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How to Develop a Business Plan

Medha Godbole
A business plan has various aspects to it, all of which need to be perfect for it to be effective. This story will tell you how to develop a good business plan for yourself.
Developing a business plan is not exactly an easy proposition, as there are innumerable things involved in it, from the very basic to the extremely complicated and tedious aspects. Basically, while creating such a plan, you should include an executive summary involving:
  • A brief description of the history of the company.
  • The company's objectives
  • Description of the company's products or services.
  • The market the business intends to compete in.
  • A persuasive statement as to reasons and method for the success of the business.
  • Projected growth for the company and the market.
  • Mention of the core management team.
  • A description of funding requirements, with a time-line and the usage of the funds.

Homework on the Service or Product

Forget the business plan for sometime. Decide what the product or service is that you are going to offer. Without that, it is impossible to go ahead and consider what comes next in your proposal. Researching on the market trends and what the products and services are which will be a hit with the consumers is fundamental.
If you have had an experience in a product or service, then your task might become easier. In addition, also think of the name and the overall profile of your company.

Money Matters

Once you are done with the overall profile, think of the capital required for it as well as how much you intend to make from it or can make. To be clear about that, you will have to chalk out and create a financial profile of the company.
When you mention this while writing the plan, it should include your current assets, your liabilities, projected income, and monthly expenses within a range of six months. Having all this data will help you establish a viable financial objective for your business. Be very careful about this.

Who are the Competitors?

The market is going to be like a big bad world out there. Therefore, you also would need to study your competitors and how you propose to deal with them, and what gives you an edge over them. You will have to mention that while writing a business plan. Again, this will involve a little bit of homework.
Finally, once you are done with all these things, put all this on paper. Tackle the points mentioned previously, and elaborate on them as per the research and statistics you have got. Make it all as crystal clear as you can.
At the end of the day, just pray and hope that the financier gives you an appointment and agrees to help you out with the funds. If you are still skeptical, have a professional do it for you. All the best!