Whether you are an entrepreneur or aspire to establish your business, or work within a large corporate team, you must know that you need a professional business plan that enables you to enter the market strongly, enhance the growth of your business in it, and create a competitive advantage for you.
Any successful project in the beginning is an idea that a professional business plan is drawn up for that helps turn it into reality.
The business plan helps you in a comprehensive understanding of all the financial, material and moral aspects, and enables you to launch the project with less risk, greater effectiveness, and the use of less resources.
In this article, we will discuss in detail what a business plan is, what are its components, and how to write a professional business plan template.
What is the action plan?
The Business Plan is a road map for what companies will do in the coming period to reach their goals. It represents a tool for guidance and leadership for anyone who wants to establish his business or start launching a new product or project in his company.
It explains all aspects surrounding companies, whether internally or externally, and also shows the following:
The Business Plan is an integral part of the work itself, and it is not a ready-made document or form to be filled out only, but it is a serious activity that must focus efforts towards, and work on it effectively.
Why do we need a business plan before starting projects?
Have you ever asked yourself why projects and companies need a business plan?
As we mentioned before, it is more like a road map that guides you towards your goals, as it will enable you to deal with the opportunities and obstacles that you will encounter throughout your journey in achieving these goals.
The answer to this question is not limited to that, there are many reasons why companies always need to write a business plan template for their projects, such as:
A) The action plan, through which the structure, aspirations and perceptions of the business, and the desired goals are clarified, and the available ideas and mechanisms for their implementation are also clarified, and the actions that will be taken and help in development and improvement.
b) includes all details of the products and services to be provided by the project, their pricing and sourcing plans, and the marketing and sales strategies used.
C) The business plan is a prerequisite for obtaining financing and loans for projects from banks, because project owners need detailed information about the project and its feasibility.
D) The business plan is a major reason for increasing investments. The successful plan attracts investors to buy its projects, invest their money in the company or buy part of its shares, and increases its chances of getting investors who add value to its projects, or merge into major entities.
e) All financial statements related to the business are available in it, including capital, assets, liabilities, financial needs and funding sources.
f) It is considered the work guide that you and those in charge of the project can refer to, as it shows the steps that must be taken in moving towards the goal, and the performance measurement criteria.
j) The business plan helps to launch projects with less risk and a greater return on investment, because it provides a detailed explanation about the funds, the resources needed for production, how to provide them and put the products on the market.
This importance comes from the integration and interaction of some of the basic elements and components of this plan.
How to write a sample business plan step by step
At the outset, some important points should be clarified about the plan, namely:
It is common knowledge that not all companies and brands are alike in preparing a business plan template, and that the template is not the same in its components.
Every business has its requirements, so the model and components differ from one company to another. Some companies, for example, integrate the marketing and sales plan into the operations plan, and some make them a separate component.
It is worth noting that some companies prepare the plan template manually, according to the needs of the components of the plan that they prepare, and others use ready-made forms or programs that help companies write them.
Also, the time period for each plan varies according to the duration of the project, some need to prepare a work plan for 6 months, others for a year, and the time period it covers may extend for 5 years, during which it explains all the operations and goals that it seeks, as it is a specific period.
The business plan also has a key role in the establishment and success of any business, so this plan must receive deep attention from the business team during its preparation.
Add to your information that the development of the plan requires effort from the team as a whole, not an individual or one person who is responsible for it.
After you have enough information about what the plan is, its importance to the projects, and the elements it consists of, you are able to easily prepare it.
All you need now is:
1. Writing the Executive Summary:
Start by writing the summary and briefly explain all the details and objectives.
2. Describe the company and work:
Try to describe your work environment in a distinctive way in order to increase the chances of your company's success in being an attractive place for investment and the goals you seek.
3. Describe your products and services in detail:
their characteristics, target audience, materials you need for their production, pricing plans and market launch strategy.
4. Analyze the markets and competitors:
In this part, think and answer some of the following questions:
- What is the number of competitors, the size of their entity, and the degree of their closeness?
- What are their strengths and weaknesses?
- What is their expected reaction to your entry as a competitor?
- What are the chances of other competitors entering the market?
Full knowledge of these answers will initially determine your strategic position in the market.
5. Plan the operations:
to be implemented during the time period and clarify the details of the marketing and sales plan.
Read also:
How to Create a Minimum Viable Product (Practical Guide)
6. Develop financial analyzes:
Clarify all the information about the financial amounts represented in the capital, costs, revenues, the required funding volume and its source.
7. Team work:
In this part, you must clarify the skills that your work needs, and that the work team must possess (in terms of personal and technical skills), and the roles are distributed to each member of the team and identify the people responsible for each task.
8. Attach the required accessories:
which you need when presenting the plan to the concerned persons and which will support your financial and moral situation.
9. Use ready-made templates and forms:
and review them well, spelling and financially, more than once before submitting them.
Some tips that will help you prepare a professional business plan
- The plan must be realistic, workable and not based on unexamined assumptions and expectations.
- It should be clear and uncomplicated so that it is easy to understand.
- The product or service of the set plan must have unique features and specifications in order to help bring it to the market.
- It should be tested and all its details discussed before working on it by the relevant experts.
- Before you start, make sure you have all the financial, productivity and functional information you need to prepare it.
- Making an initial draft before you start presenting it to the concerned authorities helps you in writing any urgent changes and developments on the project.
- Make sure to prepare a professional-looking plan that initially includes an editorial and a table of internal contents, after the executive summary page. This table contains the plan’s parts and page numbers, and is on the cover with the facility’s name, address, and year of incorporation.
- Try not to exceed the 30-page plan, and focus in writing it on the quality and feasibility of the information, not the quantity.
- Avoid misspellings, review financial numbers accurately, be accurate and concise in information with clarity and credibility in all parts of the Business Plan.
- You can use tools like Canva to help you prepare your business plan.
Conclusion
A business plan template is essential to the growth of companies, as it gives you a visual view of the situation of your company or project in the future from several angles, whether financial, marketing, and others.
It also shows you where you are now, and where you will be after a certain period of time, what is the purpose of this journey and the ways you take to reach your goal, and represents an expanded picture and a future vision for your project.
In this article, we have provided you with everything you need to know in order to write your own business plan. We hope that you liked the article and welcome any inquiry or question that you put in the comments box below.