December 1, 2007
Writing a Business Plan: Where to Start
When deciding to write a business plan it's important to decide whether you want a brief or comprehensive business plan. A brief business plan is typically heavy in research and less on writing and can may take about a month (although I did have an acquaintance once do it in one night--definitely not recommended). A comprehensive business plan may take longer and is very thorough. Today I will focus on a comprehensive business plan.
When writing a comprehensive business plan it is important to specifically include the following.
* Clearly defined target audience
* Determine its requirements in relation to the contents and levels of detail
* Map out the plan's structure (contents page)
* Decide on the likely length of the plan
* Identify all the main issues to be addressed.
Another important thing to understand is the big picture, if you can't answer all of the basic points that are typically included in a business plan than it's pivotal to thoroughly do your research. For example if you do not know your competition and what differentiates you from your competition it's important that you take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Take some dedicated time and outline your business plan. This will help you know if there are any major gaps in your business model and business plan.
Writing a business plan can be a dizzying experience, but if you seek help from those with experience it becomes a lot easier. One great place to go is http://www.business-plan-success.com/Features/. Business plan success has official software to help you know where to begin and how to pursue your business dreams. Take if from me, someone who has used it personally.
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January 19, 2006
Business Plan Secrets You Won't Learn At Harvard Or Yale
If you want to buy a business, but don't know how to create a business plan, then this article will show you how to get one done and ready within a few weeks.
Listen: In order to get a good business plan in your hands, you are going to have to do one of two things:
1.) Hire someone to do it for you
2.) Do it yourself
Now, if you hire somebody to write your business plan for you (and this is the ideal way of doing it), it will usually cost you between five or ten thousand dollars.
If you want to buy a business, but don't know how to create a business plan, then this article will show you how to get one done and ready within a few weeks.
Listen: In order to get a good business plan in your hands, you are going to have to do one of two things:
1.) Hire someone to do it for you
2.) Do it yourself
Now, if you hire somebody to write your business plan for you (and this is the ideal way of doing it), it will usually cost you between five or ten thousand dollars.
On the other hand, if you're starting with little or no money of your own, and want to do it yourself, there’s a number of programs in the business section of your library that can help you. Most decent libraries will have CDs, books and computer programs you can use to put together a business plan.
Another way to do it yourself -- and this is a little more "unconventional" -- is to simply go online, put "business plan" into a search engine, and you will find dozens of companies that will give you samples of business plans (you can use as “templates”) -– 100% free –- because they're trying to sell you financing or something like that.
Whatever the case, if you decide to go out and raise money to buy a business and don’t put together a business plan, the chances of you getting the money is zero and none. Luckily, it can be done for little or no money. But the ideal way is to hire someone who's done them before (and has a track record of having created successful business plans) if possible.
Arthur B. Hamel has bought over 200 businesses in the past 50 years, and is a well-known author, consultant, investor, business owner, and dynamic lecturer who has shared the stage with such business greats as Robert Allen of "No Money Down" fame. For the past 20 years Art has taught thousands of people around the world -- even so-called "little guys" with no formal education or money -- how to quickly and easily buy large, multi-million dollar businesses with no credit, banks or prior business experience. He has recently decided to share his unique business-buying secrets and tactics free of charge at: http://arthurhamel.com
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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December 14, 2005
Long-Term vs. Short-Term Debt
When writing a business plan, many people are unaware of the difference between long-term and short-term debt. Investors pay close attention to your financial statements, so it is important to get them right. If you are not 100% comfortable with preparing financial statements, we recommend purchasing a business plan template or consulting with an accountant.
The distinction between long-term and short-term debt is quite simple. Short-term debt is any debt that you will need to pay back within the next year. If you are given more than a year to pay your debt back, it is considered long-term debt. It's that simple, so make sure you get it right!
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October 20, 2005
Writing your Business Plan executive summary
When you're writing your business plan, don't start with the beginning. The Executive Summary should be the last section of your business plan that you write. By writing your executive summary last you will be able to give a better overview of the main points of your plan. Obviously it's hard to find the main points of the content if you have not written the body of your business plan yet.
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September 9, 2005
Information to Gather Before Writing a Business Plan
Before writing a business plan, it is important to gather some information. Whether you are using a template, software, or an outline, you will save time if you keep important information handy before writing the plan.
Identify or gather the following before starting on your business plan
- What goals you have set for the direction of your business? Where do you see your business in five years?
- What you want to accomplish by writing a business plan?
- Financial documents if your business has already been established
- Who are you writing your business plan for?
- Find any data that you have already gathered on competitors, the market, etc. Make a note of information that you need to gather to complete your plan.
- Biographical data on everyone who is part of your management team
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August 31, 2005
Using Census Data in Your Business Plan
One of the biggest hurdles many business plan writers face is finding data to use in their plans. Using actual data adds credibility to your business plan and increases the chance that someone will give you the funding that you need. If you are looking for information on your target market, the Census Bureau Fact Finder website is a great resource. Visit this website at factfinder.census.gov.
Using the data on the census website, you can find the size of your target market, the age distribution, facts about the community, and more. The best part is that all of this data is FREE!
To get a feel for the type of information that you can look up, enter your zip code on the first page of the website. You can see the population, the age distribution, the gender of the region, race, average household size, education, employment, etc. Much of this data will be very useful for your business plan.
Posted by Jon at 10:10 AM | Comments (1)
August 26, 2005
Writing an Executive Summary
One of the most important sections of your business plan is the executive summary.
Columbia University has created a great site to assist with writing the executive summary. You can find this information at this page.
Here are a few tips from the article:
1. Scan your business plan to determine what the content, structure and length of the report would be.
2. Highlight key points.
3. Review your business plan and determine what the key ideas or concepts are.
4. Group ideas in a logical fashion and prepare a point form outline of the summary.
5. Edit the outline to eliminate secondary or minor points; use your judgement to keeping the summary concise.
6. Determine whether subtitles, bullets, selective bolding or some other type of organizational structure will add to the clarity of your summary.
7. Write the summary in your own words, using a professional style.
8. Read it aloud or even tape record yourself reading your summary.
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