Unlock the Power of Digital Signature Licitness with Our Business Plan Template in the UK

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First impressions are important, and your business plan is no exception. It could be the first thing a potential investor or lenders sees, so it’s worth putting in the time and getting it right. In this video, I’ll explain when and why you should write a plan and what it should include. And I’ve even thrown in a bonus section with some additional tips and a few common pitfalls to avoid. When to write a business plan It might be tempting to get cracking with your business plan on day one, but a 2018 study by Harvard Business Review actually found that businesses that waited between six and 12 months to write a business plan were the most likely to succeed. This is because you need to be flexible during the first few months of your new enterprise, and a business plan can’t just be plucked out of thin air. Among many other things, you’ll need in-depth knowledge of your product, market research and a clear understanding of your finances, which you’re unlikely to have locked down after 24-hours of opening shop. Why should I write a business plan A great idea alone will not guarantee success. As well as acting as a sort of checklist to ensure you’ve nailed down the crucial details of your business - like your strategy, year-on-year goals and crisis contingency plans - a solid business plan inspires confidence in future investors and lenders, giving your business the best chance of securing funding to be able to grow and innovate. I’m not saying you have to dedicate every waking hour to your business plan, but it’s worth dedicating several weeks to it in order to carry out competitor research, get input from external stakeholders, investigate marketing options and even just to edit and proofread the plan so it’s as slick and professional as possible. Writing a business plan: Step-by-step guide Every business plan will look slightly different because every business will have its own unique needs, but the following outline should help keep you on track and ensure you don’t miss out any important elements. Section 1: Executive summary. Your executive summary is arguably the most important part of your whole business plan. It should give the reader a good overview of your entire plan, including what your business does and how you will make it profitable. If someone is busy, this may be the only section they read, so make it pop and, ideally, keep it to no more than two pages. As this is a summary of the whole plan, it can be helpful to write this section last. Section 2 and 3 are for your personal and business details. In section 3 you might also want to go into some more personal detail about you the business owner like why you set up the business, your previous work experience and qualifications, any hobbies or interests and any additional information that explains your motivation for setting up your business and how you plan to develop your skills. Section 4: Products and Services. This is where you explain what your business is going to sell, create or provide and could be physical products, services or both. Section 5 is where you should go into detail about your customers. By defining who will be buying your products or services you’re proving to those reading your plan that there is a clear demand for what you’ll be selling. Section 6: How the business will operate. This section helps make sure you’ve thought of all the logistical and administrative requirements to keep your business operating on a day to day basis. Section 7: Marketing strategy Your business could hit the nail on the head in terms of customer needs and expectations, but if nobody knows about it, it can’t succeed. Effective marketing takes time and, often, money - rather than trying every possible marketing technique from the get go, pick up to three methods that you think are likely to be most effective at reaching and appealing to your customers. Section 8 is where you take all your assumptions about the potential market for your business and ground them in research, facts and figures. Your market research should include desk research, customer research, competitor analysis and in-depth analysis of your businesses strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, otherwise known as SWOT analysis. Section 9 is your financial plan and should include all your operational costs and pricing, your essential living costs, profit and loss forecasts and your cashflow forecast. And, finally, section 10 is your backup plan. Remember those threats and weaknesses in the SWOT analysis? Where it’s a risk you’ve thought about or you get blindsided, it’s essential to have contingency plans in place both for short to medium and long-term issues. 5 top tips 1. Cut the waffle. Be concise and write to the point using plain English. 2. Be realistic. Be upfront about any costs and potential weaknesses, banks and investors will see right through overly optimistic projections. 3. Do your customer and competitor research. 4. Don’t gloss over your finances. Crunch the numbers carefully, allow some budget for contingencies and be clear about how you’ll make profit. 5. Get someone you trust to check your business plan to check for any issues, inconsistencies or confusing language. What next? For more information on whipping up the best business plan possible, click the first business banking link below and download our PDF at the bottom of the page. It’s packed with loads of useful tips and extra details on everything I’ve covered in this video. If you found this video helpful, give us a like and subscribe to our channel and be sure to click that bell button to be notified when our next video goes live. Thanks for watching.