A detailed explanation of what a business plan is and why it is needed. After studying the article, you will be able to cope with the preparation of the document on your own.

It is worth starting the article with a specific definition, what is a business plan.

So, a business plan is a document that describes the project in as much detail as possible.

They make it up in order to plan a phased implementation of the creation of a company, assess the relevance of the idea, and convince investors to invest.

In general, in order to conduct and develop a business, you need to understand what and why you are doing.

The entrepreneur must decide on the goals set, calculate the amount of necessary capital investments.

This is necessary not only for investors or lenders. But also for the business owner himself.

After all, a plan is a personal instruction for action.

Its presence adds self-confidence and will allow you to make decisions in controversial situations.

To, you need to have certain special knowledge.

They are summarized in this article.

If you carefully approach the study of this issue, you will be able to cope with the preparation of the document on your own.

But even if in the end you decide to seek help from specialists, it is important to understand what exactly they will do.

What is a business plan and why is it needed?

The goals for which a business plan is being drawn up have already been outlined above:

• Serves as a guide for the project manager.

  Therefore, you need to return to the business plan from time to time to check: are you following the right course?

• A business plan allows investors to decide: is it worth investing in this company?

  Will they pay off and how quickly?

If you specify the tasks that help the entrepreneur to solve the business plan, the list will look like this:

1. Determination of the direction in which the company will move.
2. Designation of the place that the company will occupy in a niche.

   Analysis of competitors and advantages due to which it will be possible to surpass them.

3. By compiling a business plan, an entrepreneur can develop a marketing strategy that he will use to promote his services and products.
4. Formation of short-term and long-term goals, as well as the ways in which you will achieve them.

   You can also assign someone who will be responsible for this.

5. A business plan often refers to a specific list of products that your company will produce, or at least a group of products.
6. A separate item in the business plan can indicate who will work for you, what salary they will receive, what will be included in their job responsibilities.
7. It is important in the plan to assess potential risks and ways to prevent or address them.
8. A business plan allows you to calculate how much money will be required for its development in the future.

Business plan: what is a resume?

"Think before you invest, and don't forget to think after you've invested."
Doyle F.

The first section of a business plan is the summary.

This is a business card, the "face" of the company, which potential investors will see when they open the document.

The summary briefly describes the idea of ​​the enterprise.

The interest of a possible contributor depends on how skillfully this text is compiled.

Therefore, despite the relatively modest size of this "chapter", it is necessary to approach its compilation with all care.

The summary will briefly outline what will be discussed on the next 15-30 pages of the business plan.

With all the requirements for the “attractiveness” of a resume, do not confuse a document with an art book.

For words to be truly convincing, they must be supported by calculations and arguments.

But do not get carried away and rewrite all the information that can be read in the rest of the plan.

After all, investors are human beings.

And boring epics will very quickly make them unwilling to continue to get to know you.

It is enough to use several pages and present the information in a structured way.

For your convenience, the tentative structure of this section is as follows:

• a brief description of the concept of your company;
• What goals have you set for yourself?
• the main and most attractive points of your business idea;
• how much, for how long and for what purpose you are seeking financial assistance (if the business plan is written for investors and lenders);
• calculations, graphs, indicators that will prove the potential of the company and its future efficiency.

Business plan: marketing section

Also, of course, ways to achieve them are planned and described.

To determine these points and have data for argumentation, marketing research is carried out.

Their number and depth will entirely depend on the specification of the case.

But the main ones are:

There are several basic options for marketing policy.

It is worth choosing between them, based on the greatest practicality and profitability for your company.

1. The entrepreneur seeks to reduce the cost of production as much as possible in order to produce the most affordable products.

   The most common strategy, but with many pitfalls.

2. Production of products that have no analogues.

   Or at least boasts a rare twist.

3. The company can direct its activities to a certain narrow segment of the audience (geographically, demographically).

Business plan: risks and how to assess them?

Risks are negative situations that can happen to your business and should be considered in a business plan.

