules that will allow you to “catch the eye” of your interlocutors: value the team, insist on the value proposition of the service or product, be realistic, prioritize the ‘honesty… So many points that will allow you to convince thanks to your document.
Focus On The Executive Summary Of The Business Plan
The Executive Summary is the first part of the business plan… but the last thing to write! It is indeed a general summary of your business plan. It includes the most important elements, those on which your interlocutor will focus (whether it is a funder that you approach or a potential partner for your activity).
It is therefore a particularly important part, not to be overlooked. In this article dedicated to how to do an Executive Summary, we give you all the necessary information: what these pages should contain, how you should organize the content, what you should insist on, etc.
The Presentation Pitch
Easy to talk about your project in a few minutes or seconds? Simple to sum up what you do? Think again! The presentation pitch requires method and real preparation. Usually, a simple test with your team will convince you. If each of you summarizes the project in your own way, you will find that everyone uses different words, emphasizes different elements, etc …
Also, you must imperatively work together to adopt a unique speech, and choose what you will insist on. Are you going to start from the identified need? Are you going to start with the solution you are proposing? In any case, once these elements have been determined, we will have to think of a “hook”. Then, depending on what exactly you are pitching – the business plan, the business model – unfold your arguments to convince.
Also Read: Business Strategy: Design, Strategy & Structure Of Businesses