Why Are Business Plans Important for Start-Up Companies?
Having a business plan is important for start-up companies as it allows them to set long and short term objectives with a clear strategy of how to achieve them.
A business plan is the first vital step to the success of a company. It outlines the operational and financial details of a business. In addition to this, it details the budgets and how certain objectives will be achieved. Every aspect of the plan should address possible questions that people reading the plan may ask.
Structure of a Business Plan
In order for your plan to be effective and easy to understand there has to be a clear format in place. The minimum elements that should be included are:
- Executive Summary – This an overview of your business including a mission statement and what your company wishes to achieve. Despite being at the top of the business plan, it is actually what concludes it.
- Business Overview – This section briefly explains the mission, history and location of the company.
- Target Audience – Identification of who you want to sell your products to, the location of your audience and how large you want your market to be.
- Products and Services – Details on what solutions you want to provide to the target market. Also, identifying whether its a physical product or service-based solutions. If it is a physical product detail of manufacturing, distribution and pricing should be mentioned.
- Management Plan – This section identifies how the company is run, including staff and deployment of employees.
- Sales and marketing – This outlines your marketing approach; how you will reach your target market.
- Goals and Timescales – This is a basic outline of the goals that wished to be achieved and a method of how the success of the goals would be measured.
- Financial Plan – This is one of the most important aspects of the business plan as it outlines how and when money is spent. Also including details of future expenses as far as 3-5 years.
Importance of a Business Plan
Here are some of the benefits of creating a business plan for your start-up or existing company:
- Business plans allow companies to get a full picture of what they are working with. It allows you to recognise all the aspects of the company that should be put in place.
- It further allows businesses to focus on specific things at a time. This could be regarding the target market or its products and services.
- In addition to this, businesses are able to set their priorities and identify which tasks should be done in a strategic manner. Furthermore, it allows businesses to manage their time effectively.
- A very good business plan will go far in the long-run especially if major changes are made. This is because one can easily track progress and developments, hence making it easy to make any adjustments.
- Good business planning can also allow one to set targets and milestones to achieve in specific time frames.
- Having a business plan creates room for accountability. Business plans are a good way to review what is going well and what needs improvement.
- The business planning process becomes a regular reminder to keep the company focused and on track with all the things that need to be done.
Who Writes a Business Plan?
At Carrington Blake Accountancy, we can write your business plan for you. We not only create the best plan for your business but we follow up your start-up company for a year to ensure that you are achieving all your goals.
To find out how we can help you write your business plan call 0207 537 6628.