The work you have done so far by following the steps in our Ultimate 9-Step Business Start-up Guide will all feed into your full business plan. This plan is what you will use to validate your business and will be required if you’re looking to finance your business through a bank or investor.
Below are the sections you will need to complete in your business plan and you can download a business plan template guide here:
Executive Summary:
Write this section last. It’s a summary of your plan.
Company Overview:
Discuss your business model, your primary area of business and the market you wish to operate in.
Products and services:
Details any products and services you will be offering
Market Analysis:
Detail your target market, supporting market stats including size and value. Identify competitors and review their strengths and weaknesses. If you’ve done a SWOT analysis for your business, put this in the appendix and summarise the key points here.
Risks:
Identify and assess all risks to your plan and how you intend to mitigate and overcome these.
Marketing and Sales Plan:
How will you target your potential customers? Detail your brand idea, message, marketing channels, distribution channels and selling strategy. How will you recruit and retain customers?
Key dates and milestones:
What is your timing plan? What and when are the key milestones and how will these be measured. How will you report the progress against these milestones?
Organisation structure and team:
Detail how your business is going to be structured and the team involved. Assign responsibilities and accountabilities.
Budget:
Include your profit and loss, sales forecast and balance sheet. Demonstrate how the business will make money in years 1-3.
Finance:
How will you finance the start-up and operation? When will any debt be repaid?
Appendix:
In this section, you can include any background work including market reports, competitor SWOTs, Market SWOT, scenario plans etc.
