A business plan is the bread and butter of a successful money-making venture. Businesses that do not plan, forecast, or research are those that fail within their first eighteen months of trading.
Instead, you need to spend time planning every aspect of your venture to ensure that you can hit the ground running when you are ready to launch. Writing a business plan shouldn’t be too taxing but it shouldn’t be written on the back of a cigarette packet either.
It needs to be a well-thumbed working document rather than something that is written and filed away never to see the light of day again. Take a look at this guide to help you perfect your awesome business plan.
Funding
The major aspect of your business plan will be to explore funding options. Your working document should be the very thing that secures this much-needed funding in the first place. Detail your financial predictions for the next three years at least, and ensure that your figures are based on fact rather than a best guess. Ensure that you know your gross from your net and that you feel comfortable with your figures being scrutinized. You need to show any potential investor how you will mitigate risk, so demonstrate your strategies for keeping cash flow buoyant and supply chains fluid. At the very least, you should be able to hand your business plan to a potential investor for them to understand your vision, believe in your forecasts and be keen to part with their cash.
Business Leads
Often entrepreneurs forget to detail just where their business leads will come from. Think about every possible avenue to source your business from. This may include tender opportunities where you bid for work, trade show marketing opportunities or online advertising. You need to work out how much cash you need to dedicate to this in order to hit the ground running when you launch. Knowing your market and being able to cater to them is vital if you are to compete with your already well-established industry rivals.
Online Presence
In the twenty-first century, one of the most crucial aspects of any business is an effective and honed online presence. If you don’t have a Twitter feed, a Facebook page or an Instagram account, it’s time to sign up. These online platforms are the perfect vehicle for free marketing and to show off your wares. With great photography, perfectly filtered images and relevant content posted regularly, you can expand your global reach and achieve more followers. These individuals then share your content driving more and more traffic to your website. With an excellent site that is intuitive and user-friendly, you can then convert these hits into sales.
Being an entrepreneur is a thrilling existence. However, you must make sure that you walk before you run, you plan your business vision carefully, and you attract investment with your business plan.
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