How to plan your business?

How to put together a business plan? What should a business plan consist of? We can provide some good tips and tricks to help you along this route.

Let’s start from two extremely useful links:

Monthly financial forecasting
Guidelines for creating business plans

Contents of a business plan

1. Summary

Present briefly the contents of the business plan and all the necessary information for assessing how realistic, profitable and attractive the business plan is. The summary should not exceed 1–1.5 pages.

2. General company data

Name and legal form of the company, registration code (for an established company), time and place of establishment, address of operations, contact data, and information about the owners.

3. Description of the company. Business idea, mission, vision, and goals

Description of the company outlines the background of the company and the motivation for starting it. You need to spell out the mission and vision of the company, as well as specific goals on the way of implementing them. As the purpose of any business activity is bringing the vision to life and reaching the goals, this part of the business plan is the foundation of the entire business planning.

4. Description of the business environment

An analysis of the factors affecting the business environment: regulations, macroeconomic and sectoral trends, resources and, if needed, also local factors influencing the business.

5. Products and services

Description of the main product or service, production or service process, and their planned development, followed by ancillary products and services, if any.

6. Customer, market, competition

Estimate of which quantity of the product or service can be sold at which price in the described markets in the context of the existing competition. Outline of the competitive advantage. SWOT-analysis. Description of the pricing principles of the products and services, setting of marketing goals that underlie the sales forecast.

7. Action plan

Short-term action plan to achieve the specific goals. Its aim is to explain what the company intends to do and achieve during the coming months, quarters, and the current year.

8. Risk analysis

Determination of the possible risks and the plan of mitigation measures. Risk analysis gives the entrepreneur or investor a chance to take a critical look at the profitability calculation.

9. Financial plan and financial forecast

Financial forecast covers the forecasts concerning income statement, cash flow statement and balance sheet. Input comes from the assumptions and calculations made in the financing plan concerning the income and expenses of the company, breakeven point, investments and financing.