Completing a business plan can be a complex step for a business creator or buyer. This document does not obey any particular rule, but compliance with certain standards ensures its success. Here are some tips that will help you make a good business plan.
Prepare your business plan correctly
A successful business plan is a business plan that is well prepared in advance. Before embarking on the preparation of this document, you must gather all the elements that will serve as raw material.
To best prepare the financial aspect:
- – Correctly estimate your forecast turnover,
- – List all your expenses as exhaustively as possible,
- – Take stock of your financial situation to determine your personal contribution.
Equally important is the preparation of the editorial part:
- – Clear up your ideas and clearly define your project,
- – Be consistent about your goals and the strategy deployed to achieve them,
- – Don’t overestimate your skills and stay as objective as possible.
Respect certain financial balances
There are some financial indicators that you need to carefully consider in the financial part of your business plan. There are balances in this area and you must ensure that you respect them. First of all, make sure that your investments are financed in a coherent way: the goods necessary to run your business must be financed with long-term resources (capital or loan). Conversely, stocks must be financed by short-term solutions (current account contributions). Then, make a sufficient contribution (at least 20% of your financing need), especially if you request a bank loan. Finally, check that your self-financing capacity allows your business to repay its loans in less than 5 years.
Be relevant and get to the point
The goal of a business plan is to convince its recipient. And to convince, you have to be efficient and brief. Be sure to include only elements essential to understanding your project. Avoid bulky and unnecessary schedules. Too long or too technical, you will lose the attention of your reader who will probably not read the file to completion. You must therefore demonstrate a spirit of synthesis and establish a direct link between your professional experience and the project you are carrying out. To help you out, you can use these Free Business Templates.
Take care of the form of the document
A business plan should be read carefully. To do this, make sure it makes you want to be read. Proofread it and have it proofread to correct any spelling mistakes. Sufficiently ventilate the text and alternate your writing with images or graphics. Finally, do not forget to include a summary in the first pages of the dossier.
Practice presenting your business plan
You will have to adapt the presentation of the file to your interlocutor. Indeed, a business plan does not present itself in the same way to a banker or to an investor. The information to be included is not the same because it is not of the same importance to your reader. Highlight the right indicators in the right places and most importantly, practice presenting your business plan orally. Ask those around you for interviews in “real” conditions and do not hesitate to seek professional help.
Was this post useful? We hope so!
