present highlights from each of the other sections to explain most of your activities;
be interesting enough to entice the reader to continue reading your business plan;
be brief and concise - no more than two pages.
You would be wise to describe the concept of your business and its legal structure (p. Ex., Sole proprietorship, corporation), its competitive advantages, the market and your own experience.
Even if the summary is the first section of the plan, you should write it last.
2. Strategy of activities ↑ top
This section should describe briefly but clearly, what is your business. These are the items you should include:
Presentation
This section should provide the reader a brief overview of your company - what you have done, your current situation and what you plan for the future. You must include:
a brief history of your business: is it a new business, purchase an existing business or expanding an existing business?
the purpose of your business - present your vision and the main objectives of your business.
a description of your products and your services - what do you offer?
your business's legal structure - is it a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a corporation or a cooperative?
Current situation
Your current situation - what stage of the life cycle your business is she is?
Your area - is it growing, stable or declining?
Your achievements - what have you achieved so far?
Competitive Advantages
Your competitive advantage - what are your competitive advantages (eg, innovative products, dominant business model, attractive to a niche market..)?
Your competitors - who are they and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
Your business model - why is it effective?
Growth Plan
Growth timeline - where your business will be in a year? Within three to five years?
Steps - what goals have you set for your company and when do you reach them?
Goals - what are your short-term goals (the next year) and long term (the next three to five years)?
Also indicate the date of registration or incorporation of your company, its name and address, as well as all details about it.
Corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship?
Find the structure that suits your business: corporations, limited partnership, sole proprietorship enterprises and cooperatives.
Comparative analysis
Where is your company compared to others in your industry? Benchmarking allows you to evaluate your performance and ensure that your business operates at full capacity.
Planning for business growth
The time has come to undertake the expansion of your business, but many elements must first and foremost be considered.
How to grow your business
Explore the various business activities that could help you grow your business.
3. Marketing Strategy ↑ top
Describe the specific activities that will serve to promote and sell your product or service. You must address each of the four key elements of marketing:
Product - how your product or service meeting the needs of your target market?
Price - how much do you ask for your product or service and why?
Location - how will you take to make your product available to your customers?
Promotion - how will you reach your target market?
Your marketing strategy should also include information on your budget - how much have you allocated to the costs of marketing and sales?
You can also include a profile of your "ideal customer". You can create profiles based on the type of client - consumers, retailers and wholesalers - or define your segments based on demographic data such as age, location and income level.
Remember that careful market research is the cornerstone of an effective marketing strategy. Your statements should be based on facts - explain how you drew your conclusions and add statistics from reliable sources.
Marketing Basics
Fine-tune your knowledge of key marketing concepts, learn how to prepare a marketing plan and evaluate strategic options for marketing your business.
Guide to the study and analysis of the markets
Educate yourself on how market research can help your business thrive and learn to perform a variety of market research activities.
4. Operational Plan ↑ top
Your business plan should include a statement of your current business requirements and needs for the next three to five years. Your inventory management system and your accounting process must have the capacity to produce reports to date.
The plan may include:
daily activities - give a general description of the daily activities of your business, such as opening hours, seasonality of business, suppliers and their credit terms, etc .;
the imperatives of facilities - specify your requirements in terms of size and location requirements. Join in the annex to your business plan any relevant documents such as lease agreements or supplier prices. Specify special needs related to facilities and attach any document attached relating to permits;
management information systems - indicate how you plan to manage inventories, do the accounts, ensure quality control and follow up with customers;
the information technology needs (IT) - IT systems indicate that you plan to use for your business. Since this is a key factor for most businesses, specify whether you will use a consultant or IT support service and describe any planned IT development. Mention if you plan to carry out developments in IT and briefly describe them as required.
You may also contact your guide operations in the annex to your business plan.
Daily activities
Administer successfully ups and downs of your daily activities, it is what is the cornerstone of your business.
5. Analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) ↑ top
SWOT analysis is an important part of business planning. Well prepared, this analysis demonstrates to investors that you have reviewed these realistic and objective elements.
