There are a very few reasons why you would want to write a business plan.

1. To evaluate initial startup costs.

2. To establish the fundamental viability of a project

3. To define your products, services and customers and assess competitors.

4. To map out the business model, the goals and the strategy used to achieve them.

5. To communicate to others (banks, investors, partners, etc.) the business idea.

A simple business plan can be written very quickly by just completing the following easy 10 step formula.

1. I am…

Introduce yourself. Tell the reader of your business plan who you are, your background, education, professional experience, your successes to date.

2. My product or service is…

Tell them what product or service is, what it does for the customer, any unique features or facets, how it is produced, etc.

3. My customers will be…

Describe your target customers and why you have chosen to market to these customers. Use any back-up evidence from your experience, reports, white papers, market research, etc.

4. My customers will buy from my business because…

Describe any unique selling points or advantages you have. Are you providing better value, guarantees, superior quality, reduced risk, better location, etc?

5. My customers will pay…

Explain how much your customers will pay for each of the products or services you will provide. Describe any up-selling or cross-selling opportunities and how many times a customer will buy from you in a typical year.

6. I can make…

Explain how many products you can produce or services you can provide in a typical year. Back this up with whatever evidence you have to support this.

7. To make each unit of product costs…

Explain how much each unit of product costs to produce. If your business is a service business describe how much it costs to provide the service.

8. The start-up investment I require is...

Detail how much start-up investment the business will require and what you require it for.

9.I have a viable business because

Explain why your business is viable and what evidence you have to support this claim. This will require some market research to demonstrate their is a viable market for your product or service.

10. In summary…

On a single page, list the main points of you plan in bullet point form. This is single most important part of your business plan. It will be read first by all readers of your business plan and will determine if they will read further and ultimately support you business idea or not. Write this summary last but put it at the front of you plan.

Now that you drafted a simple business plan you are in a great position to assess the initial viability of a business at a very high level. You may want to consider fleshing out this simple business plan into a more standard, detailed business plan format before presenting it to potential investors, partners or banks. They will want to see some detailed financials also – Income Statement (Profit and Loss), Cashflow Statement and a Balance Sheet.

What kind of competition do you have for your donut business? How does your business and your product measure up to theirs? Evaluate what your competition does so you can copy what works for them and discard what does not. In other words, learn from those who are trying to get your customers. How do competitors define the product (donuts) in your area? How much market share does each have?

In the competitive analysis of your business plan you will want to look at donut businesses similar to yours including national chains that also operate storefront businesses. If you operate a trailer and move between fairs and festivals your competition is not necessarily other donut businesses (although those count too) but those next to you selling other vending items. Granted, it will be difficult to research these other businesses on wheels before hand. When you get to a fair and set up observe everything the other vendors do that attracts customers and everything they do that has no effect.

Also consider how likely other competitors may enter the market at a later date. Investors will want you to research how saturated the market is and what the barriers are to people who want to make donuts like you do. Do not let your emotion get in the way of your analysis. It is easy to assume that your product will be superior to everybody else’s, but there is much more to consider. Taste, size, price, and service are all important things to look at but are only part of the picture. Try to learn the internal business practices behind the scenes to gage the strength of your competition. Are they creative, motivated, and financially secure? Do they have high employee turnover? These are keys to success as well.

Investors do not want to know why you are a little bit better than the competition. They want to know why you are way better then the competition. Try to view your donut business through the eyes of a customer and if possible be a customer of other donut businesses to gather your information.

Are you struggling to write a Business Plan or even find the motivation to be pick up a pen to even start? Many business people who must write a Business Plan, whether for internal planning or for their Bank Manager, fall at the first hurdle, and don’t produce a Plan because they haven’t the faintest clue where to start.

There is no excuse for this to happen. If you have never put a Business Plan together, you don’t have to struggle on your own because there is plenty of support out there to help you write a blockbuster of a Plan.

Here are some of the places or people you can seek assistance from.

Your Team

Don’t ignore the people who know as much about the business as you do – your staff. Enlist their help and use all the knowledge they possess. It’s usual to find that, in some cases, they have a more in-depth knowledge about specific areas of the business than you!

Bring together the key people in your business and explain to them what you are planning to do, and that you need their help in compiling a Business Plan. Allocate specific parts of the Plan to the people who have the right skills: sales and marketing to your sales and marketing people; production issues to your production team etc. Tell them that you need a complete overview of their contribution to the business; how their department works; how they interact with the rest of the business; their strengths and weaknesses.

In order that the process doesn’t drag on too long, give them a specific deadline by which their contribution has to be returned.

Don’t overlook the power of co-opting your staff in helping to complete your Plan. There is no better way to achieve “buy-in” to your vision and strategy than getting your team involved.

Accountants

If you can afford it, you can ask for help from an accountant. He will have seen many Plans and so can provide some practical advice, particularly where Profit and Loss and Cash Flow forecasts are concerned. If you don’t feel comfortable with figures or you don’t have an accountant within your business, then it would be wise to seek help in compiling these figures, after all, the Bank is going to make some very important decisions based on these forecasts, so they have to be as accurate as possible.

However, don’t underestimate the benefits of doing the forecasts yourself. This exercise will give you a very good understanding of how your business works from a financial perspective; you’ll realise the importance of managing cash properly and the effect a rapidly increasing or decreasing turnover can have. In addition, because you did the figures yourself, it will give you the motivation to monitor your performance on a regular basis.

Once you have finished the forecasts, you can still ask your accountant to review them to ensure that you’re not totally mad! He can give you a formal ‘stamp of approval’ to include in your Business Plan, so listen to what he has to say.

If you don’t have an accountant, speak to other business people and get a recommendation from them as to whom to use. A recommendation can save you many hours of phone calls and interviews.

The Bank

You may think that the Bank would not wish to spend time talking through your idea, but don’t forget that they are on the look out for good business, so it’s in their interest to get in early before any other Bank does. If you are already one of their business customers, they should be happy to review your initial plans. The Bank’s aim is to build a relationship with you, and so they will be pleased to provide their thoughts on any expansion plans. The same applies if you are a customer who maintains an ordinary personal account and is looking to start up in business for the first time.

Getting the Bank involved early on means you can pick their brains and get their early views, before you make any irreversible decisions. You may think that this is a bit odd but being pointed in the right direction may save you time later. For example, by seeking their early thoughts, you may get the impression that the Bank is not keen on your idea so this could give you the clue that you may be better off placing your request with another Bank.

If this is your first time in business, or the first Plan you are writing, asking someone to go through the key issues with you will provide a number of tips and advice, which aren’t necessarily included in any Bank booklets or brochures. The advantage of this approach is it won’t cost you a penny and you are establishing an immediate relationship with the person who will be reviewing your Plan.

Business Colleagues, Local Chambers Of Commerce or Chambers of Trade

These are organisations comprising of local business people who get together on a regular basis to share ideas and experiences, hold seminars and trade fairs. You may think that people already in business, especially in the same line as you, would not want to help someone else start up in business or expand in case it damages their own firm. However, this is far from the case.

All entrepreneurs know what it’s like during the early days in business or the problems trying to grow an existing one. They will be more than willing to share their experiences and give some general advice. You’ll be surprised at how generous some business people can be.

Books

There are numerous books on how to prepare Business Plans. Each of them has something different to add, so buy a few and pick up some of the key points.

Take a visit to your local library. As well as books on how to put a Plan together, they may have information relating to your line of business, which could be useful in gathering background facts to bring your Plan to life.

With these sources of advice there really is no excuse for you not getting down to writing that long overdue Business Plan!

Robert Warlow

Small Business Success