How to make a simple business plan

1. Before starting to detail the plan, it is important that you know What does a business plan consist of? and the usefulness it has before starting to undertake your idea. This document is a detailed description of what your future business will be: you have to talk about the concept, the profitability of your idea, the action plan, the workers you will need, the required equipment (if you need premises, materials, etc.) and other essential aspects to determine before embarking on a project of this caliber.

This plan will also help you establish a timing What is necessary for any newly created company: what are the objectives you want to achieve and in how long. In short, the business plan is like a schematic map that helps you think carefully about some of the essential aspects to be able to start with your idea.

2. The first field that a business plan must have is the executive Summary, that is, a brief explanation that describes your idea as well as the objectives you want to achieve. In general terms, this section should contain information about:

• The product or service you are going to sell

• The advantages of your idea over the rest

• The current market and competition

• The team that will be in charge of starting the business

• Projections at the financing level: the needs and the profitability you expect to obtain, as well as the deadlines

In this summary it must be presented the need it will cover your business idea but, above all, it must have a commercial hook because this document is the one that your potential investors will read. At most it should occupy two pages and you have to ensure that the information appears clear, easy to read and schematized.

3. Let’s start developing the business plan in detail. The first step we have to think about is the business mission, that is, what our business will consist of. You will have to describe your idea in detail and provide its basic information:

• Characteristics of the product or service and, above all, its difference compared to the current market

• The target audience for which it is intended (young people, women, children, etc.)

• The reasons why you have decided to start your business

• The goals you pursue

• The strategies you are going to follow to achieve the objectives

In this section you should also do the SWOT, that is, the analysis of Weaknesses, Threats, Strengths and Opportunities, a way to speak clearly about everything positive and negative that your idea has; we show you how to make a SWOT analysis so that you take into account all the points to be assessed in this important section.

4. The next point to analyze is the market in which we are going to enter, therefore, our business plan must contain a detailed market study in which aspects such as competition, the evolution of the sector, the possibilities of innovations for the future (R&D), etc. are assessed.

• Competitor analysis: It is the first point that you have to evaluate within this study. Identify which companies may be your direct competition (that is, they do the same thing as you) and which may be indirect competition (that is, that they offer your product/service among other options, that they offer something similar to yours, etc.). In addition to analyzing it, you will have to make your difference compared to the rest: why your idea is going to work better than theirs, what characterizes your business, how you will overcome them, etc.

• Sector analysis in which you are going to enter: it is important that you also do a study on the market in question; For example, if you are thinking of setting up an app you will have to talk about the evolution of the market, future prospects, etc.

• Analysis of the target audience: In the same way, it is also essential that you study your target audience, that is, the client you are addressing. Studying behavioral habits, the use of networks, the places they frequent, their average income, etc., will help you create a realistic business adapted to the situation of your clients. So if you are thinking of creating a company dedicated to new mothers, for example, you will have to analyze their consumption habits in depth to be able to adapt to reality.

5. The next section that we will have to analyze is the marketing plan, that is, what actions we will take to be able to reach our target audience and get them to buy our product or service. It is one of the most important steps in this document because it is the essential method that will make you succeed in your business or, on the contrary, fail.

Establish a deep analysis of the strategies you will carry out in order to make yourself known, above all, to your potential clients. It is the most important thing before starting your business. Not only to get investors but so that you have a clear and concise idea of ​​the actions you are going to follow in order to be successful. Some of the basic questions you should ask yourself at this time are the following:

• Sales channels: That is, if you are going to have a website, if it is going to be telephone sales, in person, etc.

• Customer acquisition: If you are going to make announcements, flyers, you are going to have an inauguration, etc.

• Business promotion: To attract, retain and consolidate yourself as a brand, it is essential that you have a monthly marketing plan in mind that reminds your customers that you are there. Also giving discounts or rewarding your best clients is a good way to get your audience to “like you.”

We tell you how use social networks to position your company.

6. Another very important section within a business plan is the financial plan, that is, the economic study of your business idea and which will be decisive in finding out if it is profitable or, on the contrary, unviable. One of the basic reasons before starting to undertake a work idea is to analyze the benefits that you will obtain from it and, in this sense, this plan is the most detailed and truthful way you can do to know exactly what will be your income and expenses.

In order to make a comprehensive plan, you must calculate the following:

• The price structure (the RRP that you will put on your service/product or your commission)
• The costs derived from your activity
• The investment you need
• The profit margins you have
• Fixed expenses

It is a budget, that is, about fictitious data that you calculate based on income forecasts that do not yet exist; However, it is highly recommended that at this point you be as cautious as possible and always pull downwards.

7. You must also include information about the human team that will integrate your business. In this section you must introduce yourself and your partners or workers with whom you started the idea, explaining their professional experience, their skills and the field in which they are experts.

It is advisable that think about all departments that a company requires and say how you are going to cover them because, in this way, you will really have the basic needs to be able to carry out a business. Some of the necessary departments are:

• Customer Support: Whatever the company, it is clear that you must have customer service. If no one on your team is going to take care of it, you will have to have the option of hiring a subcontractor to carry out this task, but you should not neglect it.

• Administration or managers: payroll, invoice payment and, in general, the company’s accounting must be carried out by someone specialized in this topic.

• Commercial: in every team there must be people with commercial experience to be able to make your product known to customers and work solely in this direction. The skills of a good salesperson are important to be successful and truly make profits.

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