Sometimes all you need is an idea to change the world. This notion, time and time again, has made humanity walk on the path of advancement, more than ever. Comparing present businesses to the past decade, there is a drastic change in how businesses conduct their operations but first and foremost, how they start out.
If you are on the edge of being your own boss and helping customers to make their life easier then your entrepreneurial checklist should comprise of jotting down the correct business plan. A business plan is a detailed outline that covers all the essential nitty-gritty of your business. Right from the original idea to the financial plan
In this article, we shed light on how a business plan can help you be prepared for anything and everything.
So without any further ado, let’s get started.
1. Know what your startup does
The primordial step of any kind of startup is to pen down what is the reason to start a business and what it intends to do. Ask yourself some simple questions like ‘what is the goal of the business?’ ‘What kinds of issues will it solve for consumers or other businesses?’ or ‘How the business set itself apart from the rest’, ‘Will it generate income’ and ‘What is the timeline of its growth’. You can write starting small paragraphs to answer the questions and through these answers, your mission, vision and values will be jotted down.
2. Chart out an executive summary
Your business executive summary should be inclusive of all the essential details of the company like company profile, overview, products or services sold, business model, marketing strategies, target market, competitors and financial projections. It shouldn’t be a substantial document but just a brief outline of 1 or 2 pages. Through an executive summary, your readers will get a gist of your company before they dive into the specifics. A major point to note is that the executive summary should captivate the readers and convince partners or investors that your business is worth a shot.
3. Elaborate objectives and details about your company
2 out of 10 are marked on the checklist. Now the next step is to write down the goals or milestones. This is an important step and there are a lot of companies who skip this step. When you convey your objectives, you are defining your short term goals and this can help you start prioritizing your tasks ahead. In addition to this, in this step, you should also write down the business structure, mission statement, location of your company, business owner details, the void in the marketplace that your business is trying to fill up and how the products or the services are being used as leverage.
4. Scrutinize target market
In this step, ask yourself whether your idea has a place in the market and if yes, what are the factors that will result in consumers purchasing from you. Give details about your company’s products and services. For instance, if your company sells notebooks and diaries, it will not be feasible to convey that your customers are who can write, instead start out with a smaller group of people, i.e. your target audience can be ameture poets, writers, or students who are teenagers to young adults. It is essential to make it clear that your business should have a large audience base or else it will be difficult to make up sales.
5. Describe your products or services
In this step, you should explain your products and services in detail and how they can help your customers in the short-run or long run. It is essential to be expressive and as substantial as possible or else your customers or potential investors will not be able to understand your business. Begin with the notion of how the services or products can solve an issue in the market or can fill in a gap. In this step, also mention which other businesses are selling similar products like yours and how your business sets itself apart from the rest.
6. Mention your marketing plan
As a startup, it is essential to have a detailed marketing plan so that you can venture out in the market and make yourself seen and heard rather than getting lost in the herd. But before working on the marketing and sales plan, it is essential that you exactly know your buyer’s persona so that you can effectively target your ideal customer. Now, while writing down the plan, ask yourself questions like, ‘How do you intend to venture out in the market’, ‘What channels will you choose to advertise yourself’ and ‘How do you plan to upscale from it’.
7. Make an outline of management and operations roles
In this step, chart out your management and organization structure. You should include details of the questions like, which person will be responsible for what task? How will the responsibilities be delegated to each person? In this step, also mention each team member, their bios, their relevant education and experience, and why are they the right people for the job roles. Even if you have not hired yet, that is absolutely fine. Just fill in all the roles and responsibilities and what your employees will be managing.
8. Comprehensive financial plan
This is one of the last but not the least important step. With the help of a financial model, you can convey your financial projections, startup costs, and also requests for funding, if needed. The start-up cost conveys all kinds of resources needed to get your business going and also conveys the estimation of how much the resource costs. Will your business need a computer, phone or office space? List out what all your business needs. It is important to be conservative and completely honest about the expenses your business needs. Once you have expressed all of the expenses, you can justify them appropriately in your financial projections.
9. Compare competitors
Unless you have come up with something completely unique, there is a definite presence of competitors who are selling what you are about to sell. Hence, your business plan should be inclusive of your competitors and a comparison between them. Make a detailed outline of their strengths and their weaknesses and how they stand on the advantageous front. While writing this down, also mention how do you plan to set yourself apart from the rest. You should mention what makes your business unique and what new you are bringing into the market and also to the consumers.
10. Make a summary of all of the above points
Yay, you have made a cutting-edge business plan that aspires to take over the market and become an industrial giant, one day. Now the last step is to close your business plan with an appendix that can be an option. It can be helpful for the readers to include your resume or the resumes of your co-founders and also all the legal information of your business like leases, permits, registration details, copyrights, trademarks and more. This information conveys the viability of your organization and gives your investors a precise understanding.
Before writing all of the above, you should keep important points in mind like narrowing down what makes you unique. If you are starting your own jewellery business, it is essential that you should know what makes you different from the other jewellery businesses that are already established in the market. Is your jewellery business inclusive of all kinds of jewellery for all genders with all kinds of metals or does it portray a specific aesthetic? Does a percentage of the profits earned go to any kind of charity? Is the business environment friendly? What emotions does your brand portray through the jewellery and is it a fine piece of jewellery, semi-fine or fashion jewellery? By knowing all of these questions, you can dig deep into your business and chisel it out into its uniqueness.
