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What is a Business Plan?

Guest post by: Ross McBride

Article Overview: A business plan means different things to different people.

What is a Business Plan?

Many people see a business plan as the written document necessary to apply for a bank loan.

Many people see a business plan as a flexible projection that enables a business to look ahead and prepare forrisks and opportunities.

Many people see a business plan as the outline to allocate resources and focus on key points or stating approved formulas to optimize growth and development according topre-determined priorities and end goals.

Many people see a business plan as a set guide, vital for running the business.

A business plan means different things to different people.

There is no Standard for Business Plans

Many people think a business plan should outline five things: the planning process, the necessary resources, time lines, definitive business goals and the path you will follow to achieve these goals.

Many people think a business plan is simply a summary of who you are, what you plan to do, where the plan operates, how you intend to complete the plan and why you will succeed.

Many people think a business plan should contain main Business Plan components:

Executive Summary

Management Team

Company Description

Product or Service Description

Market Research

Marketing Strategy

Implementation Schedule

Financials

Successful people think a business plan is a very important story with several audiences. Everyone who works for your company, everyone who lends money or provides credit to your company and everyone who buys your products or services.

If you are writing a business plan for a new or existing business you have to consider what it is, how it will be used and who will use it.

Yes, I am available to consult, assist or write your business plan.

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Article Tags: allocate resources, apply for a bank loan, business planning, business plans, company description, end goals, executive summary, market research, priorities, service descriptions



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Business Innovation - Hi Simon If you can finish off the Business Plan and think about your strategic direction or how you are going to use your product to convince people it's a great idea, it will set the foundation for your programming project. You see, when you are looking for funding you will need a Business Plan and Strategic Plan that will convince companies to invest into your new idea. Has anyone achieved this idea before using another industry besides health and fitness that you know of? You should also design some mockups as a "preview" for your programming project. This will also help reduce your programming costs as everyone will know exactly what you want if you have detailed mockups already completed including any functionality you require. Starting mockups for websites and software applications on paper is the best way if you're not a guru in graphic editing software.
Re: NEW VIDEO - How to improve your business plan - Ask Evan - Thanks Evan, great intro into how the VC's see business plan. I will take a look, but hope that this video as number 1 in a series. It is unfortunate that these types of errors, the most basic of errors as you point out here are common to too many business plans, having reviewed a few hundred myself from both a development and funding perspective. As a mentor and workshop facilitator for Business Plan development for a number of start-up IT and multimedia companies, your presentation help support and show how the VC's see and evaluate a plan Shameful, that too many don't take the time to learn how to properly prepare, present and defend their plans. Over the years, I have enjoyed Business Plan competitions, and help re-work some of the winning proposals
New Small Business Topic - Hello everyone, I'm on the lookout for new topics to add to my site. We just launched a Franchising section and are planning Human Resources section. Do you have any thoughts for a new section? Here's a list of what we currently have: Angel Investors Branding Bank Loans Business Coaching Business Plan Franchises (New) Insurance Legal Marketing Public Relations Sales Small Biz Loans Venture Capital
2007 Goals - 1. Web site complete, fully operational 2. Revenue stream from both individual and corporate 3. Business Plan complete 4. Full marketing strategy complete and implemented
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.


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