If you could not find the necessary business plan with calculations, then the best solution would be to draw it up yourself. What are the stages of document preparation? What sections should it contain? How to write it in such a way as to interest investors? Read more in the article “Business.ru”.

Business plan, what is it?

BP is a management, financial and marketing strategy of a company, drawn up in the form of a document. Within its framework, all aspects of future activities are covered, possible risks are taken into account, the volume of investments in the development of the project and the approximate date of return of the invested funds are calculated.

Let’s take a closer look at what a business plan is and give as an example the business plan of two small businesses:

• small coffee shop;
• fitness club.

Functions of a business plan

The main requirement for creating a detailed business plan for an enterprise is the ability to demonstrate your idea of ​​a future business clearly to those who will provide funds for its development (investors, banks, various funds, potential partners, etc.).

Business planning will help systematize and structure all information about the project. It will also allow you to set up the planned deployment of future infrastructure and help you correctly determine the time to invest money in its development. Most aspiring entrepreneurs have only a basic understanding of the functions of a business plan. All possible varieties are listed below.

1. Simple and clear wording in the text, without the possibility of other interpretations;
2. Try not to exceed 25 pages. The file must be arranged according to generally accepted standards;
3. The investor should receive complete information about the project after reading the business plan;
4. All your calculations and conclusions should be based on verifiable figures, research and facts;
5. Each section should be interconnected and should complement a comprehensive positive opinion about the project. Having familiarized himself, the investor must discern the future potential of the enterprise;
6. Try to remain flexible. If your business plan allows you to make changes, clarifications and additions, then your project is already better than its competitors;
7. Be sure to indicate methods for monitoring the future enterprise.

Creating a business plan yourself is not difficult if you think through the idea of ​​a startup. Have you already looked through ready-made examples of business plans for small businesses and haven’t found a suitable one? We present a step-by-step algorithm that will allow you to develop it yourself. Each item of the BP will be described in detail below.

First of all, you need to determine the “negative” and “positive” aspects of your business idea. There is no need to quit what you started if the negative aspects at first glance outweigh the positive ones. Every minus can become a growth point for a business.

The cornerstones of a successful business are a stable position in the market and the ability to compete in the chosen niche. The sales market will require a detailed analysis. If, after conducting the above research and calculating the initial financial indicators, you have not changed your mind about starting a business, you should start creating a business plan.

Sections of a business plan: 12 main points

The structure of a business plan, consisting of 12 mandatory sections, is widely used. The volume of each of them will depend on the specifics of the project; a small enterprise can do without some of them completely. But in general, the power supply should look exactly like this.

1.Cover page

This should include:

• The name of the project and the company in which this project will be developed and launched. It is required to provide detailed contact information (contact number, legal address, etc.);
• Full name of the head of the company;
• The person or group responsible for creating the BP;
• Date of creation of the BP;
• It is possible to add the most significant project indicators to the title page.

2. Non-disclosure memorandum or NDA (non-disclosure agreement)

This important agreement will ensure that your unique business idea is protected and will prevent someone else from stealing your finished project. This file contains information about the requirement to keep confidential any information that was obtained while reading this document. Duplicating a business model in this form, copying documents and other facts of copyright infringement within the framework of this business plan will be prosecuted by law.

3. Brief summary

The order of this section of the business plan should not mislead you; you should begin filling out this part only at the end of writing it. This is a kind of excerpt from the entire document: briefly describe the main points related to financial indicators and your business idea.

Instructions on how to write a resume:

1. Describe your product or service;
2. Give a description of the target audience;
3. Indicate how many products will be sold/produced and what the company's total revenue will be within one calendar year after the launch;
4. The total volume of required investments and planned costs;
5. Organizational and legal aspects;
6. Data on the required labor force within the project;
7. Possibility and list of sources of subsidizing the project;
8. Indicate the time frame for reaching the break-even point and the payback period in general.

Important! The investor pays attention to this section first of all. Therefore, the fate of your business idea largely depends on your resume. In this case, you need to keep it to one page.

In this section you also need to write: total income for the year, total funds at the end of the year, profitability of the enterprise and net present value (NPV).

4. Project description

This section should reflect the main aspects that prompted you to believe in the presented business idea. The following clarifications will help:

• The essence of the project (in simple words, without the possibility of erroneous interpretation)
• What does the company need to do to achieve its goals?
• Are there barriers to the success of your business model? If yes, how to overcome them?
• What can you personally suggest (specific steps) to ensure that the company achieves profit in the shortest possible time? Specify a specific period of time (3 months, six months, a year, 10 years, etc.).

Important! Be precise, concise, and provide only hard facts in your business plan. Try to keep it to 2 pages

It will be useful to clearly demonstrate the viability of your enterprise using a SWOT analysis (analysis of opportunities and risks). The main thing to remember is that you are analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of your business, not a product. Entrepreneurs often mistakenly do the opposite.

Example of a SWOT analysis for a coffee shop chain:

5. Description of the market niche

When drawing up a business plan, try to demonstrate the viability of your idea as part of a marketing study of the market situation.

The following numbers will help:

• Sales volume of a similar product over a significant period of time (quarter, year, 5 years);
• The overall growth rate of the niche you are applying for;
• Specifics and trends of pricing policy;
• Detailed information about competitors;
• Identification of startups and small players, description of their advantages and disadvantages;
• Characteristics of your buyer. What does he consider a familiar product? What does he want to buy? His financial capabilities;
• The influence of external factors on the market (politics, society, science, economics);
• Possible promising aspects of a niche in the chosen industry.

6. Detailed information about the project

In this section of the business plan, you need to reveal the essence of the project in more detail. The degree of readiness for launch and the availability of all the necessary resources for this should be mentioned.

Be sure to indicate in this chapter of the business plan:

1. Primary goals;
2. Detailed description of the target audience;
3. Important aspects (measurable) of success in the chosen market;
4. Detailed product description. It should be noted that its qualities should be higher than the average of its analogues;
5. Phased production of the product (for existing enterprises). Copyright information, availability of patents, certificates of conformity;
6. Description of the company;
7. General cost indicator with details of the time and volume of each tranche from the potential investor;
8. Primary costs for building marketing and management structures in the company.

7. Marketing strategy

Describe its essence, main performance indicators and tools for achieving the goals outlined in the business plan. It is required to indicate the responsibilities of each employee in the marketing department, as well as the timing and methods for achieving results. Calculate how much money you will need to invest in promoting your product or service.

What must be included in a marketing plan?

• Market analysis.
• Quantitative indicators of the release of future products and product line, product release schedule with time indicators and an indicator of the moment of 100% production load.
• Product improvement in the process of enterprise development.
• Description of pricing and external indicators of the product (packaging).
• Information about the sales and procurement system.
• Methods of promoting a product to the target audience.
• Measurable indicators.
• Service maintenance.
• Measures to monitor the implementation of the marketing strategy.

