What is involved producing a business plan?

Is it easy/hard? do I need pro help with this? can I do one myself?

There is a good article on what you need to include, as well as some examples, here: http://www.moneytowers.com/2006/small-business/business-plan/

Basically, you will need:
1. Summary - the mission statement, objectives and aims of the company.
2. Company Outline - the history, structure and who you are and a brief history of how you got here.
3. Products/Services - what the company will be offering, what current competition there is, future plans for the product/service and product development plans.
4. Market Analysis - what the market is doing currently - what it needs, what the trends are, who the major players are, and how your company fits into the current market.
5. Strategy - this is your sales & marketing plan. How you intend to get customers and keep them, how you will stay â€˜currentâ€™.
6. Management - Whoâ€™s who in the company, how the company is structured and who is repsonsible for what.
7. Finances - funding (how much and where from), assumptions you are making about your money, projected sales, turnover and profit, cash flow and your balance sheet.

Busines Planning can be challenging...but it can be done. You do not have to do it by yourself but you should spearhead the effort. There are plenty of resources online and offline to help you start your own business and write a business plan.

Online:

SBA Articles About Business Planning
http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/

Free Online Business Plan Program and Start-Up Articles
http://www.diybizplan.com

At DIYBizPlan.com they also have an overview of the process of starting a business and articles on the registration process with links to additional resources here:

Starting a Business Overview
http://www.diybizplan.com/default.php?act=11&catid=74&id=83

Business Registration Overview
http://www.diybizplan.com/default.php?act=11&catid=74&id=68

Business Legal Structure - Single Owner
http://www.diybizplan.com/default.php?act=11&catid=74&id=69

Financing Your Business
http://www.diybizplan.com/default.php?act=3&catid=75

More articles on Starting a Business
http://www.startupbiz.com

Offline:

Check with your local:

SCORE Office - volunteers who mentor entrepreneurs
http://www.score.org

SBDC Office - Help with Business Planning, Financial Projections and Identifying Loan / Financing Resources
http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/sbdcnear.html

I hope this helps

Mr BizPlan

Hi, I am doing one right now! Well actually I did one about a month ago and I am now expanding on it! I got help from the basic business plan wizard on your office program through Office 2003. You will proabably have it on your own PC! Go to a new document by opening it from Word and open the wizards up and you will find a business plan one!
I took a lot of it out but it gave me a great starting point and I have expanded on it over the last month!

Good Luck x

Basically sets out what you will do (strategy) and how you will do it (tactics), to whom (customers) and when and in what industry. There are templates available, from banks, and groups like buinsess link, or you can create your own (microsoft have excelllent guide online). Business advisers will help, or you can pay to have it done, probably only worth it if lots of finance involved. Good Luck

Hello there! Making a business plan requires a lot of effort and dedication....... Take it from me, I've been doing my business plan for more than 5 months straight..... and unitl now I'm not yet done (The time it takes to finish a business plan depends on the business you are in.... For my part, I'm venturing on Construction and Landscaping supplies)....... You don't have to be a rocket scientist in order to make a business plan, you just have to stick to that entrepreneurial acumen you have with you right now.....Indeed it can be challenging, but in the end it will turn out to be rewarding....a lot of entrepreneurial stories I've read about points to the need for planning.... And based on my experience, the business plan itself is not that hard...What's difficult is convincing yourself everyday to finish it....Let me share to you this article which encouraged me to pursue my business plan despite the rigors I've encountered in the process:

Running a business without a plan is like sailing without a compassâ€¦

Running a business can be enormously fulfilling and exhilarating, but it is also be an anxiety-ridden and tense experience. Usually a great deal of money is at stake, and the consequences of poor decisions can affect many people for a long time. In developing and writing a business plan, the entrepreneur reduces these anxieties and tensions by confronting them. By projecting the risks of the new venture in the future, the tip comes to grips with potential negative outcomes and the possibility of failure. The knowledge that comes from this experience can diminish the apprehension of facing an unknown future.

