HOW TO MAKE A SIMPLE BUSINESS PLAN STEP BY STEP

 Have you ever heard of Business Plan Consultant? Making a plan is nothing more than anticipating situations and creating strategies to deal with them. More and more, digital ventures are proving to be excellent ways to circumvent the crisis and work with creativity and innovation! If you are thinking of venturing into opening a new digital business, you must be prepared to face challenges and, more importantly, overcome them.

The best way to do this is by creating a Business Plan. This document will prepare you to better understand the market project stocks, look for investors and get your hands dirty! But don't worry, this crafting process doesn't have to be scary.

The Business Plan is a planning document that will describe your business, its objectives, and the steps that must be taken to achieve them. It is possible to demonstrate the viability of your enterprise from different points of view - strategic, marketing, operational and financial, for example. Your Business Plan will be the map on which the paths to be followed for your company to succeed will be represented.

But be careful! A Business Plan is not just a set of ideas and speculations! It is a document that must be written based on market research and analysis, with information and real data that will help you when creating the venture.

Want to know why this plan is so important to your company's success?

How important is a Business Plan?

Every successful project begins with a well-thought-out plan. But, like a teacher has a lesson plan, the business plan is just that kick-start.

Think about the following: If you had an idea to set up an online course, for example, and you have already gone through the opportunity identification process and decided that it is time to start the project, it is better to know if the venture is viable or not viable before you need it. Then, close the doors and lose your investment, right? In this aspect, the business plan will precisely help you set up your course and sell it.

With this planning tool, you will have a prior notion of how the company will work within the logic of the market, the technical issues necessary for the operation, the investment and projection of financial return, and many other aspects!

See other advantages of writing a Business Plan:

• Preparation of simulation of favorable and unfavorable scenarios
• Be prepared for adversity! Knowing what problems could be is already a huge step towards solving them.
• Organization and alignment of information between partners.
• We are conducting a comparative follow-up.
• A clear business plan makes it possible to compare what was foreseen with what is being carried out.
• Obtaining financing
• If you have verified the need for third-party investment, a good Business Plan facilitates the presentation of your venture and, consequently, the raising of financing.

Now that you know what a Business Plan is and how important it is to set up a successful venture, it's time to learn the steps to create one!

How to Make a Business Plan?

Now that you understand the importance of the business plan for your company, it's time to understand the step by step to make yours.

To make a business plan startup for your company, you must go through 6 steps: an executive summary, market analysis, marketing plan, operational Plan, Financial Plan, and analysis. Check out the step by step of each of them and what information should be contained in each part:

Executive Summary

The executive summary is the first part of your Business Plan. In it, you will summarize the most important information.

You must include:

• Description of your business and its differential in the market.
• Your business mission.
• Profile description of entrepreneurs and employees – if you are still recruiting, this will help you in the selection process!
• What will be the products, services, and main benefits?
• Who are your company's customers?
• Location – if there is a physical headquarters.
• What will the total investment be?
• Legal form.
• Tax framework

Don't worry. It's not necessary to write an extensive summary! It should be clear but brief. Also, be creative! Through it, you will capture the attention and interest of the reader, but don't forget your executive summary must convey professionalism and seriousness as well.

Important tip! The Executive Summary is the first part of your Business Plan, but save it until the end of planning! Because it's a summary, you'll have more clarity about what you should and shouldn't include after writing is complete.

Market analysis

In the Market analysis, you will seek to better understand your customers, how the competition is doing, and how to work with suppliers. This is one of the fundamental parts of your planning and research, as it will help you better understand the important aspects of the market in which you will be operating. Therefore, you will need to review these three topics:

Customer Segmentation

This is one of the most important steps in your plan because, without customers, there are no sales, right? Customers are those who will consume your product or service and reach them. Therefore, you need to know who they are and their buying habits. To better understand these aspects, you can think of a few questions:

• Are my clients individual or a legal entity?
• What is their age, gender, education, and marital status?
• How often do they usually buy my type of product or service?
• Where do you buy it?
• What drives them to look for that product or service?

If you conclude that your business will have many customers whose purchasing power fits your price, you have already taken a big step towards understanding whether this business is viable or not!

But remember, as stated earlier, the Business Plan is not a speculative document, so do your research! You can answer these questions through questionnaire applications, interviews, or competitor analysis, which is our next topic.

If you're still unsure who your customer is, check out our article on market segmentation and start planning to sell more!

Competition Analysis

Competitors operate in the same field as you and in a location close to yours in the case of physical establishments. By observing competitors, you will learn valuable lessons for your business, both on the "what to do" and "what not to do" sides.

The first step in carrying out a competitor analysis is to verify some strengths and weaknesses and compare what is planned for your venture. The following are some topics that may be of assistance:

• What is the quality of my competitor's product or service?
• What's the price?
• How is the service provided?
• Think about payment terms, opening or service hours, delivery services, customer service, discounts, etc.
• What makes customers buy from them? What makes customers stop buying?
• What makes my business different? What will make customers buy from me and not from competitors?