Important! There are no strictly documented instructions for creating the ideal business plan. You can exclude, add or change items at your discretion

8. Production plan

Enter here all the information about the production of the product, taking into account seasonality. If you plan to sell finished products, you can omit this item when creating a business plan.

When creating a production facility from scratch, indicate the required production capacity, the specifics of the production process, and outsourced operations. In addition, you will need a complete list of equipment, its technical parameters and cost, as well as information about leasing purchases.

The production plan should also include:

• Information about areas for the enterprise;
• Required materials;
• Output costs at each stage of the production cycle.

Important! Do not forget to indicate any factor that directly or indirectly affects the cost of the final product

9. Organizational plan

This section of the business plan reveals the features of hiring workers, managing and distributing responsibilities between them. This section should not be neglected, even when it comes to existing enterprises. It helps to understand whether the current organizational structure meets its intended goals.

This section specifies:

• Legal and actual address of the enterprise/company;
• Name of the organizational and legal form (joint stock company, LLC, individual entrepreneur, etc.);
• Control circuit. It is important to reflect the relationship of each employee and department, as well as direct instructions for each unit of staff;
• Information about the founders and co-founders;
• Management composition (CEO, executive, finance, etc.);
• Instructions for communicating with staff;
• Supply issues for the administrative part of the enterprise.

10. Financial plan. What needs to be calculated?

A section of the business plan that describes all the financial nuances of the project. We need data on profitability, payback period, movements in the foreign exchange market (if the product is tied to imported raw materials), etc.

What data and calculations are required:

• Tax calculation (what and how much you need to pay);
• Composition of the enterprise's capital (loans, investments, issued shares, etc.);
• Plan-report of income and expenses;
• Cash flow in the form of a table (cashflow);
• Enterprise balance sheet;
• Payback period of the project.

In addition, it is advisable to calculate such indicators of the effectiveness of investments in a project as the investment return index (PI) and the internal rate of return (IRR) at several discount rates. PI is calculated using the formula: PI=(NPV+I) / I, where NPV is NPV for the last year, I is the initial investment.

The project is unprofitable if the index is less than or equal to one. For example, the amount of discounted flows for the year was 14 million rubles, the initial investment was 7 million. PI= (14,000,000 +7000,000) /7000,000 = 3. Low profitability. For every ruble invested, the discounted profit is 3 rubles.

IRR is the interest rate at which the value of all cash flows of the investment project is zero. That is, such a bet will allow you to recoup the initial investment, but without profit.

11. Risk management

In this section of the business plan, you need to examine the possible risks associated with the project. Factors that directly affect profit are especially important. You should pay attention to each of the possible risks (industry, social, financial and others). Do not forget to indicate the exact actions to reduce damage or prevent the impact of such risks on the functioning of the company.

To do this, you need to indicate: a detailed list of possible risks, tools and techniques for eliminating, eliminating and preventing possible problems, as well as modeling situations with zero growth of the enterprise and clear regulations for actions in such a situation. We can mention the low probability of such an outcome.

Business planning is an important link on the path to creating a new business.

Before we talk about how to draw up a business plan, let's first decide why it is needed and what its purpose is, and then consider its structure.

In fact, this is a step-by-step guide to organizing a new business, which describes what methods and means you are going to achieve your goals. I will describe the structure of this document and immediately give an example (based on a health club).

A well-written business plan should make a good impression on investors, as they should see that you understand how and by what means to achieve the goal, solve all problems, that you are proactive and disciplined.

Decor

A business plan begins with the cover. And you need to take its design seriously. A beautifully designed document will immediately endear you to potential investors. A beautifully designed plan, this means: with a cover on branded paper, with the logo of your company, in a folder with springs and a transparent cover, printed on only one side of the sheet. In the document itself: fonts Times New Roman or Arial size 12-14, all headings are highlighted.

On the title page we indicate information about the company: name, legal address, telephone numbers, e-mail, contact person.

Structure

I would like to make a reservation right away that there is no clearly regulated structure of this document. It is determined by the specifics of the business. Therefore, here we will consider the general structure, on the basis of which it will be possible to draw up a business plan taking into account your specifics.

1. Business resume

A very important section. It is usually read first and already here you can determine how interesting your plan is to the investor. A summary is a condensed business plan. Here you very briefly describe the goals and objectives of your project, forecasts of sales volumes, future profits, the amount of necessary investments, and payback periods.

Therefore, although it is located at the beginning, you need to write this section after writing the business plan itself, when you already clearly understand all the key points of your business project and have calculated the entire economic component of the business.

I repeat once again, a competent investor reads this section first and very carefully.

The health club was created in the year xx.xx.xxxx. registration certificate number xxxxx.
The main activity of the company is providing health services and maintaining physical fitness. The main advantages are high quality of service provision and consumption of high-tech equipment.

Uniqueness is the effective and efficient use of those technologies that are provided in comparison with conventional and familiar simulators. You can also note the opportunity to play sports without grueling workouts.

2. Market analysis

At the very beginning, describe the market you are going to work in. An investor may not know your business niche and needs to understand what prospects and trends are in this niche, assess opportunities for business growth, and understand economic trends in the industry.

For example, this: by geographic location, demographic data, by type of consumer behavior, by user behavior, by income level, and so on. All this should be reflected in this section. Describe projected changes in these markets, trends and factors influencing business processes.

Market segmentation can be carried out according to the principle of profitability, that is, this service will be in demand among people with different income levels.

The most advantageous position in the eyes of the consumer belongs to organizations that have a swimming pool in their structure, because swimming is in greatest demand among visitors (45.6%). only in 27.2% of cases are consumers ready to receive the entire range of fitness clubs.

Almost 11% of potential clients of fitness clubs want to work out in a gym. The shares of other services in total demand do not exceed 5%. The main consumers of fitness services are women – 71%. Men – 40%.

Market segmentation can be carried out according to the criterion of profitability: the majority of the population is employed.
Firstly, this service is aimed at the private client, the average buyer.
The planned volume in the pessimistic version will be 10 people on weekdays and 20 people on weekends. Optimistically, 30 people on weekdays, 40 people on weekends.

Competition and competitive advantage.

Considering the competitive environment of the company, it should be noted that in the city there is a fairly large number of companies selling this service.

Our company will be based:

1. at an affordable price.
2. on unique equipment.
3. on discounts and promotions.
4. availability of shower and rest area.
5. individual approach to the client.
6. friendliness and friendliness among the staff.
7. effective recovery.

