How would I go about preparing a business plan for a small business?
October 22nd, 2009
How would I go about preparing a business plan for a small business?
Is there some sort of cheap software or is there any place online that I can find out exactly how to prepare my own business plan. I want to start a small business. I want it to be a shoe store for women. On a boutique level. Preferably in a mall.
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Tags: business plan financials
Here are some resources that can help you write your business plan:
- SBA Business Plan Basics http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/pla…
- PowerHomeBiz.com Creating a Business Plan section http://www.powerhomebiz.com/startup/busi…
- Entrepreneur.com Writing a Business Plan section http://www.entrepreneur.com/bizplan/0,72…
You may also want to review some sample business plans to see how it actually looks like:
- Bplans.com http://www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.c…
- MOOT Corp Business Plan competition winners
http://www.businessplans.org/businesspla…
- VFinance – View hundreds of real business plans in pdf format. http://www.vfinance.com/home.asp?bps=1&T…
- Business Owners Toolkit Sample business plans and information on how to create a plan. http://www.toolkit.cch.com/tools/buspln_…
- PlanWare Planning software and information. http://www.planware.org/
- Virtual Business Plan Walk through the design of a business plan. http://www.bizplanit.com/vplan.html
-SBA Business Planning Guide http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/pla…
- Small Business Advancement Center http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/business_plan/b…
- Sample Business Plan General planning guide created by the Canadian Business Service Center. http://www.cbsc.org/servlet/ContentServe…
- Business Plans Index – A subject guide to sample business plans and profiles for specific business types from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. http://216.183.184.20/subject/business/b…
Some recommended books are :
- Business Plans Kit for Dummies
- The Complete Book of Business Plans : Simple Steps to Writing a Powerful Business Plan
- Writing Business Plans That Get Results : A Step-By-Step Guide
- Business Plans For Dummies®
- Your First Business Plan : A Simple Question and Answer Format Designed to Help You Write Your Own Plan
http://www.theresourcequeen.com/favorite…
Executive Summary: Write this last. It’s just a page or two of highlights.
Company Description: Legal establishment, history, start-up plans, etc.
Product or Service: Describe what you’re selling. Focus on customer benefits.
Market Analysis: You need to know your market, customer needs, where they are, how to reach them, etc.
Strategy and Implementation: Be specific. Include management responsibilities with dates and budgets. Make sure you can track results.
Web Plan Summary: For e-commerce, include discussion of website, development costs, operations, sales and marketing strategies.
Management Team: Describe the organization and the key management team members.
Financial Analysis: Make sure to include at the very least your projected Profit and Loss and Cash Flow tables.
I don’t recommend developing the plan in the same order you present it as a finished document. For example, although the Executive Summary obviously comes as the first section of a business plan, I recommend writing it after everything else is done. It will appear first, but you write it last.
Standard Tables and Charts
There are also some business tables and charts that are normally expected in a standard business plan.
Cash flow is the single most important numerical analysis in a plan, and should never be missing. Most plans will also have Sales Forecast and Profit and Loss statements. I believe they should also have separate Personnel listings, projected Balance sheet, projected Business Ratios, and Market Analysis tables.
I also believe that every plan should include bar charts and pie charts to illustrate the numbers.