What is The Business Plan | Types of Business Plan Templates For The Project
The business plan is the foundation of your project. The business plan is the foundation of the project. This article will enable you to know what the business plan for the project is and its basic components, and the types of business plan templates most commonly used.
What is the business plan
A good business plan guides you through every stage of starting and running your business. You will use your business plan as a roadmap to help you structure, manage and grow your new projects.
Your business plan can also help you get financing or attract new partners. All investors want is to feel confident that they will see a return on their investment. Your business plan is the golden key that you will use to convince people that working with you or investing in your company is a smart choice.
How to choose the right business plan template
There is no right or wrong way to write a business plan as long as it meets your needs and those of your clients.
Most business plans fall into one of the two most common categories:
1. Traditional business plan template
2. Business plan template Lean startup
Traditional business plans are more common as they use a unified structure and encourage you to go into detail about all aspects of your project. But it requires a lot of time and effort and can extend to dozens of pages.
Lean startup plans are less common, although they use a standardized structure. This type of plan focuses on the most important points in the main elements only. They can also take less than an hour to set up and are usually only one page long.
1- The traditional business plan model
You may prefer a traditional business plan template if you are very detail-oriented, want a comprehensive plan, or plan to seek funding from traditional sources.
You don’t have to stick to the exact business plan template. You can adjust them according to your business and needs.
Traditional business plans use a combination of these nine sections:
Executive summary
Briefly tell the reader about your company and the reasons for its success. Include your mission statement, your product or service, and basic information about your company’s leadership team, employees, and location. You should also include high-level financial information and growth plans if you plan to seek financing.
Definition of the company
Use your company profile to provide detailed information about your project, such as details about the problems you intend to solve. Don’t get defensive about the topic, but be specific and list the consumers, organizations or businesses your company plans to serve.
Explain the competitive advantages that will make your business successful. Are there experts on your team? Have you found the perfect location for your store? Company identification is the place to show off your strengths.
market study
You will need a good understanding of your target market. Competitive research will show you what other companies are doing and what their strengths are. In your market research, look for trends and hot topics. What do successful competitors do? Can you do those things better? Now is the time to answer these questions.
– Organization and Management
Tell the reader how your company will be organized and who will run it.
Describe the legal structure of your business. Determine whether you intend to incorporate your business as a C or S corporation, whether your corporation forms a general or limited partnership, or whether you are a sole proprietor or limited liability company (LLC).
Use an organizational chart to determine who is responsible for what in your company. Show how each person’s personal experience will contribute to the success of your project. Consider including bios of key members of your team.
service or production line
Describe what you sell or what service you provide. Explain how your product benefits your customers and what its life cycle looks like. Share your plans for intellectual property, such as copyright or patent filings. If you are conducting a research or development plan for your service or product, explain this in detail.
sales and marketing
There is no one way to approach a marketing plan and strategy. You must evolve and change your strategy to suit your own needs.
Your goal at this point is to list how you will attract and retain customers. You should also describe the sales process. You’ll refer to this section later when making financial projections, so be sure to accurately describe your complete sales and marketing strategies.
Funding request
If you are requesting financing, this is where you will specify your financing requirements. Your goal is to clearly explain how much funding you will need over the next five years and what you will use it for.
Decide if you want debt or equity, what terms you want to apply, and the length of time your application will cover. Provide a detailed description of how you spend the money. Determine if you need financing to purchase equipment or materials, pay salaries, or cover certain bills. Always include a description of your future strategic financial plans.
financial projections
Include your project’s financial projections to complete your funding application. Your goal is to convince the reader that your business is stable and financial success is certain.
If your business was previously established, include income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements for the last three to five years.
Provide a financial outlook for the next five years. Include projected income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and capital expenditure budgets. For the first year, be more specific and use quarterly or even monthly forecasts. Make sure you clearly explain your expectations and match them to your funding requests.
– Supplement
Use your supplement to provide supporting documents or any other documentation that has been specifically requested. Common items to include are credit records, resumes, product photos, letters of recommendation, licenses, permits, patents, legal documents and other contracts.
2- Lean startup business plan model
You may prefer a simple business plan template if you want to explain or start your business quickly, if your business is relatively simple, or if you plan to change and improve your business plan regularly.
Simple Lean startup models are diagrams that use only a few elements to describe your company’s value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances. It’s useful for visualizing trade-offs and key facts about your company.
There are different ways to develop a Lean startup model. You can search the web to find free templates for building your business plan. Or you can rely on the nine components mentioned below:
Major partnerships
Think about the companies you will work with to manage your project. Consider suppliers, manufacturers, contractors and similar strategic partners.
Basic activities
Make a list of ways your business will gain a competitive advantage. Highlight things like selling directly to consumers, or using technology to take advantage of the sharing economy.
The main sources
Mention any source you might leverage to create value for your customers. Your most important assets can include employees, capital, or intellectual property.
value display
Make a clear statement about the unique value your company brings to the market.
CRM
Describe the customer relationship with your project. Is it mechanical or personal? In person or online? Think of the customer experience from start to finish.
Customer segments
Be specific when naming your target market. Your project will not be available to everyone, so it is important to have a clear idea of ​​which segment of customers your project will serve.
Channels
List the most important ways you will communicate with your customers. Most companies use a mix of channels and improve them over time.
cost structure
Will your company focus on cost minimization or value maximization? Define your strategy, then list the most important costs you will face in pursuing it.
Sources of income
Explain how your company will make money. Some examples are direct sales, membership fees, and selling advertising space. If your company has multiple sources of income, list them all.
a summary
After you know what the business plan for the project is, you can learn how to write a business plan for your project quickly and efficiently using the templates available on the Internet. This is a ready-made business plan template on the Internet.