3. Description of products or services

In this section you need to describe your product or service, how it can satisfy market needs, what unique advantages it has, and its life cycle.
If there are patents or copyrights, reflect the same in this section.

Description of the company and industry

Registration date xxxx, registration certificate number, organizational legal form - individual entrepreneur (PE, LLC, etc.).
Actual address and legal address: city N, st. Nth, etc.

Analysis of the location of the company.

Advantages:

1. Proximity to the city center.
2. Possibility of unhindered entry and exit.
3. Located in a populated area.
4. Proximity to bus stop, trolleybus, taxi.

Flaws:

1. High rent (if the property is not owned).
2. Distance from the center and so on.

The main goal of the service is to attract the majority of clients (women) due to the optimal price, high-quality work, and the rarity of services.

This industry was founded to attract women; the uniqueness of the exercise machines is that they allow you to spend less time and effort on restoring health and physical fitness than conventional exercise machines.

Swot analysis.

1. High quality service.
2. Favorable location.
3. Providing jobs.
4. Optimal price.

Weaknesses:

1. Narrow range of services.
2. Lack of your own premises.
3. Based only on attracting females.

Possibilities:

1. Expansion of the range of services.
2. The company's differentiation is the opening of a healthy nutrition center.

1. High competition.

Service characteristics

Nowadays, this industry is developing rapidly. The main structural divisions of this industry are health centers, tourist centers, institutions, shaping, aerobics, fitness, etc.
This club is an opportunity to restore and improve a woman’s appearance and well-being.
The equipment includes toning tables, a vibration platform, a climb simulator, and a massage bed.

Let us describe the equipment a little.

Toning tables are an excellent alternative to traditional fitness, a set of electronically controlled movement simulators. Toning tables are 7 times more effective than traditional aerobics, shaping, etc.

Toning tables avoid unnecessary stress on the spine and cardiovascular system.

A vibration platform is a device that strengthens the body without excessive effort and with minimal wear and tear. The effectiveness of the vibration platform lies in synchronized and mutually dependent movements down, up, back, at a speed of 30-50 times per second.

The climb simulator is a fundamentally new simulator that looks like a mini-escalator along which one moves upward.

Attractive factors:

1. optimal prices.
2. safety of service provision, presence of a medical worker.
3. exclusivity of services.
4. high quality of service provision.
5. cozy and pleasant environment (design).
6. provision of an oxygen cocktail.

4. Promotion of goods on the market

Describe how you will promote your products or services to consumers. Conditions and organization of product sales. What promotion channels will you use?

In this section, describe pricing issues.

The health club is developing several market segments:

• consumers (private individuals),
• corporate groups.

Product policy.

The company focuses on:

1. Focus on quality
2. Design direction.
3. Branding.

• high quality of service,
• optimal prices,
• discounts,
• club cards (subscription).

Calculation of services per 1 client:

1. Energy – x rubles,
2. Salary – x rubles,
3. Social Security contributions.
4. Depreciation.
5. Renting premises.
6. General production expenses.
7. Total.
8. Extra charge.
9. Service cost.

Sales policy.

The work will be carried out on the basis of marketing - attracting customers (calls, negotiations, concluding contracts with organizations). The width and length of the sales policy at the initial stage will be narrow.

Communication policy.

The goal is to conquer a certain niche in the sales market and form a permanent circle of clients.
For a successful solution, we will use advertising (print media and television).

5. Production

Everything related to production is described here: premises, equipment, requirements for resources and working capital.

Describe technologies, production flow diagrams.

Schedule: what work, in what time frame and who should complete it.

To carry out activities, it is necessary to use appropriate equipment and premises.

Tables of equipment and premises are compiled.
A brief description of the equipment and technical specifications are provided.

A table is also compiled regarding the direction in which the loan is spent:

1. Total loan amount:
2. Equipment acquisition costs.
3. General running costs.
4. Rent.
5. Wage.
6. Room renovation.
7. Delivery of equipment.

6. Enterprise structure. Control. Staff

Describe the organizational and legal form of the enterprise. The organizational structure of the enterprise, that is, who is responsible for what, how the interaction of services is carried out. You can draw a diagram of the structure.

The second thing to write about is management. Who will manage, their work experience, rights, responsibilities, functions, management methods. Sometimes they write autobiographies.

Third section, personnel.

Personnel, their rights, responsibilities, qualification requirements, salary level.

Organizational management structure.

In total, it is planned to attract 5 employees.

A table of the staffing table is provided.

The selection of personnel will be carried out through a recruitment agency and interview, through the recommendations of the Medical College and the Ministry of Sports.

7. Risk assessment and insurance

It describes what risks may arise for your company, as well as what you will do to reduce the negative consequences of the risks or even prevent them.

If you insure risks, write down the amounts you will insure and the types of insurance policies.

We calculate the monetary expression of risks associated with the activities of the enterprise:

1. External risks:

1.1. increase in electricity tariffs (14% of revenue).
1.2. Legislative risk (30% of net profit).
1.3. Risk of emergency situations (5% of net profit).
1.4 Increase in rent (4% of revenue).
1.5 Increased competition (7% of net profit).

2. Internal risks.

2.1 Lack of quality services (20% of revenue).
2.2 Low-skilled personnel (10% of revenue).
2.3 Equipment malfunctions (2% of revenue).

Measures to minimize risks:

1. Insurance.
2. Reservation.
3. Avoid.
4. Preventive measures.

8. Financial forecast of your future actions

I’ll just list what should be in this section:

• balance
• Profits and Losses Report
• cash flow statement
• timing of reaching the break-even point and payback of the project;
• amount of required investment
• profit and profitability calculations

Lending is carried out for a certain period - for 2 years, 4 years, etc. A debt repayment schedule is drawn up.
A plan of expenses and income is drawn up - the first year by month, the rest by year.
A forecast balance is drawn up and the payback period is calculated.

1. Investment size.
2. Net profit.
3. Depreciation deductions.
4. Net cash flow (item 2 + item 3)
5. Payback period (clause 1/clause 4)

We calculate return on investment and discount income.

1. Net profit for 4 years.
2. Depreciation over 4 years.
3. Net cash flow for 4 years.
4. Investment size.
5. Return on investment, %. (item 1-item 4/item 4*100%)
6. Discount rate,% ((15-8.25)+8.25).
7. Discount factor at the end of the year, (1/(1+0.15)4).
8. Discounted income.

We calculate the break-even analysis.

1. Revenue.
2. Variable costs.
3. Fixed costs.
4. Marginal income.
5. Marginal income share.
6. Profitability threshold.
7. Margin of financial strength.

Let's calculate the budget effect.

1. Income tax for the year,
2. Contributions for social needs.

9. Applications

Here you can include: diagrams, graphs, photographs, copies of contracts and agreements, clippings from information sources, biographies, reports, etc.

