How to write a business plan:

A business plan is like a bible for any business; I describe how to write a business plan in this article. However, the majority of the entrepreneurs prepare with some bad copy paste stuff to showcase others. Learn how to write a business plan on your own which will be useful for you as well. The moment we want to write a plan, we Google it to download a template and start to collect the content for existing subheadings.

Honestly, it is very bad practice. Come on; you are an entrepreneur, you are not a copy cat. However, any business will be built on four pillars WHAT, WHY, WHO, HOW. You can get the business plan ready on your own when you have clarity about below questions.

The mapping between these questions to business terminology:

1.1 What is the problem? (Problem statement):

Which problem is going to be solved by your idea? How your idea is going to address the problem?  Would it play a vital role to drive the business? This section should address following points.

• The volume of customers having this problem.
• The cause of the problem.

1.2 What do you need?: 

You need two plans for this question Human resource plan and Financial plan.

1.2.1 HR Plan:

Human resource is going to be your first asset; this section should be based on your existing capabilities, strength, and efforts that require getting the product into the market. This section should mainly cover below points.

• Resources with different skills required for your project.
• Effort estimation.
• Financial requirement for the journey.
• Detailed project plan with the schedule.

1.2.2 Financial Plan:

Financial Plan/Budget plan is very crucial; it should have an approximate burn rate of all departments for the next two years, money inflow, outflow, expected returns based on the burn. This section should cover below points.

• The complete burn off every department based on the need.
• Return on investment.
• Budget estimation.
• Plan to raise funds from different sources.

2.1 Why customers need your solution: (What is the unique selling point (USP))

You need to have minimum market analysis to justify your product has in the market. Competitive analysis is critical to differentiate from your competitor. However, what is your unique selling point? How can you differentiate from competitors? What is the value being created to the customer? This section should cover

• The cost advantage is going to be provided by your product.
• Uniqueness from others.

3.1 How to reach:

3.1.1 Marketing strategy

Here is how to write a business plan with a great marketing plan. Marketing strategy should be matured enough to reach right targeted customers. Though you have a good product, eventually, it will fail if you don’t reach customers. It has to be keep updated based on the market demand and customer behavior. This section should cover below bullet points.

• Traditional marketing plan.
• Digital marketing plan.
• How to target customers.
• Media and publishing.
• How to convince customers.

3.1.2 Brand building strategy:

Usually, it takes a lot of time to build a brand. The majority of the people think that brand building is very expensive. However, a brand can be made from the day one with a small amount of investment. This section has to cover below topics.

• Media and publishing.
• Digital Marketing.

3.1.3 Operations Plan:

Operations take a big share for few startups. Predominantly, many things come under operations other than technology and human resource. This section covers below points.

• Infrastructure plan.
• Facilities.
• Disaster and recovery.
• Connectivity plan with all departments.

 

4.1 Who are getting  benefited ( The Stakeholders):

Don’t ignore stakeholder management. Sometimes lack of right communication kills a startup. A person who is responsible directly or indirectly affected and benefited by business. This section should cover below points.

• Mode of communication.
• The frequency of communication.
• Roles & Responsibilities.

4.2 Who are the target  (Target customers):

Targeting customer at the right place is not easy, sometimes drawing attention to a guy in front of you could be a nightmare. This plan should be in such a way to reach customers demographics, income groups, etc. This section should have below points.

• Customer Demographics.
• Customer analysis.
• Customer insights.
• Customer behavior.
• Customer income group.
• Repetitive customer plan.

4.3 Who you are (Executive summary):

Finally most important thing: Executive summary of the founder, co-founder, and core team. This part can convince venture capitalists and other key people to be part of your company. Hence it should be very impressive with academics, awards, and experience.

Hope it helps How to write a business plan 🙂

 

Also Read: 4 Registration processes for startups