A business plan can be. Business plan writing, complete business plan structure

Hello, dear readers of the online magazine about money "RichPro.ru"! This article will focus on how how to draw up a business plan... This publication is a straightforward action guide that transforms a raw business idea into a confident step-by-step plan for achieving a clear goal.

We'll consider:

• What is a business plan and what is it for;
• How to draw up a business plan correctly;
• How to structure it and write it yourself;
• Ready-made business plans for small businesses - examples and samples with calculations.

At the end of the topic, we will show the main mistakes of aspiring entrepreneurs. There will be a lot of arguments in favor of creating quality and thoughtful a business plan that will bring your idea to life and success affairs in the future.

Also, this article will provide examples of ready-made works that you can simply use, or you can take as a basis for developing your project. Ready examples of the presented business plans can be free download.

In addition, we will answer the most frequently asked questions and clarify why not everyone writes a business plan, if it is so necessary.

So let's start in order!

The structure of a business plan and the content of its main sections - a step-by-step guide to its preparation

7. Conclusion + related video 🎥

For every entrepreneur who wants to develop himself and develop his business, a business plan is very important. It performs many important functions that no other person can do otherwise.

With its help, you can enlist financial support and open, develop your business much earlier than you can collect a significant amount for the business.

The majority of investors react positively to a good, well-thought-out business plan written without errors, as they see this as a way of making money quietly with all the invented and described troubles.

In addition, even before the opening of the establishment, you can see what awaits you. What risks are possible, what solution algorithms will be relevant in a given situation. This is not only favorable information for the investor, but also the necessary plan if you get into trouble on your own. In the end, if the calculation of risks turns out to be too daunting, you can redo a little, transform the general idea to reduce them.

Creating a good business plan - this is an excellent solution for finding investment and developing your own algorithms for action even in the most difficult situations, which are more than enough in business.

That is why, in addition to their own efforts it is worth using "other people's brains"... A business plan implies many sections and calculations, research and knowledge, only with successful operation, with which you can achieve success.

The ideal would be to study all aspects on your own. For this, it is not enough to sit and read the relevant literature. It is worth changing the social circle, referring to courses and trainings, finding specialists for advice on certain issues... This is the only way really figure it out in the situation and dispel all your doubts and delusions.

A business plan is worth writing for many reasons, however home Is a clear algorithm of actions by which you can quickly get from point A(your current position full of hopes and fears) to point B(in which you will already be the owner of your own successful business that consistently and regularly generates income). This is the first step towards realizing dreams and confident status of the middle class.

If you still have questions, then perhaps you will find the answers to them in the video: "How to draw up a business plan (for yourself and investors)".

That's all for us. We wish you all good luck in your business! We will also be grateful for your comments on this article, share your opinions, ask questions on the topic of publication.

In this article, we will analyze in detail what a business plan is, what it is for and how to draw it up correctly.

Greetings, dear readers! Alexander Berezhnov is in touch. Today we will talk about business, or rather, about business planning.

As you know, any business or project starts with. But in itself, it does not carry much value, since most people give birth to dozens of ideas every day.

Many famous entrepreneurs, outstanding people in the field of training in management, leadership and planning speak about this. These are Stephen Covey, John Maxwell, Vladimir Dovgan, Alex Yanovsky, Tony Robbins and others.

Surely you had situations when an idea was born, but there was not enough time and energy to bring it to life, and most importantly, you did not know where to start.

This article will be useful for both beginners and existing entrepreneurs, because, as you know, any prosperous company or project always has a plan to achieve its goals.

When I myself went through trainings in the field of business planning, I remembered well the words of one of the trainers:

A dream differs from a goal in that it does not have a clear plan for achieving it!

In other words, if you don't have a good plan for achieving your goal, it is unlikely that it will become more for you than just a dream even after many years.

In this article, I will cover issues related to business planning, since myself I have experience in writing business plans for my own entrepreneurial projects. And in order to convey information in an accessible language, before writing the article, I talked with two of my friends who are professionally engaged in writing business plans for entrepreneurs to order in order to attract outside capital to the business of their clients. The guys help entrepreneurs by writing professional business plans in obtaining loans, grants and subsidies.

Dear readers, I draw your attention to the fact that in these articles we will consider a simplified model for writing a business plan for starting a small business. And if you are faced with the task of writing a business plan for a large company, then I advise you to use the services of professionals who specialize in this.

I will not take away your precious time anymore, let's start ...

1. What is a business plan

Any term has many definitions. Here I will give my own, it is rather short and reflects the main meaning of the concept of "business plan".

Business plan Is a document or, in other words, a manual that describes the idea of ​​a project, business processes and mechanisms for their implementation in order to achieve the goals stated by the author of the document (business plan).

In general, business planning, like any process, must have a goal, in this case the success of your project will depend on 3 key factors:

1. Awareness of your level at the current moment in time (point "A");
2. A clear idea of ​​the ultimate goal of where you (and your company) plan to be (point "B");
3. A clear understanding of the sequence of steps to move from point "A" to point "B".