This is the general structure that should be followed when drawing up a business plan.

15Jul

Why I decided to write this article

Because many who ask me questions ask something that at first you shouldn’t even bother about. There are even questions that a person may never face at all. In general, “Woe from Wit” occurs in the minds of many novice entrepreneurs, and we will “eliminate” this grief in this article. At least I'll try my best. Now let’s talk about mistakes, and then I’ll give you a step-by-step plan as I see it.

Some errors and their solutions

1. Break-even point not calculated

Many people start a business without even calculating how much they need to sell in what period in order to break even. This is important because many business models are cut off at this stage.

Calculating the break-even point is simple. You calculate how many expenses you incur per month and then calculate how much you need to sell goods or provide services per month to recoup these expenses. If the figure is too large and seems unrealistic to you, then it is better not to take on such a business. If you think that you can sell the right amount of goods to cover expenses or start covering expenses in a few months, then you can think about this business further.

Conclusion 1: Until you have a complete financial picture of the business in your head, you cannot borrow money or even use your savings.

2. Everything must be perfect

When starting your business, you want everything to be correct and beautiful: the most modern equipment is purchased, the most functional website is created, the office is renovated, etc.

Striving for better is useful, but there is one “BUT” - before spending money, check the performance of your business model. When planning to make an expensive website design, first make sure that your services or products are in demand at all.

Or, if you are opening a cafe, before making expensive renovations, try to start selling in the premises you have with minimal investment. If sales continue and the location in a given area of ​​the city generates at least some profit, then you can expand or do some major renovations.

Conclusion 2: Don't invest significant amounts of money until you are sure that people need the product itself. And there is no need to bring everything to perfection, thereby delaying the start. Start with what you have and gradually develop and improve.

3. Lack of understanding of your future business or simply no love

I personally think that a business should at least be liked. For example, I love every business project I have, and if I didn’t love them, they wouldn’t be profitable.

Some aspiring entrepreneurs write to me with questions like “What to sell”, “What services are profitable to provide”, “What business is profitable to start”, etc. I answer everyone: “Open your own bank.” And no one likes my answer, although it answers all these questions. Every entrepreneur has a different life situation, different interests and different knowledge. If one likes to sell toys, and the other likes to sell men's suits, then they will not be able to switch businesses and be as successful. This is because they don’t understand the model itself and simply don’t feel interested.

Conclusion 3: You can't build a business on an idea just because you just know it's profitable and have no interest in it. Business needs to be understood, loved and “in the know.” For example, I would not be able to open a massage parlor and lead the business to success. Not because I don’t have enough money, but because I don’t know anything about this business.

Where to start your business - 10 steps from scratch

To begin with, I want to say that below I will give 2 plans on how to start your business: complete and simplified. Let's start with the complete one.

Step 1. Business idea

Of course, to start a business, you need to know what exactly to start. I have always said, I say and will continue to say that an entrepreneur must have an idea. If you can’t even come up with an idea, then what kind of business are we talking about? You don't have to be an innovator and come up with something unimaginable. You can take an already working idea, look around, find shortcomings in it, or simply improve it the way YOU see it, and it will be a different business. It is easier to enter an established market than to form it yourself. And the idea doesn’t have to be global; you can start a micro-business or.

In order to come up with or find a business idea, read the following articles and after reading you will 100% decide on the idea:

After reading the articles and coming up with ideas, you can move on to the next step.

Step 2. Market analysis

After choosing a business idea, you need to analyze the market, find out whether people need your product at all. Assess the competition, identify the positive and negative sides of competitors, find in yourself what will distinguish you from your competitors. Compare prices, quality of service, assortment (if this is a commodity business) and look as much as possible for what you can be better at. It is necessary. Why? Read!

Once you have assessed supply and demand and realized that you can compete with existing companies, you can move on.

Step 3. Business planning

Step 5. Register your business

This step cannot be skipped because the business must be registered. You can use LLC or individual entrepreneur. It all depends on your activity. The following articles will help you with this:

Once your business is registered, you can move on to the next step.

Step 6. Taxes and reporting

I indicated this step right away, because you must initially decide which tax system you will work under. This must be done immediately, because the amount of taxes and methods of payment depend on this. To do this, read the following articles:

And also read other articles in the section, because there you will always find up-to-date and complete information about maintaining tax and accounting records. You can also ask your question and get an answer from a specialist.

Step 7: Quickly test your idea

Some will say that you can test without registering a business. And you're right! This is possible, but it was not for nothing that I wrote at the very beginning that there will be 2 options for the development of events and in the second I will talk about it. Now let's move on to the testing itself.

What you initially need is quick testing - “testing in combat”. Use your own money to test the idea, give minimal advertising, make the smallest possible product and try to sell it. Study the demand in practice, so to speak. You have to look at your plan, evaluate what you minimally need to get started, and start right away. Why is this being done? At the very beginning, I wrote about one of the mistakes of beginning entrepreneurs, which is delaying the start, constant improvements, etc. There is no need to bring it to perfection, you need to start as quickly as possible in order to test the idea in action, get the first sales and be inspired to continue development.

If the start does not give the first sales, then you need to reconsider the plan, idea and look for mistakes. A quick start is also done so that in case of failure you will spend less time, effort and money. Would you agree that it would be more annoying to prepare for a year and then fail? It’s less offensive to realize your mistakes right away, while you still have little time to do. This way you can make adjustments along the way and everything will start to work out!

To test your idea and your business, it can help you. It is more for testing an idea on the Internet, but it is also suitable for the real sector (offline).

Step 8. Business development

After the tests have been carried out, the plan has been adjusted and sales have slowly begun, you can develop your business and refine everything that you wrote in the plan to perfection. Now you can improve the site, increase warehouses or offices, expand staff, etc. When your idea and business model have shown their effectiveness, it is easier for you to set more global goals. Moreover, you have already received the first money from your first orders or sales and can reinvest it in development.

If there is not enough money, then you can already resort to loans and borrowings, because the business brings in money and you can borrow for its development with a clear conscience. If you don’t need a lot of money, then even a credit card may be suitable. In I told you how you can use credit card money for your business without interest.

Step 9. Active promotion

This step could be classified as development, but I took it separately. Once you have wider warehouses, more powerful equipment and website, more employees, etc., you need to provide all this with work. This requires aggressive advertising to the maximum. You should take advantage of many advertising opportunities. Look for clients on the Internet, do offline advertising, engage in direct sales, etc. The more advertising tools you use, the better the result. But be sure to record the results and weed out ineffective advertising tools so as not to waste your budgets.

