Anyone who wants to become a successful entrepreneur cannot afford to ignore the importance of establishing a business plan. The simple act of writing down your ideas and providing clear guidelines on how the company will operate will help you keep track of your progress as your business grows. It will also help you communicate your visions well so that everyone is on the same page. Here are five essential tips on how you can make a viable business plan.
Research the Market Thoroughly
You need to research the market and ensure your business plan includes references to the available opportunities, market size and demographic trends. Marketing research can give you a rough idea of what types of new products and services may be profitable. It can also tell you whether the existing products are meeting the customer's’ needs and expectations. You can then use the information from the research to create an effective business plan and measure whether it will succeed. Your research should involve gathering data from analyzing sales and the success rates of the current practices in your industry. You can arrange for interviews, do online surveys, use questionnaires or sample potential clients in your research.
Understand Competition
You need to know who your competitors are and what they are currently offering their customers. You also need identify their strengths and weaknesses. The more you know about them, the more you will make your products stand out in the market. Shop your competitors by calling them or visiting their offices as a customer. Get a price list and check their sales pitch. If possible, talk to their customers. Ask them what they like or dislike about the company and how they choose who to do business with. You can then use the information you get to create a marketing strategy that can take advantage of your competitors' weaknesses. You can also copy from their strengths to make your business more effective.
Focus on the Opportunities
It is imperative you clearly describe the investment opportunity you have identified. For instance, you may have noticed that a lot of people like to swim in Las Vegas. In this case, you can come up with a business focused on creating unique pool designs in Las Vegas to satisfy the needs of residents in this city. The investment opportunity should be clearly stipulated and have a unique selling point proposition. It must convincing enough to inspire people to invest in your company.
All the Key Areas Must Be Covered
Your business plan should have an executive summary and business description. An executive summary prefaces your report. It should have the major details of your plan and be able to grab someone’s attention without necessarily reading through the whole document. Your business description should include various aspects of service offering, how your idea came to exist and your goals and objectives.
The plan should also include the products and services you plan to offer, sales and marketing strategies, management team, business operations and financial summary. You will have to provide information of your investments and how you came to the position you are in today in the financial summary.
Be Realistic
You need to be honest with yourself when making the business plan. Take into consideration the possible challenges that might come up and the opportunities to avoid surprises. Also, be realistic with the time and resources available. Being overly optimist with time can lead to operational breakdowns when the business starts. It is wise to assume that things will always happen 15 percent longer than you anticipated. This will enable you to adjust your operations accordingly to take care of unexpected delays.
Writing a business plan is the key to success for any startup. However, a business plan is useless if doesn’t have the components required to make it attract the attention of the reader. The tips discussed above will help you come up with a plan that includes all aspects of your business.
Carol Evenson is a business consultant who has helped many entrepreneurs reach their goals. She hopes her passion for writing will help you to do the same.