Creating a business goes hand in hand with establishing an efficient and accurate business plan. This document presents your project and should make future investors want to collaborate with it. To offer a most promising business plan, here are the essential components that small businesses should take care of.
What is the business plan?
Here you are, you and your project ready to embark on the entrepreneurial adventure. A new mission stands in front of you: to convince you to invest in your project. To achieve this, you must have a business plan, a document that answers many questions about your company, your services, future customers, strategies, etc. A set of components must appear in your business plan so that this last is most convincing. It remains a confidential document specific to the company and which contains valuable information, be careful not to make it accessible to everyone.
An operational summary
It should be placed at the start of your business plan and should not exceed three pages. This part is above all there to save your interlocutor time by summarizing your project’s strengths and making you want to read more. Therefore, it should give an overview of your project/company so that the reader can get the first idea. Start by presenting your business and briefly its history. Emphasize the points that set you apart from the competition and give your business model, strategy, and forecasts. Do not forget to mention the number of funds necessary for the success of your project. These points will be developed in detail in the following parts but must appear from the first presentation.
Presentation of your product
From the outset, be sure to present your products, their features, and their performance. What specific market need do they meet? At what stage of development are they (model, patented, ready to sell)? What technologies or materials compose it? A set of elements that should be presented clearly and concisely. Tell yourself that the investor does not know anything about your product and your industry. Make them discover it simply so that they remember all the data. To this simplicity of explanation, add a touch of originality: remember that your primary mission is to seduce your potential investor and make him want to try the experience with you and not with your competitors.
Market analysis
Presenting the market in which you want to position yourself remains essential. What better way to do this than to offer market research? While it can be expensive at times, it is, above all, a great way to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your business to establish itself in the market. Please do not neglect this element which gives you credibility with investors from the moment it is carried out objectively. The latter must be carried out rigorously and reliably. Also, remember not to omit the presentation of the competition already present in the sector to describe how your offer differs from the existing one subsequently.
Establishment of key figures
Show your investor that you have a long-term view by forecasting the future critical figures of your company: an estimate of expenses and income, income statement and provisional balance sheet, as well as the breakeven point, the threshold where your profitability is reached. These estimates must be carried out over several years (5 in general). All of these financial forecasts go hand in hand with your financing plan. To formulate it, all you have to do is answer the following questions: What is the desired amount? What proportion of capital will be offered in return? What type of shares will be provided to investors? What funding will be allocated to the different positions (technology, advertising, marketing)? Do not hesitate to mention the elements that promote the project’s profitability and show you know where you are going. A calendar can supplement your data. List the different dates and the goals to be achieved. In this way, the investor perceives how fast the project must progress to be successful.
Your team is complementary
Present your company above all (company name, dates of creation, location, legal form, history) but not only. Your team should be on your side in your business plan. Highlight the positions and skills of each of your employees and emphasize their strengths by summarizing their CV (training, experience, network), which you will add in the appendix. The success of a project depends primarily on those who lead it. Working alongside a reliable and experienced team remains a significant asset for your future investors, who will trust you more. Also, show that all the necessary skills are there: commercial, technical, & financial.
The strategies adopted
Establish your action plan! What marketing strategy do you want to employ & what are your production methods? How do you organize your research and development? What is your business plan? A set of answers to provide in your business plan describes your way of achieving success; make sure they are relevant.
A business plan is the reflection of your business to your future investors. Refine it as best you can to conquer them.
If you have just embarked on your business journey and looking for a marketing agency or want to build your online presence, reach out to Seahawk Media!