Step 10: Scaling

Your business is working well, bringing in money, you are constantly developing, everything is great! But there are also related directions or neighboring cities. If your business model is successful in your city, then you can open representative offices in other cities. If there is no desire or opportunity to go to neighboring cities, then you can simply capture an adjacent direction, if there is one at all.

For example, if you sell household appliances, you can simultaneously open a repair service and provide paid repair services. If your client’s equipment cannot be repaired, you can always offer him to buy something from your store in exchange. In general, look at your business and I am sure that you will find something to latch on to.

What else can you pay attention to?

When starting a business, there are several parameters that allow you to evaluate how effective your business is at the start; take them seriously:

If your business's net income is above zero, excluding equipment costs and taxes, then your business will survive because it generates some money. If it is below zero, it means your business is burning money and will not have enough loans and investments;

If you have planned sales for 200,000, but sell for 50,000, then this is a reason to seriously adjust your work and, possibly, the plan itself;

You should be comfortable. Business is hard. If you are also constantly having a hard time, then coping with business tasks will be difficult. Give yourself enough comfort that you don't feel left out by running your own business.

How to start and open your own business using a simplified scheme

As promised, I’ll give you a simplified diagram of how to start your own business. Because I have already described all the points above, so I will refer to them here so as not to repeat myself.

I myself have used this scheme more than once, because before I launched very small projects in which a lot could be missed. So the diagram looks like this:

1. Idea (it should always be there);
2. Easy planning, you don’t have to write it down, but put the main points on a piece of notebook. This is done in order to draw a model;
3. A quick test of an idea. Perhaps even without investing and finding money. Or you will need very little money and it will simply be in your savings;
4. Development and active promotion. After the first orders are received, you can begin active promotion and bring everything to fruition;
5. Business registration and scaling.

As you can see, I left out registration at the very end, because some business projects can be implemented without registration, because during the test you don’t get so much money that you have to immediately run to report to the tax office for it. But if the business model has shown its efficiency and after active promotion the profits are growing, then the registration should be instant.

But even in the first stages you cannot do without registration if you need retail space, an office or work with companies under contracts, because for this you need at least an individual entrepreneur.

Conclusion

In this article, I told you where to start your business, talked about the mistakes that beginners often make and that I made, and now you know what you need to do before starting your business. Read my website, subscribe to it, and try to start doing your own thing. We will not leave anyone on the site without help. Thank you for your attention!

Best regards, Schmidt Nikolay

Business plan: sample and purpose of the document + reasons for drafting + 5 stages of creation + features of writing for investors and for personal purposes + structure + 15 tips + 7 illustrative examples.

Any actions must be planned and displayed on paper. This is especially true for entrepreneurship. Without business planning, i.e. detailed optimization of resources and determination of further tasks, even an experienced entrepreneur will not be able to achieve his goals.

That's why it's so important to have on hand sample business plan and compose it correctly. This material will help you with this.

Why and who needs a business plan?

There are several definitions of a business plan on the Internet.

Here are the most common ones:

Those. A business plan is a document that describes in detail the ways of its implementation. Thanks to it, you can thoroughly justify your project, evaluate the effectiveness of decisions made from all sides, and understand the feasibility of financing a particular activity.

The business plan shows:

• business development prospects;
• volumes of the sales market, potential consumers;
• profitability of the project;
• upcoming costs for the production and sale of products, supplying them to the market, etc.

A business development plan is a tool that evaluates the final results of activities for a specific period of time. It can be used to attract investors and is necessary in creating a business concept and company strategy.

Drawing up a business plan is one of the important, responsible stages of planning. It is developed both for those enterprises that produce goods and for those whose specialization is the provision of services.

Before writing a business plan, specialists or the owner of the company determine the tasks and means for their implementation. The developed document can attract lenders to implement ideas. For this reason, it is impossible to exaggerate its importance.

Purpose of the business development plan:

• analysis of aspects of entrepreneurship;
• competent management of finances and operations;
• justification for the need to receive investments (bank loans, equity participation of companies in the project, budget allocations, etc.);
• taking into account the financial capabilities and threats (risks) of the enterprise;
• choosing the optimal direction of development.

Entrepreneurs write business plans for the following reasons:

Features of drawing up a plan for personal purposes and creditors

It is important to see the difference between a business plan, which is written for internal use, and a “front door” document, so to speak, to be transferred to creditors.

1. Create a plan for personal goals.

If you intend to use the sample business plan and write it for yourself, please note that it will be in the form of a practical guide to further actions.

In this case, the business development plan should answer the following questions:

1. What activities are you (will you be) involved in?
2. What product/service does your company offer to the market?
3. Who are the consumers, clients?
4. What goals should you achieve?
5. What means are needed to achieve the goals?
6. Who is responsible for completing certain tasks?
7. How long does it take to complete it?
8. What capital investments will be required?
9. What results should the actions lead to?

You need to understand that when drawing up a working document, you need to reflect the real state of things in order to know in which direction to move, what to do, what to strive for.

2. Document for investors.

When developing a business plan to present to creditors/investors, the methodology is different. The person or organization that will finance your enterprise should receive a document detailing the situation and main objectives.

You must convince investors that their money will be used rationally and indicate the benefits for them. A business plan must be drawn up logically, every action must be justified.

If you have doubts in any area, study it more carefully, because lenders will likely have “uncomfortable” questions regarding the program you outline. And the amount of initial investment to open/develop your own business will depend on how you answer them.

Confidence in delivery is also of particular importance. It’s good if you can display statistics in a business plan, citing the example of another company. This will increase your chances of receiving investment.

When writing a business plan, you should adhere to a business style and follow the structure.

Sample business plan: structure

Regardless of the purpose for which you draw up a plan, working with it takes place in 5 stages:

As a business creator, you will have no problem making up the first two points. But what should be the proper structure of a business plan?

Let's look at the main sections, what information they contain and how to compose them correctly.

No. 1. Title page.

It acts as a calling card for itself. It indicates: the name of your company, contact information, address information, phone numbers of the founders.

In addition, the title must contain the contents of the entire document (chapter - page number). When writing your title, be brief and present information concisely.

The total volume of the business plan is about 30-35 pages, including applications.

*Business plan (sample title page)

No. 2. Introductory part of a sample business development plan.

It takes up approximately 2 A4 sheets. The introduction describes the main aspects of your business, its essence, and what advantages it has.

It is necessary to write down why the product/service is attractive to buyers and what the expected profit is. If you intend to raise funds for your business, the introductory part indicates the amount of capital you need.

Typically, the introduction is devoted to the following points of the plan:

The introductory part is compiled last, because it describes the overall picture of the company's activities.
You can fully portray it only after studying all the nuances of the case.

You can study a sample of this and other parts of the plan at the end of this material - examples of this document for the main areas of business are collected there.