2. What is a business plan for?

From my experience, I will say that a business plan is needed globally in 2 cases, and in each case its writing is different in a certain way.

These are the cases:

1. Business plan for investors(lenders, donors, bodies providing state support in the form of subsidies, etc.)

Here, the main purpose of the business plan is to prove the viability of the project and the effective use of funds. And it does not matter whether you will return them, if it is a loan or not, if it is a subsidy or a grant.

In a situation where you are thinking about how to write a business plan for investors, you need to focus on the consistency of the actions you plan to take, perhaps even bluffing about certain points that will help you get funding. When writing a business plan, you can embellish something, but most importantly, do not get carried away.

In short, your finished plan should be clean, neat, logical. Everything should be beautifully painted in it, explanations are given to the facts you cited, and so on.

It will not be superfluous to prepare a good computer presentation and speak publicly to investors.

Therefore, when I am asked how to write a business plan, I ask a question in response: “For whom is the business plan drawn up? For yourself or for investors? "

2. A business plan for yourself(according to this plan, you will actually act for the successful implementation of your own project)

Let me explain with an example. If, when writing a business plan to attract funding, you write that you need 300,000 rubles to buy 10 computers, then you write a detailed estimate in the form of a table:

That is, you really need 10 computers to run the project. That's how you write it. BUT!

If you are drawing up a business plan for yourself, then most likely even this small estimate for computers will look different for you. You will ask why?

Example

You know that you and your partner, with whom you are going to open a business, already have 3 computers for two, and you can find 3 more computers at your father at work, at home on the loggia and in your grandmother's garage, having slightly modernized them.

It's very figurative, but I think you get the point. All this concerns the available resources, but for the investor you will ask for funds to purchase new office equipment, since you will need to document it for it.

The same, if you are going to open a business in the field of cargo transportation, then in the business plan for the investor you write that you need 5,000,000 rubles to buy 5 trucks. Then it will be easier for the investor to navigate the expediency of using his funds.

Even if you already have 1 or 2 similar trucks, you simply add them to a new vehicle fleet when receiving funding and everyone will be happy.

Because often there is a situation when in negotiations with an investor you say that for the successful operation of your project you need 5 trucks, but in principle you have 2 ... And then you start to disorient the investor, saying that one of these trucks was bought in half with your friend, and the other belongs to your wife and she may not give it to you for a new project, and so on.

Output

Write a business plan for investors as much as possible detailed and beautiful.

When writing a business plan for yourself, focus on the resources that you have, and write such a plan as close as possible to yours. realities.

Moving on to the technology of writing a business plan ...

3. How to draw up a business plan correctly

Drawing up a business plan begins with a preliminary analysis of the current situation.

Before moving on to the wording, description and filling of the sections, you need to put together all the information that you own, and if you do not get it, then fill in these gaps using third-party sources or contacting specialists.

One of the recognized technologies for preliminary analysis before the upcoming business planning is the so-called SWOT analysis.

It is quite simple to understand and clearly structures all the information you have.

4. What is SWOT analysis and how is it applied in business planning?

SWOT- this is an abbreviation and it stands for:

• S trengths- strengths;
• W eakness- weak sides;
• O pportunities- possibilities;
• T hreats- threats.

SWOT analysis is needed in order to assess the internal and external factors of the company, making an objective picture for the upcoming business planning.

For example, in your case, these may be the following indicators:

Strengths:

• Low production cost;
• High professionalism of the project team;
• The company's product (service) has an innovative component;
• Attractive packaging of a product or a high level of service provided by a company.

Weak sides:

• Lack of own retail space;
• Low brand awareness among potential buyers.

Opportunities and threats are characteristics of the external environment that cannot be directly influenced by the company, and therefore, they can influence the outcome of its work in the future.

Such factors can be:

• Economic and political situation in a country or region;
• Socio-cultural environment (peculiarities of consumers' mentality);
• The level of technology development in the territory of doing business;
• Demographic situation.

According to the analysis of the current conditions, it is possible to identify the potential opportunities of the future project.

Possibilities:

• Introduction of new materials and technologies for the production of the company's product;
• Receiving additional funding for the project;
• Adaptation of product design to the cultural and age characteristics of the region.

Threats:

• High customs duties on raw materials for the production of goods;
• Strong competition in this market segment.

After the SWOT analysis has been done, you can proceed to the description of the sections of the business plan. Below I will describe each of them, explain my point of view, and in the 3rd part of this instruction, in a concise form, I will give examples of filling out each section. This will help you to clearly see the technology of writing a business plan.

And so that my examples are not general phrases like “it is better to be healthy and rich than poor and sick”, I will disclose the question “How to write a business plan” using the example of opening anti-cafe or in another way time-cafe * .

Antikafe(or time-cafe) is a new format of cultural and entertainment establishments that first appeared in Moscow in 2010.

Their essence lies in the fact that visitors do not order food and drinks for themselves for money, as in a regular cafe, but pay per minute for the time they spend in the institution. For this payment, they get the opportunity to play board games (for example, the very popular game ""), play video games on the X-BOX game console, organize their own events: birthdays, corporate events, parties, and also use free WI-FI Internet.

