Business Plan Template & Planning Guide
Successful start-ups begin with a clear strategy and a focused roadmap for execution. When you develop an actionable plan you’ve given consideration to the primary functional areas of the enterprise. It takes time … and a good deal of thought. A large number of business owners feel weighed down at the prospect of producing an all-inclusive company plan. Many feel so overwhelmed that they simply don’t do it. This is a major mistake.
So take a deep breath and don’t concern yourself with producing a highly-formal company plan. The bottom-line is that unless you need to raise funds from investment capital companies or are applying for a company loan you don’t need a fancy business plan.
But before you put your business plan together, check out some of the recent company names just developed at Brandings:
The Secret to a Great Business Plan
We recommend that you cut out the formal elements of a business plan. There is no need to include complicated terminology and business jargon. Instead, we recommend that you generate a functional “how-to” user’s manual for your start-up.
Don’t stress about not choosing each and every word just right. The ideal, actionable start-up template is one that pushes you to take into account each and every aspect of your company in words that you understand -- before you launch your business.
Objectives of a Company Plan
Defines your company and elements of competitive advantage.
Identifies your goals and objectives.
Anticipates the requirements and demands of various internal and external stakeholder groups.
Demands that you address all of the functional areas of your start-up.
Serves as a hands-on roadmap to employ as you grow your company.
It’s an excellent method to concentrate awareness on your company strategy, procedures, and operating plans. It should require that you contemplate aspects of the enterprise and make choices that might otherwise become overlooked. A successful company plan demands that you take a really serious review of monetary projections, opportunities, challenges, as well as strategic alternatives prior to you actually beginning your start-up.
The following start-up business template provides a compilation of questions designed to assist you to cultivate an efficient start-up experience. It is an important collection of the most effective methods we’ve discovered over the years with our interactions of several thousand start-ups.
This listing of questions should trigger discussion and even more questions. The time you commit now could possibly make the difference between the success and failure of your business.
Vision, Mission, Goals & Objectives
1. Describe the idea:
2. Describe the need being addressed:
3. How is your approach different and why it is likely to succeed?
4. What are your values and priorities?: (Your vision statement.)
5. What are your start-up’s purpose and primary objectives?: (Your mission statement.)
6. What are your start-up objectives?: (Objectives are destinations identifying where you want your start-up to go.)
7. What are your start-up objectives?: (Objectives are specific measures. You ought to have objectives for all functional areas of your start-up.)
Development & Structure
1. Have you selected a name can be expressed clearly, consistently and cohesively to all client stakeholder groups and across all brand touchpoints?
2. Is the name unique and differentiated?
3. Are there any trademark issues with your name selection?
4. Have you secured the dot.com domain name?
5. Have you developed a corporate identity and logo consistent with your vision and mission?
6. How is the ownership of the company to be structured? (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, limited liability corporation)
7. Are there royalty or licensing agreements that impact the start-up?
Market Analysis
1. Describe your industry or market:
2. What is the total size of the market?
3. What are the opportunities in this industry?
4. Are there external forces that threaten this industry?
5. Have there been recent changes in this industry?
6. Is there growth in this industry?
7. What are the barriers to entering this market?
8. How can the market be segmented?
Product & Service Offering
1. Describe your products and/or services:
2. How will your products and/or services to be positioned in the marketplace?:
3. Provide an evaluation of your products and/or services:
4. Who is your target market and target customer?:
5. What are the characteristics of the consumer? (Examples include age, gender, location, education, region):
6. What are the wants and requirements of the consumer?:
7. Describe your buying and selling procedure:
8. What products and/or services do you strategy to develop and launch in the future?
9. Describe your research and development activities:
10. What are your production requirements and operational processes?
11. What quality assurance measure will you have in place?
Competitive Environment
1. Who are your major competitors?
2. Is the market dominated by a few major players or many players?
3. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor:
4. Characterize the nature of competition both inside and outside the industry:
5. Describe possible competitive threats and risks:
Strategic Planning
1. Identify your key competitive strengths:
2. Identify your current weaknesses:
3. What can you do to diminish your weaknesses?
4. Where does your start-up have a benefit over the competitors?
5. Describe your action plan for implementing your strategy:
Marketing & Sales Plan
1. What is your marketing strategy?
2. How will your product or service be positioned?
3. Describe your selling procedure and sales tactics
4. How will you your target customers learn about your start-up?
5. What media will you use for advertising?
6. Describe the role of trade shows and/or industry events in your marketing activities
7. Have you developed a website and interactive on-line experience?
8. What is the role of the internet and web marketing?
9. Will you undertake public relations efforts or earned media?
10. What other promotions will you undertake?
11. How will you price your products or services?
12. How does your pricing compare to others in the industry?
13. How do you strategy to distribute your product or service?
Organization Structure & Management
1. What are your anticipated key personnel requirements?
2. Describe the qualifications and responsibilities of management.
3. Who are the directors and advisors?
4. Who are your professional advisors?
5. Develop a sketch of your anticipated organizational structure
Operations Strategy
1. Describe the processes for product and/or service delivery:
2. What are the important factors in selecting a location?
3. What type of customer service and support do you strategy to offer?
4. What are your facility and staff requirements?
5. What are the regulatory issues that impact the company?
6. What permits, licenses and legal issues have to be addresses?
7. What type of insurance will you need?
8. What type of inventory is required?
9. Who are your key suppliers?
10. What are your credit policies?
11. How do you strategy to manage your accounts receivable?
Risk Analysis & Contingency Planning
1. Assess the market risks, economic cycle risks and interest rate risks:
2. Assess the impact of currency fluctuation:
3. Assess the policy risks including government regulations and trade restrictions:
4. Assess the risk of key customer & supplier dependence:
5. Assess risks associated with labor, suppliers and distributors:
6. Assess the risk of new competitors:
7. Assess the risk of new technology:
8. Assess the risk of changing demand:
9. Assess the strategy of action of production deadlines are not met:
10. Assess the strategy of action of sales projections not met:
Financial Strategy
1. What is your break-even point?
2. Develop a monetary profit and loss projection for the first 12 months of operation: (Calculate using three scenarios: best case, worst case and likely)
3. Develop a monetary profit and loss projection for the first 5 years of operation: (Calculate using three scenarios: best case, worst case and likely)
4. What is the current capitalization strategy?
5. What is your projected cash flow?
6. How much capital will you will need prior to you start your start-up?
7. What are the sources of funds?
8. How much cash will be sought?
9. How much ownership will be provided in exchange for the investment?
10. How and when investors will be able to get their cash out of the company?
11. How much capital will you will need to sustain the company for the first 12 months under the worst case scenario identified above?
12. How much capital will you will need to sustain the company for the first 5 years under the worst case scenario identified above?
13. What cost control measure will you have in place?
We hope this article will prove useful as you prepare to launch your new business. We welcome your comments and suggestions. We are available to help assist in all areas of your new venture.
Find the Perfect Business Company Name Now
Acquiring a great business company name has never been easier. We have two easy ways to search:
1. Search by CATEGORY. Search company business names by category and subcategory. Check-out the category list in the column to the left. (Note that categories have more specific subcategories.) Just select a category or subcategory and browse!
2. Search by NAME. You can also find business company names that contain a key word (or partial word) important in your business activities. Use the NAME SEARCH function -- located at the top of this page. Simply enter any word or word fragment in the keyword bar ... then click “GO!”
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