No. 3. The main part of a business plan.

The main section concerns the type of activity and all its key points, the cost of the project.

It consists of subsections:

• production;
• financial;
• marketing;
• organizational;
• calculating business efficiency;
• risks.

We will look at them separately.

At the end it follows final part. In it you need to summarize the work done and give a clear definition of the tasks.

Subsections of the main part of business plans

No. 1. Development of the production subsection of the business plan.

The main section of the document is the most capacious. Its subsections describe each aspect of your business.

For example, industrial shows what equipment will be used, what premises you have, how much money you will need to purchase and start a business.

This plan is also designed to help you calculate production capacity and determine the likely prospects for growth in production volumes.

In addition, it contains information on the full supply of raw materials, components, and covers issues about the need for labor, temporary and fixed costs of the business.

To ensure that the production subsection of the plan has a clear structure and contains all the necessary information, indicate:

• How streamlined is the production process, are there innovative solutions;
• methods of supplying resources, the degree of development of the transport system;
• a complete description of the technologies and why they were chosen;
• Do you need to buy/rent premises to run a business;
• composition of the required personnel and all data about them, labor costs;
• possible maximum volume of output;
• information about suppliers, subcontractors of the business;
• the cost of each product;
• estimate mentioning current expenses, etc.

No. 2. Development of the financial subsection of the plan.

Financial plan summarizes all the presented data with economic indicators for the business, i.e. in cost terms.

This includes business reports:

• Balance sheet plan (confirming the company’s ability to timely pay its monetary obligations).

About financial results, profits and losses.

It highlights the sources of profit, how losses occurred, provides an assessment of changes in business income/expenses that occurred during the reporting period, etc.

About the movement of money.

This report allows you to see operating results, long-term creditworthiness, and short-term liquidity.

The financial subsection of a business plan is also characterized by the presence of:

• schedules of future financial activities,
• descriptions of likely investments.

Carefully consider the possibility of investing, whether it will be profitable, and the target orientation of the investment. Write how you will return the funds raised into the business.

Try to ensure that the financial part of your business plan includes:

No. 3. Development of the marketing subsection of a business plan.

The marketing subsection concerns the analysis of the market for the products manufactured by your company. You must indicate in the plan the size, dynamics and trends of the market, its segments, and conditions.

In addition, the subsection informs about who the consumers of the business’s products are and what product promotion strategy will be used.

Here, consumption volumes are calculated, the estimated share occupied in the market, the levers used to influence demand (advertising campaign, pricing, product improvement, etc.), and business competitiveness are described.

It is necessary to evaluate your product from the consumer’s perspective, why it is attractive, what its consumer value is, whether it is safe to use, and its service life.

When drawing up a marketing plan, rely on the following points:

To draw up a marketing plan, information is taken from the external environment, relevant research and surveys are conducted, and professional marketers are hired to study the market situation.

No. 4. Development of an organizational subsection of the plan.

In terms of doing business, organizational issues are considered no less important. Therefore, in this subsection you are required to describe all the steps that will be taken to implement the project.

For example, as shown in the example in the picture:

It is better to present the information in the plan in tabular form so that the sequence of your actions is clearly visible. It would not hurt to mention the regulatory and legislative acts that regulate the selected industry.

In organizational terms, it is worth describing the management side, the responsibilities of all employees, the system of subordination and incentives (remuneration), and describing the internal regime of the company.

Remember that you need to follow the structure as in the example:

No. 5. How to calculate the effectiveness and probable risks?

In the penultimate sections, you need to give an objective assessment of the company’s performance, show the expected prospects based on the estimate, balance sheet, profitability threshold, and planned sales volume.

The business plan developer must write the payback period, NPV (net present value).

The best option would be to arrange this in a table, as in the example below:

Business risks should also be taken into account. Be sure to indicate in the plan what measures you will take to minimize them if they arise, and what self-insurance program you will resort to.

Experienced business plan authors pay special attention to risks, and consider the likelihood of the worst outcome. Making notes on how to resolve perceived difficulties will make your future work easier. If losses and financial losses occur, you will already know how to compensate for them.

When this section of the business plan causes difficulties, turn to experts for help.

A SWOT analysis of a business is often used for this purpose:

This is a method of identifying external/internal factors that influence business development.

Thanks to it you will be able to appreciate:

• your weaknesses (for example, the need to rent a building, lack of brand recognition),
• advantages (low price, high service, professional staff),
• indicate opportunities (these may include the availability of funds for introducing innovations, the use of modern equipment, coverage of a larger market segment, etc.).

And, ultimately, threats that you cannot cancel occur are considered, for example:

• economic crisis,
• deterioration of the demographic situation,
• increase in customs duties,
• growing political tension,
• tough competition, etc.

If you provide a clear and justified algorithm for solving risks in the document, this is guaranteed to attract partners and creditors for your business.

15 tips for beginners to competently draw up a business plan

very painstaking and complex. In the process of compiling it, many questions will arise. For this reason, most beginners make mistakes.

To avoid them and make your business plan worthwhile, follow these recommendations:

Before you start writing, it is better to look at more than one example of a business plan.

It’s easy to find illustrative examples on the Internet, and perhaps they will even relate to your line of business.

There is no need to “pour water”, thinking that the document is supposed to be voluminous.

A business plan should contain only important, realistic information that is interesting to investors and useful to you in running your business (as in the samples below).

1. Errors, corrections, and typos are strictly prohibited.
2. The business plan should reflect the possibility of your enterprise reaching a higher level and the strengths of the management team.
3. When developing a business plan, one cannot underestimate competition and possible difficulties.
4. If the information you want to display is sensitive, you should skip it.

Do not complete the document hastily.

Such a plan will not have the desired effect on creditors. If you are composing it for yourself, all the same, it should not look like a draft version.

Use more tables, graphs (as in the samples below).

Providing statistics in this way makes the material more visual.

Market analysis is often inaccurate.

Therefore, approach the marketing section responsibly and collect all the necessary data.

Be sure to include competitive and distinctive characteristics in your business plan.

Throw out too abstruse expressions from your business plan, as well as those that are understood ambiguously and demonstrate your insolvency.

For example, “a product that has no analogues”, “at the stage of consideration”, “ease of sale”, etc.

Take into account absolutely all business expenses.

Lenders consider this column particularly important. Therefore, they may have a lot of questions for you on such items as staff salaries, taxes, purchase of raw materials, etc.

Don't ignore risk considerations.

As mentioned, this will protect you from problems encountered on the way to achieving your goals, and will also allow investors to see you as a serious, responsible entrepreneur.

5. In your business plan, focus not on the first profit or big earnings, but on a stable cash flow.

Don't forget to include time limits.

Any task has a deadline (a quarter, a year, several years).