Here, visitors can also participate in entertainment and educational events: musical and theatrical evenings, trainings, foreign language clubs, take training courses on playing musical instruments, and so on.

By the way, personally, as a person leading a healthy lifestyle, I am glad that in these establishments it is not allowed to drink alcohol and smoke.

5. What sections should be in the business plan

In order to understand the structure of a business plan, you need to decide on its sections. I will offer you my own version, which is classic for most business plans.

Sections of the business plan:

1. Introductory part (summary);
2. Description of goods and services;
3. Market analysis and marketing strategy;
4. Production plan;
5. Organizational plan;
6. Financial plan (budget);
7. Expected results and prospects (final part).

When starting to develop a business plan, I recommend that you conduct a small brainstorming session describing your idea on 1-2 A4 sheets. This is necessary in order to understand the whole picture and only then proceed to a detailed description of the above sections.

An important point!

Before filling out the sections in detail, collect as much information as possible on the topic of your project (business).

It can be:

• Industry analysis with quantitative indicators;
• Ways to promote your products or services;
• Current competitors in the market;
• The amount of tax deductions for your company;
• Technologies applied in the industry of your future business.

All this will help you write a business plan yourself as efficiently as possible and not search along the way for material for its sections. This will save you a significant amount of time and get good results.

In the second part, we will take a closer look at how to fill out the sections of the business plan.

And when you find yourself attractive, go to only half of her study in detail? What is the next impossible for you?

Chances are, you are having difficulties with your business plan. Either with its writing, or with an understanding of what it is and what it is for. Actually, there is nothing special about this problem. For entrepreneurs of various levels of training, experienced or beginners with a specialized economic education, or those who have a peculiar talent for a certain type of activity, writing business plans can be difficult. And it's not just a lack of skill or specific knowledge of how this is done. The main difficulty is in understanding what it is in principle.

Do you need a business plan for a budding entrepreneur?

Often, those who are just embarking on the path of entrepreneurship and create their own project from scratch have a strong opinion that writing a business plan can be postponed "until later", to do this only when such a document is required for taking out a loan or other purposes. That is, it is considered a kind of "obligation" for situations of communication with banks and investors. And if the task of obtaining a loan is not worth it right now, then the business plan can wait.

This opinion is fundamentally wrong, it deprives a novice entrepreneur of the opportunity to see the prospects of his project and does not allow a comprehensive assessment of its potential risks, even if this is a “simple” enterprise. This approach is fraught with trouble in the future and, accordingly, can lead to the death of the entire project.

Having a business plan will not only allow you to see the whole picture, it solves a number of problems for the owner or someone who is trying to implement the idea. He shows:

• prospects and potential of the project;
• possible "bottlenecks";
• in what direction you need to move for development;
• how much time and money will be needed to implement the idea and promote it.

And, most importantly, a business plan is able to suggest that a project is unviable or not profitable. That is, he will not allow you to make a mistake and waste time and savings.

Order a business plan or write yourself?

There is another approach that is currently in vogue among middle-class entrepreneurs. By the way, they are sometimes "sinned" by successful businessmen, owners of large dynamically developing and profitable enterprises. They order the preparation of business plans from specialized companies that practice this type of service. The option is, of course, acceptable. But often the customer receives a voluminous document of one hundred pages, which absolutely does not reflect the peculiarities of his particular business, incomprehensible and too general.

Naturally, some calculations of a specific nature, market research, forecasting can be entrusted to a third-party company, where this will be done on a professional basis. However, only a business owner or a person who knows it from the inside is able to fully and comprehensively describe it, analyze the prospects and possible problems, and also show it in a profitable plan for obtaining investment. He will be able to do this so concretely and with reference to the company that it will be immediately clear here what kind of business we are talking about, what real potential and “problem areas” it has, what can be done to minimize them, and the like. This is the format that attracts investors the most.

What is a business plan in essence?

This document is necessary to understand the goals, objectives, direction of development and the required costs for the creation and development of any project, ranging from and ending with a global one, where it is planned to organize a federal network of retail hypermarkets. It is worth considering that a business plan has several varieties, which directly depend on who it is intended for:

• compiled for internal use or for yourself, in the case of a preliminary assessment of your own business idea;
• aimed at an external user or "evaluator" of the project.

In the second option, we are talking about obtaining funding. Here a business plan is written for:

• credit institutions and banks for the purpose of obtaining loans;
• government agencies and officials, on whom the allocation of funds from the budget depends, what can be obtained for business development;
• potential investors who may be interested in investing in the idea;
• various foundations and organizations that issue grants.

In the first option, special attention should be paid to the analysis of potential risks and threats to the development of the project. In the second, there must be a presentation component that shows prospects and competitive advantages. It is also important here that the document is drawn up, the presence of all standard subsections, financial calculations and applications with visual materials (graphs, tables, etc.)