This is done in order to know how to act in case of stressful incidents.

Also, making a forecast allows you to prevent risks, reducing the likelihood of their implementation, or at least localizing the negative impact.

The larger and more serious the business, the more specific the forecast is.

For large corporations, they even use the mathematical analysis of probabilities and create a specialized department.

Risks are divided into two large groups:

• Systematic - that is, those on the occurrence of which the entrepreneur cannot influence.

  For them, you can only prepare a plan of action in case of occurrence.

• Non-systematic - respectively, those that the entrepreneur can warn.

  This can include financial risks, production risks (for example, an insufficient volume of products was produced or delivery dates were disrupted), market price fluctuations.

Considering risks is important for two reasons.

Firstly, it will confirm your seriousness and detailed approach in the eyes of investors.

And secondly, for the businessman himself, this section will become an instruction on actions and will help to keep a cold mind, acting in a balanced way.

Business plan: financial section

What it is?

This section covers all parts of the plan, but in a financial format.

That is, if the remaining points create a plan for the creation and development of a company for a certain period, then calculations are made in the financial section.

This includes project costs, and the calculation of the cost of products or services, and much more.

It is important both for the entrepreneur himself and for potential investors: how much money is needed to open such an enterprise, and how quickly will it pay off?

The information in this section is not written once and for all.

These data can and should be adjusted in accordance with the real state of affairs during the implementation of the business plan.

The financial section must contain data on the following items:

• how much investment is required to open such a company;
• analysis of the effectiveness of the organization;
• the estimated costs of producing products or providing services are calculated (a one-time contribution to open such a company, as well as the size of regular investments);
• the real cost is calculated (it includes such indicators as wages to employees, the cost of purchasing raw materials, depreciation);
• it is important to make a forecast of how much the company will bring profit and when it will reach the break-even point;
• at the end of the section, the entrepreneur indicates the sources from which the financing will come (state assistance, personal funds of the entrepreneur, leasing, credit, attracting interested investors).

A simple and understandable explanation of what a business plan is and how to write it correctly,

also featured in the video:

To summarize and describe the business plan in simple terms, this is a document that describes what, how and with what you will do.

Of course, doing it on your own is not at all easy.

Especially if you haven't done anything like this before.

This work can be delegated to intermediaries and throw this mountain off your shoulders.

But at the same time, you will get two significant disadvantages - the expenditure of money that could be spent on the development of the company.

Also, you will not be as aware of what is happening in your enterprise as if you were doing everything yourself.

Writing a business plan is not so difficult if you approach this issue with all your attention and diligence.

And be guided by this text.

After all, this article not only answers the question, what is a business plan, but it also tells in detail how to compose it.

Perhaps the process seemed too complicated for you.

But it is worth starting the implementation and it turns out that everything is much simpler.

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WHO NEEDS A BUSINESS PLAN AND WHY?

A business plan is a planning document, and the process of developing a business plan is

"planning" many of our readers have negative emotions.

However, take your time. It's one thing, others "plan" for you, and quite another,

when you, and no one else but you, plan your future. After all, planning is a process of creative thinking about the future of your enterprise (business). At this time, you decide: in what direction to develop your business and how quickly, how to achieve your goals and

what to do to reduce possible surprises and risks, how to manage the situation as a whole. In other words, effective planning is the process of setting goals (tasks) and developing activities to ensure their achievement. Such planning is needed as aspiring entrepreneurs,

and growing or already large firms.

A business plan is a written document summarizing the business

opportunities and perspectives and explaining how these opportunities can be

implemented by the existing management team (managers). Writing a business plan makes the development process more efficient and

the plan itself is systematized and concise.