Tip! Here is the time to imagine and plan for some unfavorable scenarios. Think about how the competition will react to the opening of your company, research if they will have the financial and human resources for the reaction, and be prepared if it happens!

supplier analysis

The third and final part of the market analysis is the study of suppliers. Your suppliers will be those who will provide raw material, equipment, and other goods necessary for the operation of your business.

Let's assume you are planning remote classes. You will certainly need a platform or system. Search for contacts on the internet, catalogs, or unions and always keep an updated and diverse list of suppliers, so you can make comparisons and decide which will be the best cost-benefit for your company.

You can think of the following points:

• What do I need, and who are the suppliers?
• Which ones are offering the best price and payment terms?
• What are the minimum order quantities for each, and how does that fit into my plan?
• What is the deadline?
• Where are the suppliers located?

Tip! Even after choosing the best suppliers, keep in touch with at least one more. Also, think about the quality of the products supplied! Good raw materials make good end products.

Marketing plan

The marketing plan will describe all products in detail. You must describe everything yourself! Information such as colors, sizes, quality, flavors, labels, brands, and anything else applies to your product. In addition, you should present your sales strategy for these products and how you plan to make them reach your customers. Try answering the following questions:

• Does the price match the quality?
• What sector does my company fit in, and what is my distribution plan?
• What is my customer's buying behavior?
• How will my product get to him?
• Will I sell in a physical store or online? Will there be delivery?
• And most importantly: How will the customer know that my product exists?

A good marketing plan will give you an overview of what sales will look like and what you can do to boost them. So take the opportunity to learn how Digital Marketing can help you sell more!

Operational Plan

The operational plan is the section of your Business Plan that will describe the operation of your business. In it, you will demonstrate the necessary steps to sell your product or provide your company's service.

You must answer the following question: How much can I sell in a given period?

To do this, think about the following points:

• Time required to carry out the sales process or service provision.
• Number and qualification of employees.
• Productivity of the necessary equipment and materials.
• Distribution and storage capacity.
• Availability and deadlines of suppliers.

Also, add the positions and which employees will occupy them or what is the most suitable profile for each one.

Also, if you are going to open a physical store, you must include the spatial layout of your office or store. Establish the distribution of employees, sectors, and offices. In the case of businesses, include distribution of gondolas and departments.

Tip! Put a plan or drawing of the physical layout! Images are always easier to understand and visualize. If it fits your budget, hire a professional – designer or architect – to help with this task.

Financial Plan

Now that you've analyzed whether your venture will have space in the market, it's time to think about your business plan's last part: the financial Planner. You will put everything that involves money, expenses, investments, and working capital in all the planned actions. I don't even need to say how important this step is, right?

To write the financial plan, think about the cost of everything you have written so far: Raw materials, suppliers, equipment, physical establishments, domains and hosting of online stores, salaries, marketing, etc.

The result of all this, presented in numbers, will be your Financial Plan. With it, you will have an idea of ​​the total investment of your venture. The total investment is divided into three parts:

1. Fixed investments
2. For your business to function properly, the goods you must buy include equipment, machinery, fixtures, and furniture.
3. Working capital
4. Working capital encompasses the amount of money needed to run the business normally. All this is already considering the purchase of goods for initial stock, payment of suppliers, and sales financing.
5. Pre-operational investments.
6. These are all necessary expenses before the start of business activities. In addition, it comprises real estate renovations, payment of business registration fees, website hosting, and others.

But do not worry! Remember that at this point, you will be working with estimates. Try to be close to real numbers, but don't worry if something goes wrong.

Include an income statement. In it, you will put income and expenses side by side, and you will be able to better understand the income, profits, and, most importantly, how long it will take for the initial investment to return.

Now that you have an idea – in numbers – of how much the initial investment for your venture would be, you can assess whether this amount will come from your resources or third parties, such as investors and banks. If it is necessary to search for investors or loans, having the Business Plan at hand will be essential for the presentation of the project.

Scenario analysis and Business Plan evaluation

Ready! Now that your Business Plan is structured work a bit with speculation of various scenarios. Create simulations of contexts in which your company is doing well and not so well. Thus, it will be possible to better prepare for adverse situations, creating concrete plans to face them if they occur. Think of ways to leverage positive scenarios and reduce costs in the event of negative scenarios.

Before finalizing, evaluate your Business Plan. Think of it is complete if the information is clear and if your business is ready to face the market changes. Next, think that your plan aims to answer the following question: Is it worth taking a risk and opening this business? If the answer is yes, invest!

An undertaking is always a risk, but don't give up! Be creative, innovative, and always be prepared. Research and understand your market, customers, and competitors, and you will be ready to be at the forefront of a successful venture.