If you are not sure that you can complete a business plan on your own, even using the samples below, do not waste money on a specialist.

He understands this issue more than you, so he will draw up the document accurately, without technical, methodological and conceptual mistakes that you may make without proper experience.

A detailed outline of a high-quality business plan with explanations

you will find in this video:

Ready-made business plans (samples) for different areas of activity

The pharmaceutical business does not lose its relevance, because the need for medicines does not disappear. Moreover, most of the family budget, as a rule, goes to medicines.

Because of this, opening a pharmacy is a very profitable business.

Therefore, it makes sense to take a closer look at the example of drawing up such a business plan in this sample:.

If you want to enter a different field, consider opening a cafe.

There are quite a lot of similar establishments and the competition is great. However, the demand for them is growing. If you take into account all the aspects of the arrangement and offer healthy food, you will definitely be successful.

To draw up a document correctly, check out the sample cafe business plan!

The male half of the population may be interested in the idea of ​​organizing a car service center.

The owner of a service station will not be left without income if the repair and maintenance of vehicles is outlined in detail with all the ensuing factors in the business plan.

Women will find it more pleasant to open a beauty salon.

We assure you that, regardless of the number of existing establishments providing cosmetic services, your “enterprise” in the beauty industry will be in demand. This is due to the fact that every client wants the salon to be nearby and not have to travel to another block.

Representatives of the fair half of humanity can delve into trading activities and create a flower shop. The main advantage of the idea is the small start-up capital.

This small business also requires planning. And although flower shops are not exactly popular in Russia, who knows, maybe you will change that.

To do this, you need to draw up a well-thought-out business plan (a sample of which you can study at this link).

Hotel business is a much more complex option, which involves taking into account many factors, especially marketing ones.

If you don’t know what size room you need or what investments are required, get the information you need in a standard sample:
business plan for a hotel.

The process of implementing a farming project is no less labor-intensive. But in this case, you will have the opportunity to receive financial support and benefits from the state.

A good sample plan that can attract public investors, clearly demonstrates the goals, .

The implementation of any idea begins with drawing up a business plan. Without it, it is impossible to determine the necessary tasks and understand the feasibility of investments and costs. Many businessmen needlessly ignore this fact and do not use this useful tool.

If you have no experience in writing, any sample business plan given here will help you understand all the drafting standards, thanks to which you can easily set yourself a guideline for further actions.

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And when you find someone attractive, you only get halfway through studying her in detail? What comes next is impossible for you?

Most likely, you are having difficulties with your business plan. Either with its writing, or with an understanding of what it is and why it is needed. 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 unique 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 to do this. The main difficulty is understanding what it is in principle.

Is a business plan needed or not for a beginning entrepreneur?

Often, those who are just embarking on the path of entrepreneurship and creating their own project from scratch have a strong opinion that writing a business plan can be postponed “for later”, doing it 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 urgent 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 him to comprehensively assess its potential risks, even if this is a “simple” enterprise. This approach is fraught with troubles 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 “thin spots”;
• in what direction do 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 can indicate that the project is unviable or unprofitable. That is, he will not allow you to make a mistake and waste your time and savings.

Order a business plan or write it yourself?

There is another approach that is now in vogue among middle-market entrepreneurs. By the way, established businessmen and owners of large dynamically developing and profitable enterprises sometimes “sin” with it. They order the preparation of business plans from specialized companies that provide 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 specifics of his business, is incomprehensible and too general.

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

What is a business plan essentially?

This document is necessary to understand the goals, objectives, direction of development and required costs for the creation and development of any project, ranging from global to global, 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 oneself, in the case of a preliminary assessment of one’s own business idea;
• aimed at an external user or “evaluator” of the project.

The second option is about obtaining financing. Here a business plan is written for:

• credit organizations and banks for the purpose of obtaining loans;
• government agencies and officials on whom the allocation of funds from the budget depends, which 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. The second must have a presentation component showing prospects and competitive advantages. Also important here is the design of the document, 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, you should never embellish reality. It is worth remembering that completing a project may require twice as much money and three times as much time as initially thought. An idea presented in the spirit of “everything is great and there are no threats” will only cause a potential investor irritation and indignation at the illiteracy of the entrepreneur who drew up such a document. For the project initiator himself, this is fraught with a one-sided vision, which can lead to negative consequences in the future.

How to write a business plan: step-by-step instructions

Each project, be it an idea or an online gift store, necessarily has its own “personality,” features, and specifics. In addition, they differ in their regional affiliation, the nuances of the range of goods or services, and the customer audience they are designed for. It is impossible to “squeeze” them all into any standard scheme.

Advice: do not download a ready-made business plan from the Internet, even one suitable for the type of activity, with the aim of using it for yourself. You can take several of those offered on specialized resources and, after carefully analyzing them, taking them as a basis, write your own, original and completely corresponding to your project.

This document must 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 are not fully disclosed, an unclear answer is given, and unsaid things remain - the document requires improvement, it is not effective.

A business plan has several required sections:

• title (name, address, contacts, table of contents);
• introduction (brief 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 to cope with them);
• overview of the market and competitors;
• project implementers and possible partners;
• business model or calculation of income and costs;
• financial forecast and existing indicators (for existing 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;
• applications (this includes all the key documents, as well as materials that help you fully understand your idea).

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 points can be excluded.

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

Particular attention should be paid to the first two or three pages that come after 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 the introduction at the very end, after everything has been analyzed, calculated, and presented in facts and figures. But there is another opinion. You should start with the “introduction” section. And it is more correct in cases of novice entrepreneurs who are just creating their own project from scratch. It is when writing an introduction, a summary of your future or a business just getting on its feet that its owner or initiator can understand what prospects his idea has, what risks it is exposed to, whether it has profitability potential, what the result may be, how much investment will be required and is there any prospect of finding this money? Naturally, the initial version can be edited and made as necessary to interest a potential investor, if the business plan is written for this purpose. But you need to start the document from this chapter. It will give understanding and a complete picture.

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

• what type of activity do you plan to engage in;
• what is your target audience (future clients);
• how much money is needed to launch and further implement the project;
• where will the funds 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), number of involved employees, partners.

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

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

A standard business plan consists of several main sections that outline various aspects of the project. The financial part kind of 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 beginning businessmen, and even those who already have some experience, have serious difficulties writing a section on marketing. It is not entirely clear what should be in it and where to get data on comparative market analysis. Issues that require reflection in this part of the document:

1. What product or groups or services do you plan to focus on?. The following points should be noted here:
   • 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 will you convey your product/service to the buyer;
   • what disadvantages does your product have, and how do you plan to minimize them;
   • your USP or unique selling proposition.