Mastering the art of developing a business plan is essential for at least the following five reasons:

-- Firstly, new economic conditions require new entrepreneurs and give them the opportunity to try to realize their

"entrepreneurial tendencies" However, many of these people have never managed any commercial enterprise and therefore have an extremely poor understanding of the whole range of problems associated with entrepreneurship in a market economy;

-- Secondly, the changing economic environment puts and experienced

Heads of enterprises before the need to calculate their future steps in a different way and prepare for an unusual struggle with competitors, in

which there are no trifles. In addition, they gained old experience in the conditions of a command-administrative system of management and, rather, can be assessed negatively rather than positively (the habit of waiting for a command "from above",

lack of initiative, irresponsible attitude to "other people's money",

artificial survival of a loss-making enterprise, etc.);

-- Thirdly, the business plan is the link between the organizer of production and the investor. If an entrepreneur relies not only on his own funds, but wants to attract funds from outside, that is, to interest potential investors, including foreign ones, to invest in

the proposed case, it is necessary to prove to them the effectiveness of such an investment to show. Your ability to think realistically and evaluate all possible aspects, both positive and negative, of the use of invested funds.

If you apply for the necessary funds to the bank. You will also need a business plan that will help convince the banker of the reliability of the investment, the reality of the return of the loan issued to you and

making their own profit. In this case, the business plan is a document

"for sale" to raise capital. In the "sold" business plan, it is necessary to slightly change the emphasis, for example, it is mandatory to enter the main biographical data of the prospective managers, information about their education

and work experience. Such information is key for potential investors. Actually, many Western authors consider this purpose of the business plan as the main one for any company in need of

attracting capital. In today's highly competitive economic environment, a high quality qualified business plan is absolutely essential. Anyone asking for money for their business should have such a plan. As a “for sale” document, the business plan must convince investors that the new entrepreneur has realistically identified his opportunities, has the entrepreneurial and managerial talent to exploit these opportunities, and has a reasonably realistic, consistent program to generate profits and achieve his goals in time.

What if you don't need a loan? If you have sufficient capital to open your own business without attracting investors from outside? Do I need a business plan in this case? The starting point in any business is when someone writes out a business development plan.

and someone gives money for the implementation of this plan. These two "someone" can be the same person. However, in this case, a business plan is also necessary.

It is necessary to separate two processes: planning and investing.

An entrepreneur with funds should write a business plan not "for sale", but for himself. In this case, you will receive the benefits described below.

• (fourth, and fifth)
• -- fourthly, a business plan will allow, first of all, you yourself to clearly see the prospects of your business, assess the current economic situation and your opportunities, determine effective directions for the development of the company and all the necessary actions to achieve your goals, analyze your ideas, check their reasonableness and

realism. In this regard, not only the end result of this planned work - a completed business plan, but also the process of developing a business plan itself is valuable. All those involved in it get an excellent experience of future joint activities and communication, as well as a well-founded motivated look at the prospects for business development.

-- fifth, the business plan will serve as a standard for you and your employees, against which you will compare the results of practical activities for its implementation and make the necessary adjustments to these activities. He

will allow employees to clearly understand their tasks and see their own personal perspectives related to the common business, evaluate their personal contribution

in achieving the set goals. The business plan will be helpful in setting priorities and individual work assignments for the first year of operation of the enterprise.

Think of the developed business plan as a "flight map"

determining the most desirable, time-optimal and least risky route to achieve the intended goals.

However, numerous factors, including such as "unexpected change in the weather" can significantly change the plans. For start-up companies, the practice of deviating from the route outlined in the business plan is common. Try to anticipate possible deviations,

develop "fallbacks" and prepare "fallbacks". After all, in

Ultimately, it has long been known that "a plan that does not tolerate modifications is bad" (Publicius of Syria)

The development of a business plan is an important condition for starting a business organization and its functioning. Ideally, every enterprise should have a developed set of goals and objectives, think over a strategy for transforming goals into actions. In marketing, it is generally accepted that having a business plan is one of the tools to increase the profitability of an enterprise and protects against unjustified risks.

Business Planning Basics

When asked whether entrepreneurs agree that writing a business plan is one of the tools to increase the profitability of an enterprise, the answers were received, which reflect the lack of consensus on the role of a business plan in solving the problem of profitability of an enterprise.