Advice: when writing a business plan in any version, in no case should you embellish reality. It is worth remembering that it may take twice as much money and three times as much to complete a project than it initially seemed. The idea presented in the spirit of "everything is great and there are no threats" will only irritate a potential investor and outrage at the illiteracy of the entrepreneur who has drawn up such a document. For the initiator of the project himself, this is fraught with a one-sided vision, which in the future can lead to negative consequences.

How to write a business plan: step by step instructions

Each project, be it an idea or an online gift shop, must have its own face, features, specificity. In addition, they differ by regional affiliation, the nuances of the assortment of goods or services, the audience of customers for which they are designed. You cannot "squeeze" all of them into any standard scheme.

Advice: do not download a ready-made business plan from the Internet, even one suitable for the type of activity, in order to use it for yourself. You can take a few of those offered on the profile resources and, after carefully analyzing them, taking them as a basis, write your own, original and fully corresponding to your project.

This document should fully answer three main questions:

• what do I want to achieve?
• how do i plan to do this?
• what do I need for this?

If any of the indicated points is not fully disclosed, an indistinct answer is given, there are some innuendos - the document requires improvements, it is not effective.

A business plan has several mandatory sections:

• title (name, address, contacts, table of contents);
• introduction (short description and summary);
• marketing part (analysis of the market and its prospects in relation to the project, potential threats and risks, as well as the tools that will be used in order to cope with them);
• market and competitor overview;
• project executors and potential partners;
• business model or calculation of income and costs;
• financial forecast and existing indicators (for ongoing projects);
• threats and risks for the development of the project (all possible) and scenarios for overcoming them;
• calculation of the use of funds for launch, development or modernization, as well as sources of income;
• Appendices (this includes all key documents, as well as materials that help you understand your idea to the end).

Please note that a business plan aimed at an external user cannot be too short or without any of these sections. As a rule, its volume is 30-40 sheets. In the "for yourself" version, some items can be excluded.

If some sections are understandable to almost every novice entrepreneur, then there are some that can cause considerable difficulties.

Particular attention should be paid to the first two or three pages that follow the title page, the so-called introduction. This is the main thing that will allow you to present your idea to both investors and the business owner himself. Some experts recommend writing an introduction at the very end, after everything has been analyzed, calculated, stated in facts and figures. But there is another opinion. You should start with the "introduction" section. And it is more correct in cases with start-up entrepreneurs who are just creating their own project from scratch. It is when writing an introduction, a resume of his future or a business that is just getting on its feet, its owner or initiator can understand what prospects his idea has, what risks it is exposed to, whether it has a potential for profitability, what can be the result, how much investment will be required and whether there is a prospect of finding this money. Naturally, the initial version can be edited and made as necessary to interest a potential investor, if a business plan is written for this purpose. But you need to start the document with this chapter. She will give understanding and a complete picture.

What you need to highlight in the introduction for a newly created project:

• what kind of activity do you plan to do;
• what is your target audience (future customers);
• how much money is needed to launch and further implement the project;
• where the funds will come from;
• what is the planned revenue for the first six months / year of work (depending on the specifics of the project);
• main estimated financial indicators (its profitability, income, profit);
• form (organizational and legal), the number of employees involved, partners.

In an operating business, this section should be written taking into account existing data and metrics.

How to write a small business business plan yourself: a sample of the main sections

A typical business plan is divided into several main sections that display various aspects of a project. The financial part, as it were, sums up everything that was stated earlier. It is in the descriptive chapters that we present our idea, give it a comprehensive analysis and show in what ways and tools we plan to implement it.

Marketing part

Many novice businessmen and even those who already have some experience find it difficult to write a section on marketing. It is not entirely clear what it should contain and where to get the data on the comparative analysis of the market. Questions that require reflection in this part of the document:

1. What product or groups, services do you plan to focus on... Here you should dwell on the following points:
   • where the product is used;
   • what customer needs will you satisfy;
   • what are the advantages of your product and why it will be in demand;
   • what customer groups are you targeting;
   • how you will communicate your product / service to the buyer;
   • what are the disadvantages of your product, and how you plan to minimize them;
   • your USP or Unique Selling Proposition.

We need to dwell on the last point in more detail. It should be borne in mind that today there are practically no truly unique products. Rather, they exist, but there are only a few of them. In addition, an innovative idea, which simply does not exist on the market yet, requires money, time and knowledge to develop. A success story can be written not only with the new iPhone, like the legendary Steve Jobs. Taking as a basis an already existing product, service or product, and adding to it your unique selling proposition, you can conquer the market. What can be the USP:

• in service;
• as a service and its variety;
• in the loyalty system;
• in sales format.

That is, it is not at all necessarily the uniqueness of the product itself, on the contrary, most often the USP is created precisely on the "near-commodity" basis. If you perceive this concept as a lower price than that of competitors, then you are mistaken. For example, you decided to build your own agricultural business and do it. It is fundamentally wrong to plan to conquer the market by lowering the price and setting the figure much lower than that of competitors. Thus, you can systematically lose profit and become a loss-making company. In addition, dumping is not always advisable in terms of fighting for a client. This can cause the buyer to doubt the quality of the product. It is much more efficient to find "your" consumer and organize such an accompanying service for him that your pricing policy, where the cost of the goods will be the average market price or even higher, will look justified for him.

