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Saturday, August 11, 2012

What is a business plan?

A business plan is essentially a blueprint for a business and the best way to illustrate any business is by providing a business plan. For any travel you need to have a destination and the proposed path to reach it. So is a business also ‘the travel to success entrepreneurship’. Hence it’s important to develop a business plan to achieve whether the business is small, medium or large scale.
In the book The Entrepreneur’s Manual, Richard M. White, Jr. states that business plans are “road maps” for business creation: “You identify your origin, select a destination, and plot the shortest distance between the two points.”
A business plan also serves many other purposes:
· A business plan is a detailed blueprint for the activities needed to establish a business (i.e. product or service, the market demand, and the management of the business).
· A business plan is also the ‘yardstick’ by which a business owner measures success in meeting set goals and objectives.
· Also, a business plan is a tool for obtaining a loan from a lending agency, or for attracting venture capital.
What a business plan consists of?
There is no standard format for a business plan, but there are many common components of a business plan:
· Executive Summary : providing a general overview of the plan’s main points.
· Table of Contents : it’s the index of details of plan.
· Background and History: nature and basis of proposed business explained.
· Business Goals and Objectives: the set targets are listed in detail.
· Description of Products/Services: details of proposed products and services discussed.
· Market Description/Assessment: Feasibility is assessed comparing the market trends.
· Competition Assessment: status of the propped business in the regional market detailed.
· Marketing Strategies: plans proposed for the product marketing listed.
· Manufacturing Plans: Plans for the proposed manufacturing and capacities listed.
· Pro Forma Financial Analysis: Various financial details tabulated.
· Contingency Plans: Troubleshooting/preparedness plans devised in totality.

Many business plans will also include appendixes with additional information related to the business, its operations, its owners/managers, marketing/promotional plans, etc.