a business plan it is a document describing the objectives of a business and the steps to be taken in order to achieve these. This reduces the risks and uncertainties for the entrepreneur, the company and even potential investors.
One of the fundamental steps for the validation, implementation and development of the various entrepreneurial projects is the creation of this document and its respective financial model. Through this, it is possible to prove the potential, feasibility and sustainability of the business idea before negotiations with investors in order to raise the necessary resources or before possible business partners.
Due to overconfidence and enthusiasm, all entrepreneurs consider their business idea to be extraordinary and the best among all others. However, it is necessary that the latter understand that for outside individuals, as potential investors, this idea at first sight is just one among many that receive from other entrepreneurs. For this reason, it is essential that the idea is well defined and well presented in a business plan in order to obtain a positive approval from them.
Most entrepreneurs only prepare this document when they start a business or when they want financing, however, the business plan it is also very important to manage the business, regardless of whether or not an investment is needed. With this, the entrepreneur will have a plano basis for structuring and defending your idea, identifying the fundamental aspects of it and defining the allocation of the various resources so that the project can be developed.
Plan role in business
Business success starts with a good plano and this will be the basis of the company's life in the first years of life. This document should be seen as a part of the value creation process. That is, it should contain as much detail as possible about all the steps that involve or are part of the business.
A good business plan it must be clear and concise allowing the reader to be able to understand it without much effort. This should also be as realistic as possible, and the information should be supported by facts, preferably from institutional or specialized sources. The time necessary for detailed writing must be invested, which can take days, weeks or even months to complete.
After writing the first versions of this document, you should still pay attention to the revision. Not only from those who wrote it, but also from others, in order to ensure that this document is free of grammatical and spelling errors, since these tend to create a negative impact.
Types of business plan
There are several types of business plans, the main ones being:
Start-up Plan
Also known as plano initial. It's the kind of plano most common and where the general lines of a new business idea are defined. These include topics such as the type of company, market analysis, work team, product or service introduction, implementation strategies, financial analysis, among others.
Later Stage Plan
Also known as plano growth or expansion. It focuses on a specific area of business or a secondary business, which may be internal to the company or external plans, depending on whether you want to obtain financing or not.
Turn-around Plan
Also known as plano restructuring. It focuses on identifying problems and proposing solutions through changes to the strategy, aiming at making the company viable.
Business Plan Importance
a business plan it is important because it performs relevant functions, the main ones being:
- Assists in the validation of the idea, through which the entrepreneur obtains sufficient and relevant information to determine whether or not to start the project;
- It is an essential document for negotiating with interested parties (such as investors) to obtain resources;
- In preparing this document, the entrepreneur studies the viability of his business, enabling the creation of preventive actions against possible threats and challenges, analyzes in detail the target market and its potential customers, which results in a reduction of associated risk;
- Stimulates communication between the entrepreneur and his team since this document will be prepared with the intervention of all;
- It allows to previously identify needs for changes or reformulations of the business idea;
- It is a dynamic tool and, whenever necessary, it can and should be adjusted and revised with the new requirements and needs of the business.
business plan writing tips
There is no right or wrong way to write a business plan, the important thing is that this plano correspond to needs. Thus, it is very important that this document reflects the goals and personality of the entrepreneur. So it is highly recommended that this is the one writing it and not someone hired from outside. No one will understand the business better than the entrepreneur himself. In addition, this preparation of the business plan will help to better understand the difficulties and find the appropriate solutions. However, he can get help from his work team and mentors to prepare the document, but it should always come from the entrepreneur.
Document Size
Finally, regarding the number of pages recommended, this document usually contains about 20 to 40 pages of text, easy to read, well-spaced text, with markings, illustrated with graphs and small financial tables. More detailed information on this is presented in appendices. However, this metric should not be adopted since the ease of reading and the spirit of synthesis are more relevant than the number of pages it presents. A good business plan it should give your reader a good general idea of its main contents, even after a brief diagonal reading of no more than 15 minutes.
It is strongly recommended to use visual components as much as possible. These can be graphics to illustrate numbers, photographs and drawings to show locations, products, sample menus, product photos and other illustrations. However, these should be relevant to the subject matter in order to increase reading comprehension.
There are several Models of business plans available for free. These can be a good ally in organizing and guiding thoughts, preventing the entrepreneur from getting lost without knowing which topics to include in the document. However, he doesn't need to follow the templates, he can only use the sections that make the most sense for his business and respective needs.
