Business Plan Guidelines

that should be conveyed in a typical business plan.

Whilst one of the main reasons for a Business Plan is to obtain the finance for the project,probably the main advantage is for you. If either alone, or preferably with your accountant and/or advisor you have gone through the stage of putting together a plan, you will learn a considerable amount about your project.

I often find that by the time the plan is completed, the client is able to answer any questions asked. It is an invaluable education for someone starting up a business.

Many of my clients have setup in a business that is unknown to them, by the time we have gone 50% of the way to completion they have become well versed in the industry of their choice and enjoy the business side of things as they understand the mechanics of Engineering or Food or Other Industry.

If you are using the business plan to obtain finance for your project this, may be the only opportunity to convince financiers or bankers that you are professional and know your business, or have a good idea and know the right people to manage your business. Should the plan be very poor then to submit a plan for consideration a second time to the same financing group would be very difficult, you must make sure that it covers all the angles.

In each of the following , I will put the questions that you have to answer, and some ideas for obtaining the facts required. Unless your project is a one man (or woman), band then you would be wise to seek professional assistance in the completion of the plan.

In some circumstances of financing you may be required to present your plan to the financing body, (more of this in another section), but you would have to answer questions on the plan. I would suggest taking your advisor with you if applicable.

The layout of the business plan should not show how proficient you are at excel or other software, it should be professional without going over the top on colours, graphics etc. In my experience, this does not normally impress the financial people.

You will find that writing a business plan is not a start at the beginning and end at the last page; it is more a balancing act for larger projects where many items are interlinked and it becomes a matter of tuning the result based on the financial figures.

Executive Summary

This section should state the contents of the business plan in two or three pages; this is the most important section and will be read by financiers and other interested parties. Complete this when the rest of the plan is finished. Give the broad financial targets with possibly one graph and show how you will make a profit and the payback period.