Nevertheless, 44% of entrepreneurs recognize the role of a business plan for a trading enterprise. 22% of managers have an unfinished position on the possibilities of a business plan. It is noteworthy that 21% of entrepreneurs generally found it difficult to assess the role and significance of the business plan in the profitability of the enterprise. This indicates that this group did not have an idea of ​​the significance and possibilities of business planning.

Despite all the difficulties and problems, millions of people are already employed in the sphere of private entrepreneurship in Russia. However, business is a very special way of life, involving a willingness to make independent decisions and take risks. Having decided to go into business, an entrepreneur must carefully plan his organization. We are talking about business plans, with which all over the world it is customary to start any commercial event.

In market conditions, such plans are necessary for everyone: bankers and potential investors, company employees who want to evaluate their prospects and tasks, and above all, the entrepreneur himself, who must carefully analyze his ideas and check their realism. As a matter of fact, without a business plan, you can’t take on commercial activities at all, since the possibility of failure will be too great.

A business plan is a fundamentally new document for our economy. In the feasibility study traditional for domestic planning, the economic efficiency of the project was given only a few pages of text. This was quite enough in the conditions of a centrally planned economy, where the state budget acted as an investor, and Gossnab was engaged in a kind of marketing.

Unlike a feasibility study, a business plan describes in detail all the main aspects of the future enterprise, analyzes the problems that it may face, and also determines how to solve these problems.

In the context of the transition to a market economy, mastering the art of drawing up a business plan becomes extremely relevant, which is due to the following reasons:

1. Our economy is entering a new generation of entrepreneurs, many of whom have no experience in running a business and therefore have a very vague idea of ​​all the problems that await them.

2. The changing economic environment puts even experienced managers in front of the need to calculate their actions in the market differently and prepare for such an activity that was previously unusual for them, such as the fight against competitors.

3. Expecting to receive foreign investment to boost the domestic economy, Russian entrepreneurs must be able to substantiate their applications and prove (on the basis of documentation accepted in the West) that they are able to evaluate all aspects of the use of investments no worse than businessmen from other countries.

The business plan is designed to help solve the above problems, which is the main document that determines the company's development strategy.
It should be emphasized that at present in Russia the primary goal of business planning is to attract potential investors and partners to participate in projects.

Tasks and features of drawing up a business plan

Each company, starting its activity, is obliged to clearly present the need for the future in financial, material, labor and intellectual resources, the sources of their receipt, and also be able to accurately calculate the effectiveness of the use of available funds in the course of the company's work. In a market economy, entrepreneurs cannot achieve sustainable success if they do not clearly and effectively plan their activities, constantly collect and accumulate information both about the state of target markets, the position of competitors on them, and about their own prospects and opportunities.

With all the variety of forms of entrepreneurship, there are key provisions that are applicable in almost all areas of commercial activity and for different firms, necessary in order to prepare in a timely manner, circumvent potential difficulties and dangers, thereby reducing the risk in achieving your goals. The development of a strategy and tactics for the production and economic activities of a company is the most important task for any business.

At present, the process of formation and improvement of the work of existing enterprises of various forms of ownership is rapidly proceeding in Russia. An important task is to attract investments, including foreign ones. This requires a reasoned, carefully justified formulation of proposals that require capital investment. Successful formation of a new business also cannot do without a clear and objective planned project. The statistics on new venture failures indicate that the risk is quite high. To anticipate and possibly prevent these problems, business planning is used.

In a market economy, a business plan is a working tool for existing firms, used in all areas of business. Many businessmen underestimate him. They don't realize how much having a good business plan can help a new business raise capital, determine plans for the future, draw up analytical tables by which it will be possible to evaluate how the business is developing. The business plan encourages the entrepreneur to carefully examine each element of the proposed risky market activity. Certainly, in this process, many weaknesses and gaps will be revealed, the elimination of which will have to be given significant attention. Where it is impossible to cope with such problems, the very fact of their identification will make it possible to make a decision to abandon the enterprise even before the funds are invested in it.

