Writing a Business Plan
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A business plan helps you to do all the necessary research to take a business
concept and lay out how it is likely to work out in practice. It will be
particularly important in order to help attract finance for your business.
Financial projections are a particularly important part of the plan and a
large amount of detail will need to go into them covering sales, margins,
overheads and break-even analysis.
An overview of the Business Plan
Potential lenders need to get an insight into your current operation and future
plans. For this to happen the plan needs to be well organised and presented.
The amount of detail required will vary depending on the situation but the
plan should cover the planning of the business using best estimates of future
operations, the financing of the business and how it is to be funded, how the
plan is to be implemented and the method of monitoring the progress of the
business against the plan.
As well as being used by lenders a well thought out business plan is actually
an excellent management tool allowing you to plan what is going to happen and
deal with potential problems.
Contents of the Business Plan
The plan does not need to be too long, just enough to clearly give the
relevant information that a lender may need. Every last detail is not required
as you do not want to bore the reader and further information can be requested
if required.
The introduction is important as this will determine the extent of interest
the reader has in the rest of the plan. Many are thrown out at this point! It is
also important to sum up well at the end.
The following can be used as an outline for the arrangement of a business
plan...
- Contents
- Introduction - this should be a good overview what business does, is it
established or new, the management team, the competition, the marketplace,
suppliers, financial projections and history, investment required and long
term plan.
- Background - of the company and the key individuals.
- Management and Organisation - a management chart and staff plan, salary
policy, and outside expertise to be used such as accountants and solicitors.
- Products or Services - what you sell.
- Operations - the production process, capacity, quality control, plant and
machinery needs, the premises required and future needs.
- Markets and Marketing - the marketing plan with who the customer base is,
how you'll reach them and the competition.
- Financial Projections - cashflow projections, profit forecasts and break
even calculations. They should be consistent with the rest of the plan and
make sense. A detailed monthly cashflow should be provided for at least the
first 12 months and in some cases up to 5 years. Worst case and best case
scenarios can be provided.
- Appendices
How We Can Help You
We can assist you in completing the business plan and advising on appropriate
sources of finance.
About the Author
Jonathan Amponsah BSc FCCA is a UK Tax Expert and the founding partner of
A M P Associates –
A specialist firm of chartered certified accountants and tax advisers based in
London and Surrey. Jonathan advises on a wide range of business and tax issues
and he is recognized for his proactive and innovative approach to taxation.
Jonathan can be contacted on 0845 009 8845 or email:jonathan@ampassociates.co.uk
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Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2008-04-10 09:24:12 in Business Articles