A recent study that reviewed previously published reports documented a positive relationship between planning and performance in new and small firms. That is, firms that plan perform better and are more likely to succeed than firms that do not. There are four reasons why this is so.

1. Comprehensiveness. The business plan has to fully and completely treat all the major issues facing the new venture. It should leave nothing of importance out, this comprehensiveness enables the entrepreneur where trouble might come from and to develop contingent strategies to reduce the effect of this problems.

2. Communication. The business plan is a document for communicating to various audiences the businessâ€™s concept and potential. An effective plan succeeds in communicating the excitement and vision of the founders and can help to attract resources to the new venture.

3. Guidance. The business plan sets goals and milestones for the new venture. It lays out the intentions of the entrepreneurial team and the values of the founders wish to preserve in their organization. Therefore the plan can be referred to repeatedly to guide decisions of the firmâ€™s managers and employees. â€œWhen in doubt, consult the planâ€ could be the motto of the new venture. In the exciting and turbulent months and years after launching, it is easy for the individuals in the organization to lose sight of the ventureâ€™s original purposes and intended strengths. A readily available written plan fosters cohesiveness because everyone can see the firmâ€™s desired objectives are.

4. The planning process. The process of putting together a business plan, consulting it frequently, and reviewing and revising it periodically can improve the ventureâ€™s performance even though some aspects of the plan may become obsolete before the ink is dry. This improvement is brought about by collecting information, sharing analysis, developing norms for decision making within the organization, publicly enunciating the values of the organizationâ€™s leaders, reviewing objectives and linking this with action â€“ all elements of highly effective organizations. In other words, the planning process itself helps make the company a better organization.

God Bless!

I can help as I have done Business Studies at College and had to create a business plan of my own which I got a distinction for.

To produce a business plan you need to have an idea for a business and present that idea to a bank or loan company in order to arrange funding.

Firstly you need to identify what your business will do and the people it is aimed at, then write a brief of how you intend to attract the initial customers and how you will treat them once they are customers. You will need to discuss how you are going to achieve your goals and any financial support you may need in order to obtain premises, machinery, etc.
All these things need to be detailed within the plan.

You also need to do a projected cashflow for a year and show how much money you think the business will make in comparison to the running costs, i.e. rent, salaries for staff, etc.

This should also help if you plan to approach a bank for a loan for the start up funds.

You may need to provide some sort of brochure or catalogue based on the products / services you will be offering and any flyers for advertising.

Conduting a survey on your chosen business may help to show that there is a market for what you are offering.

You can hire professionals to help you prepare a business plan but they are costly and if it is for a college project it is best if you do it yourself, else you will lose marks.

Hope it goes well for you and that the above helps.

Business plan should be from you and shouldn't be shared with others. In the plan you need to explain why your business will succeed and where will the monies come from. Who owns and runs the business.

Research, research, research â€“ this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can. Here are some book titles that are relevant:

* Writing a Convincing Business Plan by Arthur R. DeThomas Ph.D., Lin Grensing-Pophal
* The Definitive Business Plan: The Fast Track to Intelligent Business Planning for Executives and Entrepreneurs (2nd Edition) by Richard Stutely
* The Complete Book of Business Plans: Simple Steps to Writing a Powerful Business Plan (Small Business Sourcebooks) by Joseph A. Covello
* The One Page Business Plan with CD-ROM by James T., Jr. Horan

There are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles.

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

There is a course that you can attend for business plans. Look this up. It is in Ireland but should provide the same info you require

It is quite hard - you have to do all your profit & loss. reserch what ur customers want/need and produce stats. u can certainly do it yourself tho

basically, you just need some ideas on what to advertise for business. you also need the cash to do this and you need advice on wether the business you wish to advertise is something people will be interested in.

if your only small and dont have much cash, start by advertising by leaflets through doors, local newspaper and notices on yuor business in show windows. if its sucessful and your earning a bit then you can get your own website done. at this stage too id open up a business bank account for taxes but if your not making much cash, dont.

once your business is a sucess and you can deal with everything on your own start to hire people and get them to help. thats how a small business expands

but i would start small and dont put too much cash into it firstly and just see if its worth expanding

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