The purpose of developing a business plan is to plan the business activities of the company for the near and long term in accordance with the needs of the market and the possibilities of obtaining the necessary resources.

A business plan helps an entrepreneur solve the following main tasks:

* determine the specific activities of the company, target markets and the place of the company in these markets

* formulate long-term and short-term goals of the company, strategy and tactics to achieve them. Determine the persons responsible for the implementation of the strategy

* choose the composition and determine the indicators of goods and services that will be offered by the company to consumers. Estimate production and trade costs for their creation and implementation

* identify the compliance of the existing personnel of the company, the conditions for motivating their work with the requirements for achieving the goals

* determine the composition of the company's marketing activities for market research, advertising, sales promotion, pricing, distribution channels, etc.

* evaluate the financial position of the company and the compliance of the available financial and material resources with the possibilities of achieving the set goals

* foresee difficulties, "pitfalls" that may interfere with the practical implementation of the business plan.

Each task can only be solved in conjunction with others. The main focus of the business plan is the concentration of financial resources. It is the business plan that is an important tool for increasing the company's capital. The process of drawing up a business plan allows you to carefully analyze the business you have begun in all details. The business plan serves as the basis for a business proposal in negotiations with future partners; he plays an important role in hiring key personnel of the firm.

By neglecting the preparation of a business plan, an entrepreneur may not be ready for the troubles that await him on the path to success. And more often than not, it ends badly both for him and for the business he does. Written execution of a business plan is very essential for the organization of work on its implementation. You should not neglect the preparation of a business plan, even in conditions where the market situation is changing quite quickly.

Due to the fact that a business plan is the result of research and organizational work aimed at studying a specific direction of the company's activity (product or services) in a certain market and in the current organizational and economic conditions, it is based on:

* a specific project for the production of a specific product (service) - the creation of a new type of product or the provision of new services (features of meeting needs, etc.)

* a comprehensive analysis of the production, economic and commercial activities of the organization, the purpose of which is to highlight its strengths and weaknesses, specifics and differences from other similar firms

* the study of specific financial, technical, economic and organizational mechanisms used in the economy for the implementation of specific tasks.

The main advantage of business planning is that a properly drawn up detailed plan gives a perspective for the development of the company, that is, ultimately, it answers the most important question for a businessman: is it worth investing in this business, will it bring income that will pay for everything expenditure of manpower and resources.

Depending on the direction and scale of the planned business, the scope of work on drawing up a business plan can vary in a fairly large range, i.e. the level of detail can be very different. In one case, the business plan requires less extensive elaboration, some sections may be completely absent. In the other, the business plan will have to be developed in full, conducting labor-intensive and complex marketing research for this.

When drawing up a business plan, the degree of participation in this process of the manager himself is important. This is so significant that many foreign banks and investment funds refuse to consider applications for funds at all if it becomes known that the business plan was prepared by an outside consultant and only signed by the manager.

This does not mean that you should not use the services of consultants. On the contrary, the involvement of experts is highly welcomed by investors. We are talking about something else - drawing up a business plan requires the personal participation of the head of the company or a person who is going to open his own business. Being directly involved in this work, he, as it were, models future activities, checking the expediency of the whole idea.

A business plan is a promising document and it is recommended to draw it up for at least a number of years in advance. For the first and second years, the main indicators are recommended to be broken down quarterly, and if possible, even monthly. Starting from the third year, you can limit yourself to annual indicators.

The main recommendations in preparing a business plan are brevity, i.e. a statement of only the most important for each section of the plan; accessibility in learning and understanding, i.e. a business plan should be understandable to a wide range of people, not just specialists. And do not abound in technical details. It should also be convincing, concise, arouse interest in a partner. Only having interested a potential investor, an entrepreneur can hope for the success of his business.