Banks and other lenders understand that companies will face difficulties at some point; So they want to know how you will meet these challenges. Keep in mind that to overestimate your strengths and opportunities or to ignore potential problems will undermine your credibility.
Spend the time and effort required to an exhaustive SWOT analysis. This exercise can help you:
make informed decisions and prepare appropriate plans for the future;
anticipate challenges and make the changes;
make resources in reserve to take advantage of business opportunities that may arise sooner or later.
Assess the health of your business
A periodic assessment of the health of your business is critical to your ongoing planning cycle.
Insulate the possibilities inherent in your current company
The expansion of your business Does represents a golden opportunity that you are about to let out? Your current activities could earn you more than you think.
6. Human Resources Plan ↑ top
This section focuses on how you plan to manage your people and processes related to human resources. You must also specify what are your short- and long-term plans regarding employee recruitment, training and retention. Mention counselors, mentors and consultants who offer their help, if necessary.
You could include:
an organizational chart or a summary of your company;
who does what, with a brief job description for each position;
essential skills for each position;
information on your employee training program;
any other relevant information concerning the staff (p. eg., gaps in your team, the training budget).
Do not underestimate the importance of this part of your plan. Investors need to know that you and your staff have established an appropriate balance of skills, energy and experience that will promote your business success. It is also desirable to describe briefly any recruitment or training plan, including timelines and costs.
Founders companies
Seek the advice of colleagues, business advisers or mentors can promote your new entrepreneur transformation to an experienced contractor.
Staff management
See how to measure the performance of your employees at work, how to help them understand what you expect of them and how to address performance problems.
Create your management team
Learn about the advantages of creating an efficient management team and the processes and methods that will help you put this team in place.
7. Social Responsibility Strategy ↑ top
The implementation of sound environmental and social practices is a good deal - these practices can give you a competitive edge and you attract sympathy. In this section, you must indicate how your company adheres to ethical values and respect people, your community and the environment.
This section could include information on:
political and environmental initiatives that your company supports;
the contributions brings your business to the community;
relevant certifications such as Fair Trade certification, organic certification or certification Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), an American system of standardization of high environmental quality buildings.
Environment and Business
Learn about the ecological resources and environmental programs that could help improve your business.
Corporate social responsibility
For your company to successfully confront the current competition, it might be useful to ask the place of CSR in your business.
8. bushiness Strategy ↑ top
Effective use of information technology is an important aspect of running a business. In this section, you must describe how you plan to use Internet technology to reach your customers, manage your business and reduce your costs. This section should include information on:
activities related to e-commerce (online sales of your product or service);
the development of a website;
hardware requirements constituting the electronic assembly and software requirements;
relations with external experts in information technology.
Keep in mind that the implementation of e-business strategies can generate money - if this is your case, you could specify the potential savings in this section.
Use technology in daily activities
Learn about the many ways you can take advantage of information technology and communications.
9. Financial forecasts and other information ↑ top
This section is essentially to turn your plans into numbers. As in any business plan, you must provide financial projections for your business. Your forecast should cover the next three to five years. However, forecasts for the first 12 months should be more detailed and should include assumptions regarding costs and revenues, so investors can clearly see the objectives behind your numbers.
As you lay your plans on paper, be sure to give objective thought the place it deserves. Analyze your business from three perspectives - optimistic, pessimistic and realistic - will give you a good idea of what the future holds.
Your financial forecasts should include:
cash flow statements - it is the flow of cash and its monthly evolution of the 12 to 18 months. They include working capital, salaries and sales;
forecasts of profits and losses - these are the benefits you expect achieve, based on anticipated sales of products or services costs, and indirect costs;
sales forecasts - this is the amount of money you expect to get sales of your product or service.
The elements to consider:
How much will you need capital, if you search for external funding?
What guarantee can you offer to lenders?
How will you repay the loans?
What are the sources of revenue and income?
Your forecasts should cover a range of scenarios, and you must include contingency plans you have developed to mitigate risks. You can also examine the figure marks and averages for your type of business and explain your company's position.
Financial Performance Data
Determine the position occupied by your company compared to others in your industry sector with this benchmark tool.
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