The last point needs to be discussed in more detail. It is worth considering that there are practically no truly unique products today. Or rather, they exist, but there are only a few of them. In addition, an innovative idea that is simply not yet on the market requires money, time and knowledge to develop. A success story can be written not only with the new iPhone, like the legendary Steve Jobs. By taking an existing product, service or product as a basis, and adding your own unique selling proposition to it, you can conquer the market. What could be the USP:

• in service maintenance;
• in the quality of service and its diversity;
• in the loyalty system;
• in sales format.

That is, this is not necessarily the uniqueness of the product itself; on the contrary, most often the USP is created precisely on a “near-commodity” basis. If you perceive this concept as a lower price than competitors, then you are mistaken. For example, you decided to build your own business in the field of agriculture and engage in... Planning to conquer the market by lowering the price and setting a figure much lower than that of competitors is fundamentally wrong. Thus, you can systematically make less profit and become an unprofitable enterprise. In addition, dumping is not always advisable in terms of fighting for the client. This may cause the buyer to doubt the quality of the product. It is much more effective to find “your” consumer and organize such related services for him that your pricing policy, where the cost of the product will be the average market price or even higher, will seem justified for him.

Advice: When developing your own unique selling proposition, start from the premise that you can give your buyer something that your competitors do not have. There are a huge number of quite successful businesses that are built precisely on this principle. This could be the concept of selecting an assortment for a store, targeting a specific target audience of customers, the 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 through the tools that can convey it to the consumer.

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

This section can be challenging for a new entrepreneur who does not have successful sales experience in the past. This should be based on reasonable assumptions and analysis of the work of competitors. It is also worth reviewing information about projects similar to yours and ways to implement them.

When determining the type of your client or drawing 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 begin to count the number of future customers. To do this, you need to take the geography of coverage and the estimated number of residents who fit the profile of the target audience.

To determine the potential volumes of consumption 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 once every five years will be radically different in both the format of the offer and the algorithm for promoting it to the market, and many other aspects). It is also necessary to take into account fluctuations in demand (seasonality, changes in the solvency of consumers, fashion trends, competition within a product group between analogues, and the like, characteristic of your product).

1. This section of the business plan also includes a competitor analysis. The description algorithm can be based on:
   • listing companies that operate in your segment;
   • what are the distinctive characteristics of their services/products;
   • 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 competitors closest in geography and product range.

It also requires you to indicate in what ways you will realize your benefits. This point needs to be devoted to a separate, albeit small, subsection. It may include answers to the following questions:

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

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

Advice: A fairly common mistake of novice 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 a potential investor the promise of their project. There is no 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 the business plan is best presented on 2-3 sheets.

Production part

You should not confuse it with the production process, thinking that if you are engaged in trade or provide services, then you will not need this section, this is incorrect. 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 premises, equipment, storage areas, vehicles, raw materials, goods, materials and other things that are important for the project);
• who will be involved (and whether) as employees, partners, suppliers, etc.).

As a kind of summary, you can attach a brief estimate showing the expenditure part. It is better to do it in dynamics, broken down into periods (month/quarter).

The estimate must be presented in the form of a table, which may contain the following columns:

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

Advice: for projects with different specifics, cost graphs and figures will be very different. Take this into account when writing a business plan and do not take average values ​​from the Internet. In addition, you should not focus on the minimum. Even if you have found premises for your future store with very favorable rent, almost half lower than everywhere else in the city, do not use this figure as the basis for calculating your business plan. It may change for some reason for the better. Therefore, the data in 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 was chosen for the implementation of the project, why, and whether changes are planned in the future. It is also necessary to touch upon permitting documents. 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 undergo approvals in inspections of various formats to obtain permits to operate.

In addition, this part describes:

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

You can add profiles of managers/initiators to the applications section, where you can reflect in more detail professional experience and specialized knowledge.

Financing or how to calculate a business plan

In this part of the document, it is necessary to provide justification that the project will make a profit, as well as determine the size of investments, the time frame for reaching the break-even point and further prospects for repaying 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 them here, formatting them correctly.

Here you definitely need to highlight:

• Sources of project financing. This can be personal funds (investments), borrowed or credit funds, government subsidies or other forms, for example, leasing.
• The initial stage of project implementation. At this point, it is necessary to make a forecast of the period required to organize the business, that is, until it starts working.
• The stage before receiving the first profits. Here it is necessary to justify the attraction of funds and when they will begin to return. This point is necessary not only for obtaining loans or borrowings, but also for understanding whether it is worth investing your own funds in the project.
• The chosen taxation system. It is worth considering here that the amount and list of deductions will depend on what organizational and legal status you prefer for the implementation of your project. For individual entrepreneurs, some “indulgences” are provided in this regard. By the way, they also differ in favor of simplification for the second format.

This section also includes calculation of indicators and a plan for expected profits/losses. There is no need to be immediately alarmed by the term “losses.” The fact is that the initial stage and period of business formation rarely passes without the need to attract additional funds or additional investments. Naturally, they are defined as losses, because they are not yet offset by profits 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 the chosen taxation system. In its simplest expression it may contain:

• costs of organizing a business (registration of an enterprise, purchase of equipment, materials, product range, arrangement of a premises or site for conducting activities, purchase of a license, etc.);
• expenses of a constant nature (payment of rent, utilities, salaries, etc., that is, those that do not change depending on fluctuations in sales or production volumes);
• 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 sales or production volumes);
• income from the sale of goods/services and net profit.

The last indicator is quite easy to calculate. It is necessary to subtract from the revenue side all variable costs per unit of goods or for a certain period, as well as that part of the constant ones that fall on the calculation period taken as the 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 return on investment indicator (investments of personal savings, loans, credits). As an example, a calculation scheme is given by which you can determine the efficiency and profitability of your own investments:

RLS (return on personal funds) is equal to PE (net profit) divided by the amount of LP multiplied by 100%. The payback period should be understood as the period of time during which the net profit available to the investor will cover all initial investments.

Risk assessment

This is the final section of the business plan. Here a description and analysis of the most likely risks that the implementation of the project may be exposed to is carried out. Among them:

• natural disasters, fires, floods, accidents that can cause damage to equipment, premises, etc.;
• illegal actions, including theft, embezzlement;
• 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 for the development of events from the introduction.

In this part, you need to analyze the sustainability of your business and your readiness 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 are not much different 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 the peasant farm (peasant farm). 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;
• crop yield level for a certain region (if your field is crop production);
• product distribution system and logistics.

The last point needs to be given serious attention. When writing a business plan to receive government subsidies or grants, as well as loans from credit institutions, 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, logistics and sales organization often pose a problem, so 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 organize the sale and delivery of products, confirmed by agreements of intent and preliminary agreements, then the investor’s attitude will be much more loyal.