A business plan is one of the constituent documents that define the company's development strategy. At the same time, it is based on the general concept of the company's development, develops the economic and financial aspects of the strategy in more detail, and provides a feasibility study for specific activities. The business plan covers one of the parts of the investment program, the implementation period of which is usually limited to one or several years (often corresponding to the terms of medium and long-term loans), which makes it possible to give a fairly clear economic assessment of the planned activities.

Thus, the business plan is not only an internal document of the company, but can also be used to attract investors. Before risking some capital, investors must be confident in the thoroughness of the design of the project and be aware of its effectiveness.

Is there a need for a business plan? After all, its compilation is not a cheap pleasure. Not every novice entrepreneur can afford to pay 20-30 thousand rubles.

Business. Five or ten years of life. A lot of wasted money, nerves and time. For what? You want to be successful in the end, right? What does success depend on? How to express it?

Business differs from entrepreneurship in that it implies the existence of a system that brings income to its owner. He only carries out the general management of this system. Accordingly, there are certain criteria for a business system by which one can judge its effectiveness and evaluate it.

If you have your own business, then you can determine its success as follows:

1) You should have an idea of ​​how your business is today. This can be expressed in terms of the financial condition of the enterprise, in the first place.

Forecasts of sales volumes, data on profitability and gross proceeds. All this and more should give you an idea of ​​where you are. Is the business profitable or profitable? Or maybe it just works for payback.

2) Determine what you want from the business. This can be expressed in terms of profitability and profit. Or maybe you want to launch the production of new products or provide new services.

Also, your expectations may be expressed in the conquest of a certain market share or entry into new markets for products. Implementing management process automation systems that make your work easier - this can also be a definite goal if the business is successful and stable.

3) When the point where you are is determined, and there is an understanding of what to strive for, then a plan for achieving the goal is needed. How will you achieve your goals, reach a new level?

It is the process of business planning that solves this problem. You get a complete picture of the state of your business, determine the future direction of development, and draw up a plan to achieve your goals. All these points are reflected in the business plan.

The goals of the company, both in the medium and long term, and in the near future. Assessment of the financial condition, expressed in terms of liquidity, financial stability, profitability. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your organization or business?

Who are your competitors, what are they ahead of you in, what are your advantages over them? Who is your consumer and buyer, are they satisfied with your products, pricing policy? If you want to enter new markets with new products, then the business plan includes a complete marketing analysis and study of the sales market, its volume and potential.

The important points of the business plan are the planning of the production program, the preparation of the financial plan. It provides a complete analysis of projected income and expenses. The periods when you will need additional financing, in obtaining a loan are determined.

Income stream projections are also taken into account in the financial plan. All this will help you anticipate the onset of negative moments associated with a lack of funds, and take a loan from a bank on time. You also do risk analysis, assess the likelihood of their occurrence.

Everything that can negatively affect and interfere with your enterprise is reflected in this section. How can they be prevented or minimized?

If your project seems profitable, then you can raise additional funds to finance it at the expense of investors. This will give an additional impetus to the development of your business. Without a well-written and presented business plan, investors will not communicate with you.

Strictly speaking, there are two types of business plans.

The first is a kind of internal plan of the company, which reflects the planning of its activities for a certain period. Here the emphasis is on the organizational plan, production plan, marketing plan.

The second type of business plan is an investment project. If you open a new company, plan to release new products, or introduce new production facilities, then this will be a business plan for an investment project.

In addition to analyzing the state of affairs in the company before its implementation, you will analyze the effectiveness of the project and calculate performance indicators. These indicators will indicate the profitability of the project. Worth investing in or not. This will help you in obtaining a loan from the bank, as well as to attract investors.

A business plan is an image, a business model, expressed on paper. What you have now. What do you want to achieve in three years. The way in which you will move towards your goals.

A business plan is your path and your guidelines for business success. This is your pilot card, which will help your company not run aground off the coast and successfully enter the expanses of big business and big money.