Advice: When designing your own unique selling proposition, start with the premise that you can give your customer something that your competitors don't. There are a huge number of quite successful businesses that are based on this principle. This can be a concept of assortment selection for a store, focus on a specific target audience of customers, quality or environmental friendliness of products, and much more. The main thing is not only to develop and formulate a USP, but also to think over the tools that can convey it to the consumer.

1. What is your market... This part of the marketing section should describe:
   • which segment of the market you want to cover in terms of geographic location;
   • what type of customer are you targeting.

This section can be tricky for a budding entrepreneur who has no past successful sales track record. It should be based on reasonable assumptions and analysis of competitors' performance. It is also worth looking at information about projects similar to yours and the ways of their implementation.

When determining the type of your client or painting his portrait, you need to consider the following:

• gender, age and marital status;
• place of residence;
• social status and income level;
• occupation and hobbies.

Having created a kind of collective image of the target audience for your product, you can start counting the number of future customers. To do this, you need to take the geography of coverage and the estimated number of residents suitable for the profile of the target audience.

To determine the potential consumption volumes of your product, you should take into account the regularity and frequency of demand for them (naturally, what is bought daily, and what is purchased every five years, will be radically different both in the format of the offer and in the algorithm of promotion to the market, and on many other aspects). You also need to take into account fluctuations in demand (seasonality, changes in consumer purchasing power, fashion trends, rivalry within a product group between peers, and the like, typical for your product).

1. This section of the business plan also includes competitor analysis. The description algorithm can be built on:
   • listing of companies that work in your segment;
   • what are the distinctive characteristics of their services / goods;
   • the ways they use to promote their products;
   • their pricing policy;
   • the nuances of how their business is developing.

Particular attention should be paid to the closest competitors in terms of geography and assortment.

It also requires you to indicate in what ways you will realize your advantages. A separate, albeit small, subsection should be devoted to this moment. It may include answers to the following questions:

• how do you plan to organize sales;
• what you will do to inform customers about your market entry;
• what ad format you choose (or do without this tool);
• how you will form your pricing policy.

In the final part of the marketing section of the business plan, it is worth giving a preliminary forecast of the sales volume for a certain period. As a rule, it is better to take the year with a monthly or quarterly breakdown.

Advice: A fairly common mistake of aspiring entrepreneurs is that they overload this part of the business plan with details and details. This is understandable, they want to thoroughly describe their actions that will lead them to success, and thereby prove to the potential investor the prospects of their project. You don't need to do this. For greater persuasiveness, you can use applications - diagrams, diagrams, graphs that visualize and clearly show your potential capabilities. The very essence of the marketing part of a business plan is best described on 2-3 sheets.

Production part

Do not confuse it with the production process, thinking that if you are going to trade or provide software services, then you will not need this section, this is not true. All information about a specific project is presented here. To do this, you need to answer the following questions:

• what technologies, formats and methods of project implementation will be used;
• what production facilities will be used (office, retail space, equipment, storage sites, vehicles, raw materials, goods, materials and other that is important for the project);
• who will be involved (and whether) as employees, partners, suppliers, etc.).

As a kind of total, you can attach a short estimate showing the expenditure side. It is better to do it in dynamics, with a breakdown by periods (month / quarter).

The estimate must be drawn up in the form of a table, where the following columns may be present:

• purchase of fixed assets;
• purchase of raw materials and supplies;
• rental costs, maintenance of premises and utility bills;
• expenses for the purchase of auxiliary consumables;
• payroll fund;
• other current expenses, which can include payment for communication services, hospitality, travel and others.

Advice: for projects of different specifics, the cost graphs and figures will be very different. Consider this when writing a business plan and do not take average values ​​from the Internet. In addition, you should not focus on the minimum. Even in the case when you have found a premise for your future store with a very profitable lease, almost half as low as anywhere in the city, do not take this figure as a basis for calculating a business plan. It can change for some reason in a big way. Therefore, the data of your business plan will become irrelevant, and it will turn from a guide to action into one that will be misleading.

Organizational part

This section should indicate which organizational and legal form is chosen for the implementation of the project, why, whether changes are planned in the future. It is also necessary to touch upon permits. Here you should dwell on the need for licenses and how you plan to issue them, on obtaining certificates of conformity and hygienic conclusions (if necessary), on how you will go through approvals in inspections of various formats to obtain permits for activities.

In addition, this part describes:

• composition of project managers;
• work experience in the field of the initiator or involved persons;
• what kind of professional support do you expect and what are its sources.

It is possible to add questionnaires of managers / initiators to the applications section, where professional experience and specialized knowledge can be reflected in more detail.

Funding or how to calculate a business plan

In this part of the document, it is necessary to provide a justification for the fact that the project will be profitable, as well as determine the size of investments, the time to reach the break-even point and further prospects for the repayment of the initial capital or borrowed funds.

