Business Plan for Start-up

You may think that it is a waste of time and you can give a speech and investors will agree but you are wrong. Having a business plan is essential. It will help you while pitching your start-up in front of investors and lenders. The plan gives a clear understanding of what a business is all about and whether it is feasible to invest in it or not. It will also help you by bringing more clarity on what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve.

The first thing to remember is that no one is interested to read a 30-page detailed plan of a business. It is better to pitch via presentation, animation, video, images, which will help you to attract more investors and lenders.

Essentials of a business plan?

These are the key points that need to be there in a business plan.

• Executive summary of business:

  An executive summary of business helps to show the objectives, mission & vision, future plans, target market, which industry your business belongs to, and all the essential elements given below in a short paragraph. Investor or interested lender sometimes want a quick review of your business which executive summary of business provides.

• Product & service offered:

  Discuss the key areas of your business like what kind of services or products your business offers, describe industry with proper analysis and display your target market on the basis of age, gender, religion, income, etc.  

• The competitive environment of the industry:

  You need to analyse the competition and its barriers in the industry. You should put more focus on how your offering is different than your competitor's. Also, analyse barriers and find solutions to overcome them. An investor and lender will always ask what your strategy is, so be prepared in advance.

• Marketing Approach:

  After devising the market, you need to plan a strategy on how you want to approach them. Some key things that need to be there in your plan are:

  • What is your strategy to promote your business?
  • Do you plan to use paid services for promotion?
  • What is your budget for the same?

• Production Plan:

  If you are planning to manufacture your product on your own then you will have to mention what kind of machinery and raw materials you require and from where. You will need to decide what scale of business you want and where you are planning to initiate.

• Members of the team:

  It is significant to mention who are the members of your team and how they are contributing to this business. You will also need to figure out the job profiles that business requires to carry out the day to day operations so that recruitment could be done as per requirement.  

• Financial Projection:

  You will need to research on how much funds business requires by calculating the total cost so that you could provide a definitive figure to investors. You do have to provide break-even analysis and cash flow analysis of your business. You have to make assumptions on how much profit your business can generate in a year. Investors are more attracted towards analytical data and projections, so it is better to present information figuratively.