How To Build A Business Plan

When starting out in business one of the critical components to ensuring your success is learning how to build a business plan. A business plan not only helps your business startup and grow but it keeps it on the right path to success. A properly written business plan acts as a blueprint for your business.

Yet so many start business owners skip the step of writing a business plan and simply fail.

We spoke to number of business owners who have failed and those that didn’t have a business plan written to see what the actual reason was for not writing a business plan, and here is what we found:

• I have no time to write a plan
• I don’t know how to write one
• I don’t need a plan
• I am not looking for funding
• It’s too expensive to make one
• I wanted to write one after I started my business

All valid points one would say as to why a business plan wasn’t written. Right?

Wrong!

Perhaps you missed the first line of this article…? One of the critical components to ensuring your success in business is to have a business plan.

1. A business plan is time consuming and can take days, weeks or even months to write. But knowing that this is one feature of your small business that you can’t avoid if you want to succeed, wouldn’t you think it’s worth investing?
2. Anytime you plan a trip, a vacation or anything, you always have a plan. When starting a business, it’s not any different. You need to have a plan to ensure you follow steps and plan ahead in order to achieve your goals and success.
3. A plan isn’t always necessary…said no one! A business plan is exactly what it sound like, it’s a plan for your business. Do you know if your business is going to work out before you start? You could, with a business plan.
4. Not all business plans are written for the purpose of seeking funding or investment. Some plans are made as a step by step guide to take you through your business.
5. The cost to write a professional business plan can be between £500 to well over £2,500 depending on a number of factors such as who is writing it; what the industry is; how complex the plan needs to be..etc But not all methods of getting a business plan need to be expensive.
6. If your intentions are to start your business first and write a business plan later, you are already behind. The reason why most people write a business plan is to ensure that throughout the startup and expansion process, you have some sort of guide to follow. Unless you are one of those 1 in a million odd businesses that finds success without anything.

There are many ways to figure out how to build a business plan for your own business. One of the fastest ways to learn what it takes to build a business plan is to find an existing template and work off of that. While business plan templates aren’t always the best, having something to follow versus paying thousands of dollars can help you get there faster.

Alternatively you can use tools such as our Business Plan Builder Tool and follow a step by step, fill in the blanks style business plan maker to get your professional business plan done in no time. Not only will you be able to make your own plan for your business, but you will be able to benefit from our Business Plan Review Service and have a business plan professional go through your plan and provide you with feedback and recommendation on how to improve your own plan.

Other ways are to hire a professional business plan writer or a business advisor and work closely with them to create your business plan. If this is the option you go with, be sure to have a few thousand dollars prepared.

How To Build A Business Plan Steps

When learning how to build a business plan, following these 7 steps can help:

1. Executive Summary
2. Business Description
3. Market Analysis
4. Organization Management
5. Sales Strategies
6. Funding Requirements
7. Financial Projections

To simplify the meaning of each for you:

1. Executive Summary
   Summaries your business plan in a quick “elevator pitch” style page.  Think about it like this: you are stuck in a elevator for a minute with a person who may give you funding for your business, but they want to hear what it’s all about – explain it from start to finish and be quick but detailed about it.
2. Business Description
   What is your business all about? What is it that you are going to offer, your products, your services. where are you located, what do you bring to the table?
3. Market Analysis
   Who are your competitors, and the customers, and what is the market like? Is there success in the industry already or are you a first?
4. Organization Management
   Who are the superstars on the team that will make your business successful? Is it just you or do you have others? What qualities, skills, experiences do you bring to the table?
5. Sales Strategies
   This has to be very clean and simplified. How will you get money and make money? Be sure to detail out your strategies to make it work.
6. Funding Requirements
   This is where you ask for money. Be sure to break down what you already have invested and what else you need to have invested in order to achieve success. What does success look like and what will you need (be detailed) in terms of funding to to make it happen. Providing a timeline for your funding needs is also a benefit.
7. Financial Projections
   Finally, the money! This is where you show what you are making, what it’s costing and what you are keeping. If a new business, show projections to the same. A critical section that will show the potential investors if they should try or give up.

Following these 7 steps on how to make a business plan can help you achieve success and get you ready for business. We strongly recommend using the Business Plan Builder Tool provided by UKStartups.org and benefiting from the business plan review service to make it all work together.