Writing an effective Business Plan (Part 2)

The importance of a professional designed business plan cannot be over emphasized as this forms the basis of any business venture. A business plan is a road map clearly detailing the route you need to follow in order to reach your final destination. As Napoleon Hill said ‘The world has the habit of making room for the man whose words and actions show that he knows where he is going’. Lending institutions and investors will pay attention to business ideas which are well documented. As a follow up to my previous post, today I will continue explaining in detail the elements that make up a professional business plan:

Mission Statement

Use your mission statement to clearly define the fundamental goals of the quality of your business offering, customer offering, employee welfare, stakeholder compensation and so forth. A good mission statement is a critical element in defining and communicating with your customers, employees and stakeholders. It is also a platform where you can clearly state the business you are involved in.

Your Company

Under this section, you need to give concise details about your business, such as where your business is located, what services it offers and your target customers.Try to be as detailed as possible as this forms the back bone of your business plan. You should be as simple as possible in order to clearly communicate what your business has to offer. Remember simplicity is the key to brilliance.

What you are selling - your Offer

Under this section you must succinctly describe your services/product offering. This part is descriptive and may have tables to show and illustrate product description and pricing points. You can also show how unique your offer is compared to competition, this must be supported my strong points based on market research. This way you can convince investors or financiers to sponsor your business, if you are looking for capital.

The Market

This section is where you will define your market. You need to describe your market segment strategy, market needs, trends and project growth and so on. The market segmentation is crucial to market assessment and market strategy. You will need to divide your target market into workable segments based on age, income, type of product, buying patterns, customer needs, location e.t.c. Market research input is critical for this section.

Market Analysis

For this section, you will definitely need market research input. You will describe the different customer segments within your target market. You will follow up with supporting reasons why you are targeting these segments. You need to build a strong case which will show your knowledge of the market segment you are targeting. You may also bolster your analysis by including verifiable market growth projections based on recent market research. It is important you display detailed knowledge of the market segment you are planning to enter.

Market Segmentation

Use this section to clearly explain and define the segmentation process, define the various classifications. You need to details demographic profiles of customers in each of the market segments you are targeting. This will include in depth information about their shopping habits, spending patterns and motivations based on psychographics.

Remember it is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. For today l rest my case here, I will continue with part 3 of this five part series on writing an effective business plan. l will leave you with one of my favourite quote by Napoleon Hill: ‘All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination, Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth’.

May your dreams come to pass!!!