In fact, it has already been written, you just need to take the necessary numbers from the previous sections and enter here, filling them out correctly.

It is imperative to highlight here:

• Sources of funding for the project. It can be personal funds (investments), borrowed or credit, government subsidies or other forms, for example, leasing.
• Initial stage of project implementation. At this point, it is necessary to make a forecast of the period required for organizing a business, that is, until the moment it starts to work.
• The stage before receiving the first profits. This requires a justification for raising funds and when they will start returning. The item is necessary not only for obtaining loans or loans, but also for understanding whether it is worth investing your own funds in the project.
• The selected taxation system. It is worth considering here that the amount and list of deductions will depend on what organizational and legal status you prefer to implement your project. For individual entrepreneurs there are some "concessions" in this regard. By the way, they also differ in favor of simplification for the second format.

This section also includes the calculation of indicators and a plan of expected profit / loss. There is no need to be intimidated at once by the term “losses”. The fact is that the initial stage and the period of business formation rarely pass without the need to attract additional funds or additional investments. Naturally, they are defined as losses, because they are not yet paid off by the profit from the project.

The form in which the numbers and data will be shown depends on the nature of the project, the status of the enterprise (LLC, individual entrepreneur) and on the chosen taxation system. In its simplest form, it can contain:

• costs of organizing a business (registration of an enterprise, purchase of equipment, materials, product range, arrangement of premises or a site for conducting activities, purchase of a license, and the like);
• expenses of a permanent nature (payment of rent, utilities, salaries, etc., that is, those that do not change depending on fluctuations in sales or production);
• costs of a variable nature (purchase of consumables, transport, communications, payment to third-party organizations or individuals for one-time work, piece-rate salaries, that is, those that directly depend on the volume of sales or production);
• income from the sale of goods / services and net profit.

The latter indicator is fairly easy to calculate. It is necessary to subtract from the income part all variable costs per unit of goods or for a certain period, as well as that part of constant costs that falls on the calculation period taken as a base (month, quarter).

As a result of this part of the business plan section, the profitability of the entire project is calculated. You can take as a basis the rate of return on investment (investments of personal savings, loans, credits). As an example, a calculation scheme is provided by which you can determine the effectiveness and profitability of your own investments:

Radar (return on personal funds) is equal to NP (net profit) divided by the amount of drugs multiplied by 100%. The payback period should be understood as the period of time for which the net profit at the disposal of the investor will cover all initial investments.

Risk assessment

This is the final section of the business plan. It describes and analyzes the most likely risks to which the project may be exposed. Among them:

• natural disasters, fires, floods, accidents that can damage equipment, premises, etc .;
• illegal actions, including theft, theft;
• actions of state institutions, federal and local authorities;
• economic factors, decline in production and consumption, inflation;
• failure to fulfill obligations on the part of partners and suppliers.

Alternatively, here you can use the pessimistic scenario of the development of events from the introduction.

In this part, you need to analyze the resilience of your business and the willingness to overcome risks.

How to draw up a business plan for agriculture yourself?

Actually, all the main sections of the document drawn up for a business in the field of agriculture differ little from the standard one for any enterprise. Its peculiarities are that for this type of activity there is a special organizational and legal form of peasant farms (peasant farms). There is a simplified registration procedure and a specialized taxation system.

When drawing up a business plan for an agricultural project, you need to consider the following points:

• seasonality of business;
• dependence on weather conditions;
• the level of crop yield for a certain region (if your direction is crop production);
• product distribution system and logistics.

The last point needs to be given serious attention. When writing a business plan for receiving government subsidies or grants, as well as loans from credit organizations, this issue needs to be covered in detail. The fact is that the investor is not interested in products for the sake of products, he is looking for potential profit.

And for agricultural enterprises, just logistics and marketing are often a problem, therefore, part of the grown crop or other goods never reaches the consumer, becoming unusable and incurring direct losses instead of potential profits. If your business plan reflects how you plan to build sales and delivery of products, moreover, confirmed by agreements of intent, preliminary agreements, then the investor's attitude will be much more loyal.

Many business ideas come to mind - the question is, what are these ideas worth. That is why, if you are going to translate an idea into business, it is worth creating a business plan in which you can detail your concept and prove its effectiveness, both organizationally and financially.

A business plan is a document that outlines your business. In it you talk about what exactly you will be doing, about the structure of the business, the state of the market, how you plan to sell your product or service, what resources you need, what is your financial forecast, and also give permits, leases and any other you need. documentation.

In fact, a business plan helps you prove to yourself and others whether it is worth developing your business idea... This is the best way to take a step back, consider the idea from all sides and protect yourself from potential problems for years to come.

In this article, we share tips for writing a successful business plan, describe the points to include in the plan, and provide examples.

The translation of the article was prepared with the support of the online school of English. Before diving into the details, let's start with some basic, general tips.

Focus on your specifics

Before you go headlong into drawing up a business plan, you should carefully consider what makes your business unique. For example, if you're looking to start a sportswear brand, you need a way to stand out from the many other sports brands already on the market.

