How to go for Business Planning

BANGALORE, INDIA:

To do effective business planning companies have to acquire know about few simple things like:

What is a Business Plan?

A business plan is any plan that works for a business to look ahead, allocate resources, focus on key points, and prepare for problems and opportunities.

What's a Start-up Plan?

A simple start-up plan includes a summary, mission statement, keys to success, market analysis, and break-even analysis. This kind of plan is good for deciding whether or not to proceed with a plan, to tell if there is a business worth pursuing, but it is not enough to run a business with.

Is There a Standard Business Plan?

A normal business plan (one that follows the advice of business experts) includes a standard set of elements. Plan formats and outlines vary, but generally a plan will include components such as descriptions of the company, product or service, market, forecasts, management team, and financial analysis.

Also read: CRISIL's report on three prospective SME sectors

Cash flow is both vital to a company and hard to follow. Cash is usually misunderstood as profits, and they are different. Profits don't guarantee cash in the bank. Lots of profitable companies go under because of cash flow problems. It just isn't intuitive. Implementation details are what make things happen.

A Standard Business Plan

If you have the main components, the order doesn't matter that much, but here's the outline order we suggest in Business Plan

Executive Summary: Write this last. It's just a page or two of highlights.

Company Description: Legal establishment, history, start-up plans, etc.

Product or Service: Describe what you're selling. Focus on customer benefits.

Market Analysis: You need to know your market, customer needs, where they are, how to reach them, etc.

Strategy and Implementation: Be specific. Include management responsibilities with dates and budget.

Management Team: Include backgrounds of key members of the team, personnel strategy, and details.

A Simpler Plan for Start-ups

Business advisors, experienced entrepreneurs, bankers, and investors generally agree that you should develop a business plan before you start a business. A plan can help you move forward, make decisions, and make your business successful.

This first stage of a plan, that we call the Concept Kick-start, focuses only on a few starter elements. The Mission Statement, Keys to Success, Market Analysis, and Break-even Analysis give you a critical head start toward understanding your business.

However, not all start-ups are that simple. Many of them need product development, packaging, retail fittings and signage, office equipment, websites, and sometimes months or even years of payroll before the sales start. Unless you're wealthy enough to finance these expenditures on your own, then you'll need to deal with bank loans or investors or both; and for that you'll need a more extensive business plan. Start-up company or not, the plan has to meet expectations.

Source: www.bizbeginners.biz