Your business plan should detail your strategy for entering a market and achieving growth. A good plan will help you to set targets against which to monitor performance and may also help you to obtain external funding, such as a bank loan. It is therefore essential that it contains the right information. Here is our 12-point guide.
What should your business plan include?
A good business plan should clearly set out:
- Your business objective and how you will achieve it.
- Background to the business and the work carried out to date.
- The business structure and ownership.
- Your products, services and their unique selling points.
- Personnel required (staff, contractors and consultants) to meet the technical and management demands of your business.
- Marketing strategy, including target market, pricing, competitors, market size, your share of the market and potential for growth.
- Your mode of operation, including practice and production methods.
- Statements of past financial performance.
- Forecasts of financial performance and cash flows. Note: You should make clear all assumptions used in the forecasts.
- Taxation consequences of plans, including VAT and PAYE.
- Capital requirements, especially when starting up.
- Funding requirements: state how much funding you require, in what form and for what purpose, how you will pay it back and what security you can offer.
Ideally, you will draft your business plan before you start off. You should then review it regularly and if necessary update it in response to changing circumstances. This will enable you to compare performance with the objectives you first set. This is essential for keeping the business focused on the right objectives.
Writing your plan
We would be happy to help you put together a plan for your business, including financial forecasts and tax considerations. Please contact us for more information.
