Business Plan
Business Plan Overview
Sunday,May 18 ,2008Every business needs a plan; a business without a plan is like driving a rudderless boat;it need a path to follow and this path is written onto paper. Before starting anything with your business idea you should make the plan.
... Read moreThe truth about setting a Business plan
Monday,May 26 ,2008During the first year of business school our coach told us that a business plan gives the strategic direction for business activities. Writing the plan describes where you want to go and how to get there, and then you follow the plan you have written to achieve your goals. It really sounds pretty good! But the real thing is much more different from school. If business were successes as simple as following a few steps we all have be running our millionaire businesses, but we are not. If you want to run a successful business you have to be an “artist” and use your imagination and improvise. No business plan in the world can give you these resources; you have to provide them yourself.
... Read moreStarting your planning engine: Part one
Sunday,June 15 ,2008The foundations for a business plan
A business plan is for all steps in a business even if it's old still a business plan is needed to make things easier. In order to make our business plan improvement possible, we need to setup a planning engine so we can make changes with out starting from the beginning.
... Read moreStarting your planning engine: Part Two - Audiences
Wednesday,June 18 ,2008Target Audience
A business plan is the blueprint that will help to build a successful enterprise. It is a document that covers a wide territory and addresses all sorts of issues. To keep in focus our efforts we consider to build a list with the groups of people where the plan will have the impact of our success. Those groups will be the primary audiences for the business plan.
... Read moreStarting your planning engine: Part three - Structure
Saturday,June 21 ,2008Business plans are as varied as the companies that compile them, some plans runs most than 80 pages whereas others fills a few sheets. Some plans starts with executive summaries and others go straight to detailed description of products and services. Some companies prints their plan on paper, and other publish their plans on the web.
... Read moreShort Business plan FAQ
Saturday,June 21 ,2008Going deep on the subject could bring some interrogatives which must be answered so here is a small FAQ.
... Read moreStarting you planning engine: Part four - Time Frame
Sunday,June 22 ,2008The time frame for your business plan
The time frame represents how far out into the future you want to plan. We want our business to grow successfully for years into the future but that does not mean your business plan goes all the way forever. Each plan covers a specified planning period. Some are designed to get a company to a defined sales level, a funding objective, or the achievement of some other growth goal. A good business plan covers a time frame that has a realistic start and finish, with a number of measurable checkpoints in between.
... Read moreLocating informative resources for your business plan
Saturday,June 28 ,2008On the last four posts we were talking about the planning processes but that was just merely an idea, at this point we know: what are the benefits of a business plan, who are our target audience and we know about our time frame for our plan (if you don't know what I am talking about check out the last four posts:
... Read moreWriting a business plan step by step
Friday,July 31 ,2009Previously, we have analyzed, which are the basic points of a business plan. We will continue showing step by step how to write a business plan. It’s important to define at what moment we are defining, our business plan, since for every new business, we need a plan but for those are running too.
... Read moreSetting the market research
Friday,July 31 ,2009Many entrepreneurs with brilliant business ideas will fail because they do not analyze enough deep the market demand for their ideas. Start a business without previous analysis is like shooting in the darkness. Therefore, the next step will be the market definition for your product. For this, we need to ask questions, starting with wide context and later working to more specific aspects of the market.
... Read moreIntroduction to business planning
Sunday,August 23 ,2009Incorporating a new business into the market as well as a new product, require a decent amount of capital investment to allow the correct functioning of the business. No matter the reason, an improvement always will require more investment as well as workforce.
... Read moreGuidelines to organize a good business plan
Sunday,August 23 ,2009Defining objectives: Make a list of the people who you may want to show the plan and the effect you want to produce on them. The objectives might help you to decide how much emphasis the business plan should need to address the different aspects of the business.
... Read moreThe executive summary
Saturday,August 29 ,2009This is the section of the business plan, that must be written at the end of the process, it must be placed at very beginning of the document; in other words, before the business plan description and immediately after the front. Because this is the summary no longer than 2 pages, it has the purpose to attract the attention of the reader, through a descriptive synthesis, in which we highlight what is considered important to achieve this objective.
... Read moreDescription of the business
Wednesday,September 16 ,2009History of the company
... Read moreProducts and Services
Sunday,September 20 ,2009Description of products and services
Describe the products and/or services your company sells or will sell.
... Read moreDescription of the sector
Friday,September 25 ,2009Market studies
It’s important to have a good understanding of the sector where the business will operate. At this point, it will be useful to explain if you have researched the market of your niche. For example, if we have made any poll among our potential customers, if we had access to other data sources like articles, newspaper and other statistical information, whether we have spoken to people about the activity of the sector or other reliable source.
... Read moreMarketing Strategy
Friday,September 25 ,2009Target Market
In the last post Description of the sector, we described our marketing activity. Which clients or market segments your company will point for? For example, we may define an objective market by client type and geographic region. How your markets may change during your business planning period?
... Read moreManagement and staff
Saturday,September 26 ,2009The structure of the company
Make a description of your company. How many personnel do you have, and how much would you like to have for the next years?
... Read moreProtection and regulations
Monday,September 28 ,2009Copyright protection
In case of any patent, branding, license or any other kind of protection is protecting the processes, products or services, describe them briefly.
... Read moreImplementation and risks
Saturday,October 03 ,2009When will start the major activities of the business plan, and who will be the responsible to carry them out? When will they finish these activities?
... Read moreFinancial Information
Sunday,January 31 ,2010Content
This section identifies the financial needs of your business and shows the potential profits, therefore, is one of the most important. A business can grow and survive only if generates profits. During the preparation stage of the business plan, we must know how much money is needed and the expected profits. For this, the financial information that the business plan has, must include four documents:
... Read more