Writing a business plan like a pro

Congratulations! Let’s not make a parade in your honor yet, but by clicking on this article, you became one-step closer to your dream, which is making your business plan look appealing and persuasive to anyone who sees it, either an investor or just a regular person.

Let’s do some easy math for a while, that many people do not understand: idea ≠ money, but the implementation = money. That is why making a business plan is so important. It gives you a vision of the future and helps to understand what you are doing and how it will work.

How to write a business plan from scratch?

The answer is: pretty hard. But if you have serious intentions, take a pen, a piece of paper and get ready to take over the world. Before you start writing, you need to do a lot of thinking, calculating and searching. You think you know everything about your idea. So here are the questions to prove you are wrong. Note that you will actually have to answer them all while writing a business plan.

1. What exactly is your idea?

Sounds easy, huh? Now try to explain it to a 10-year-old and make him understand. And that is where most of the people get stuck. Don’t use too much terminology, it does nothing, but screams how boring your idea actually is, even if it is not.

2. What do you want to sell?

It is not necessarily a material thing. You may provide different kinds of service or even sell ideas. Just know what that will be.

3. Whom do you want to sell it to?

Knowing your customers is important. That is how you progress - adjust your work to the needs of the client and you will start getting an income.

4. Why will the customers buy what you sell?

That is a tricky question, but a very nice chance to show how much you differ from everybody else in this market.

5. Why do you want to sell it.?

Bet you did not see this one coming. Take time to think about it. Deep inside you know how to answer, because this is how the original idea came to your head. Put it this way – you know what people want and how to give it to them better than anyone else did before.

6. How will you sell?

“With love” is not a suitable answer. Give the precise examples and show your marketing plan.

7. Why will you become successful?

There is no point in implementing an idea if it will not give positive results. So if you don’t know why you will become successful yet, this is not a good sign.

If you have answered these questions, you are almost ready to shine. Now let’s take a quick look on how to structure your business plan.

Step 1 – Summary

Even though it will be an opening to the business plan, you can start writing it in the very end, just to be sure that you will finalize the whole idea. Don’t forget to include the main information such as location and specialization.

Step 2 – Important answers

Which are the one you have given above. See, now it is much easier to write them down.

Step 3 – The team

Present people who will manage the project. As you finish doing that, remember that you will also have to hire the additional employees. Mention what kind of people they should be (including skills, abilities, etc.), how you will interview them and what kind of working conditions you will have.

Step 4 – Strategy

These are your plans for the nearest future and the ways you will execute them. Don’t forget that it should be a step-by-step instruction for every achievement you plan to have, including the risks, problems you might face and their solutions.

Step 5 – Numbers

This is the part, where you look at your strategy from the financial side. You will have to work a lot on the numbers, and they will eventually be incorrect. Why bother doing it then? Well, you will a blurred understanding of the way money will flow in or out of your hands.

Here is 7 advices from professional business plan writers

Advice 1. Learn how to tell about your idea in one sentence.

Most of the writers keep jabbering about what they do have in mind without actually giving it out for everyone to understand. The audience gets tired really fast, so you need to catch people’s attention from the very beginning, or your business plan goes to trash.

Advice 2. If it takes too much time to write, it takes too much time to read.

If you were not born in 1960’s, you should understand that business plan is not a hundred-page novel. Be brief and keep it simple – 20-25 pages is more than enough.

Advice 3. Be realistic.

Don’t lie to yourself. If you want to sell surfboards in Nebraska and have a 20k of monthly income, you might just be schizophrenic. Know you buyers and the real revenue. It is completely fine not to profit much in your first month, so don’t be afraid to show it in the numbers on the financial part.

Advice 4. Creativity is a key to success.

Everybody knows a definition of the word creativity. Unfortunately, that does not stop people from using templates of business plan writing services. Template is the evil that kills your originality, so if you have no idea how to write a business plan, don’t be lazy and do some searching.

Advice 5. Use more visual material.

It may sound funny, but everybody loves pictures. Your business plan pictures are charts, so use them wisely to show sales statistics or market prices. It looks way better than a huge list of numbers, that will be left unread.

Advice 6. Make your team look professional.

Your idea may be perfect, but if you have a person with a Ph.D. in literature doing all the math for the company, that will not play on your hand. Show that everyone is in the right place, doing their best for the higher purpose.

Advice 7.  Analyze before writing.

There are a few methods to analyze your business plan, and they are internationally approved:

1. SNW analysis is all about knowing your strong and weak sides. Strong sides will help you to promote the project; weak sides will help you to avoid dangerous situations and successfully pass the milestones.
2. “Porter five forces analysis” is important for analyzing the perspectives of your project. On this point, many people have to face the fact that their idea may become worthless and outdated in few years or even months. It is important to rethink even starting this kind of business not to lose time and money.

The world tiniest list of FAQ

• Is writing a business plan in my country somehow different?

No doubt, there might be a serious difference between business plans in Australia and Rwanda, just because of economical and national features. But you can always look it up to be sure.

• Can anyone else write my business plan for me?

Sure, but you will need to give a lot of information to the writer. It is way easier and safer to make the professional put your thoughts into words. If you don’t have much time or writing is just not your thing, considering this option is time and sometimes lifesaving.

• Where can I find cheap business plan writers?

It is never very cheap to write a good business plan. But there is a budgetary option like pro-papers.com. The only cheaper variant is writing by yourself.