What makes your brand stand out from others? Are you planning to design clothing for a specific workout or activity like yoga, tennis or hiking? Are you using environmentally friendly materials? Do you donate part of your proceeds to charity? Does the brand promote a positive body image?

Remember: you are selling more than just a product or service - you are selling a product, value and brand experience... Consider and answer these important questions before delving into the details of the research for your business plan.

Be short

A modern business plan is required to be shorter and more concise than ever before. Resist the temptation to include all of your marketing research, detail each product you plan to sell, and detail what your site will look like. In the format of a business plan, this information will not give much benefit, rather the opposite.

All of the above details are important to collect and keep in mind, but only the most important should be included in the business plan itself... Otherwise, readers may lose interest in you.

Make a good decoration

Your business plan should not only be easy to read - it is important that the reader can understand the essence without going into details... Formatting plays a big role here. Use headings and bulleted lists, and highlight in bold or color those key points and metrics that you want to draw your readers' attention to. You can even use labels and bookmarks in your document (both digital and print) for easy reference.

Edit as you compose

Remember that your plan is a living, breathing document, which means you can edit it as you work. For example, update the plan a year or two after starting the business, before submitting a new funding request.

Here are the key elements in a business plan template:

1. Marketing and sales plan
2. Financial plan
3. Application

Let's take a closer look at what is included in each of the elements of the business plan:

The purpose of this section is to give readers a clear understanding of the company and the market before you dive into the details. Tip: Sometimes it's worth writing the outline after you've written the rest of the business plan so you can easily isolate the key points.

Fundamentals should be about a page. Please spare 1-2 paragraphs for each of the following points:

• Overview: Tell us briefly what your company is, where it will be located, what exactly and to whom you are going to sell.
• About the company: Describe the structure of your business, tell us about the owner, what experience and skills you already have, and who are you going to hire first.
• Products and / or Services: Briefly describe what you will sell.
• Market: Summarize the key findings of the market research.
• Financial forecast: Tell us how you plan to receive funding and what are your financial expectations.

Example of a Fundamentals Section

Jolly's Java and Bakery (JJB) startup is a coffee and baked goods store located in southwest Washington. JJB plans to reach an audience of regular customers by offering them a wide selection of coffees and pastries. The company plans to take a strong market position in the city thanks to the professional experience of partners and the mild competitive climate in the area.

JJB is committed to offering products at competitive prices in order to meet the market demand of the area's residents and tourists with middle and upper middle incomes.

The next item in the plan is a description of the company. Here you can describe what your company is doing, articulate a mission, talk about the structure of the company and its owners, location, as well as the market needs that your company is trying to meet and how you are going to do it.

Example of a "Company Description" section

NALB Creative Center is a startup that enters the market this summer. We will offer our customers a wide range of goods for creativity and handicrafts, primarily goods that are currently not available on the island of Hawaii. Our competitor remains the Internet, as artists tend to buy familiar products online. We will supply items that are not necessarily well known to local artists. We will also continue to monitor prices and include products available online in price comparisons.

We will conduct master classes on working with new materials and techniques.

We also organize a tourist program "Artist's Oasis". We will provide local bed and breakfast reservations, open-air maps and routes, easel and material rentals, paint and other supplies, and deliver finished artwork to customers after the canvases are dry.

In the future, the store will turn into an art center that will combine: an art gallery, where original works of art can be purchased at wholesale prices; studio space with musical instruments; classrooms for music and art lessons; literature on music and art; coffee bar with live music; handicraft items such as branded T-shirts, badges, postcards, ceramics for tourist trade.

One of the first questions to ask yourself when testing a business idea is whether there is a place for it in the market. It is the market that will dictate how successful your business is. Decide what audience you are targeting and why customers will want to buy from you.

Add specifics. Let's say you sell bedding. Don't include everyone who sleeps in bed in your target audience. First, define a small target customer group for yourself. This could be, for example, adolescents from middle-income families. Having decided on the target audience, try to answer the following questions:

• How many middle-income teenagers live in your country?
• What kind of accessories do they need?
• Is the market growing or remains the same?

When analyzing the market, take into account both the already available research conducted by others, and the primary data that you have collected yourself, through surveys, interviews or in any other way.

This should also include competitor analysis. In our example, one might ask such questions: how many other bedding companies already have a market share, and who are these companies? Describe the strengths and weaknesses of your potential competitors, and the strategies that will give you a competitive advantage.

An example of a consolidated section "Market Analysis"

Green Investments has identified two distinct target customer groups that differ in terms of family wealth. One group included clients with a household income of less than a million dollars, the other - with an income of more than a million. The main thing that characterizes both of these groups and makes them attractive to us as a company is their desire to change the world for the better by making financial investments taking into account environmental factors.

There are many different niches in the financial services industry. Some advisors provide general investment services. Others offer one type of investment, such as mutual funds or bonds. Some service providers focus on a specific niche like technology or socially responsible business.

Market segmentation

Green Investments segmented their target audience into two separate categories based on family wealth: over and under $ 1 million.

• <1 миллиона долларов (семейный бюджет): представители среднего класса, которых волнуют проблемы окружающей среды и которые вносят личный вклад в ее защиту, приобретая акции компаний, которые демонстрируют высокие экономические и экологические показатели. Так как свободных денег у таких людей немного, они предпочитают инвестировать в акции без особого риска. В целом акции составляют 35%-45% от общего портфеля.
• $ 1 million (family budget): These clients have average or above average income. They have accumulated over a million dollars and are investing quite carefully (either themselves or the people they hired). These people are usually concerned about the return on investment, but they are also concerned about the environment.

This is where you can go deeper into the details of what exactly you are selling and what your customer benefit is. If you can't articulate exactly how you can be of service to your customers, your business idea may not be all that great.

Start by describing the problem your business is solving. Then take a look at how you plan to tackle the problem and how well your product or service fits into the big picture. Finally, think about the competitive landscape: what other companies provide solutions to this particular problem, and how is your solution different?

Example of the section "Products and services"

AMT provides computer products and services to help small businesses. We mainly provide networking equipment and network maintenance for small and medium businesses. These are both LAN-based computer systems and server-controlled minicomputer-based systems. Our services include the design and installation of network systems, training and support.

Description of goods and services

In the field of personal computers, we support three main areas:

1. Super Home is our smallest and least expensive line of computers that are initially marketed as home computers by the manufacturer. We mainly use them as low cost workstations for small businesses. Specifications include ... [additional details omitted]
2. Power User is our main premium line. It is our main system for organizing high-performance home stations and basic workstations for small businesses, thanks to ... The main advantages of the system ... Specifications include ... [additional details omitted]
3. Business Special is a mid-level system, intermediate in positioning. Its specifications include ... [additional details omitted]

When it comes to peripheral, auxiliary and other hardware, here we provide a complete set of necessary equipment, from cables to molds and mouse pads. … [Additional details omitted]

We offer a wide range of service and support services in our office and onsite, as well as service and warranty contracts. So far, we have not been successful in securing support contracts. Our networking opportunities ... [more details omitted]

Competitive analysis

The only way to gain an advantage and stand out from the competition is by offering our clients an IT partnership. We will in no way be able to effectively compete with network providers that offer out-of-the-box or hardware / software solutions. We must offer our clients a true partnership.

The advantages of this approach include many intangible assets: reliability and confidence that the client will always receive help and answers to his questions at the right time.

The products we supply and work with require serious knowledge and experience, while our competitors only sell the product itself.

Unfortunately, we cannot sell products at a higher price just because we provide a service - market conditions demonstrate that this approach will not be effective. Therefore, we will provide service for a fee.

In this section, you can briefly describe the features of the organizational and management structure of the business (taking into account the fact that it may change). Who will be responsible for what? How will tasks and responsibilities be assigned to each person or team?

Include a curriculum vitae of each member of your team here. Explain why these people are the right people for the job - talk about their experiences and backgrounds that are relevant to your business. If you haven't already hired performers for the planned roles, that's okay - but make sure to be clear about those gaps and explain what the people in those roles will be responsible for.

An example of a personnel plan in the section "Operational management"

DIY Wash N 'Fix doesn't require a lot of manpower. The company will hire a general manager who will work part-time to handle corporate responsibilities and inter-organizational issues. DIY Wash N 'Fix will also hire three certified mechanics / managers to handle the day to day tasks at the firm. These responsibilities fall into two categories: managerial and operational. Management tasks include planning, inventory and general accounting. Employees are also responsible for operational tasks: security, regulatory matters, customer service, and repair advice.

In addition, service staff will be hired to carry out the most basic tasks. Their functions will include customer service and content and storage control. DIY Wash N'Fix will hire one general manager to coordinate all external business operations and partnerships. Business relationships include accounting services, legal advice, communication with manufacturers and suppliers, as well as service providers, advertising and marketing, and investment services. This managerial position will be taken by Laurie Snyder. She will receive an MBA from the University of Notre Dame in May 2001.

The day-to-day business management tasks will be handled by a lead mechanic. While DIY Wash N 'Fix does not provide a full range of repair services, it can be expected that some customers will try to do repairs that they have never done before, which means they will need advice. Therefore, we intend to hire three fully certified mechanics. These mechanics will be prohibited from performing any work on the customer's car, but they will be able to inspect the car and assess the breakdown. We believe that only professional mechanics should advise clients - this will reduce our liability for incorrectly performed repairs. The main task of the mechanics will be customer service and management functions.

6) Marketing and sales plan

Here you can describe your marketing and sales strategies and how you are going to sell your product. Before you start developing your marketing and sales plan, do a complete market analysis and target your ideal customers.

From a marketing perspective, you may need to answer questions like: How are you going to enter the market? How will you develop your business? What distribution channels will you focus on? How will communication with clients be organized?

When it comes to sales, try answering questions like: What is your sales strategy? How will the sales department work and how will you develop it in the future? How many sales calls does it take to close a deal? What is the average selling price? Talking about the average cost of sale, you can go into the details of your pricing strategy.