DIY Business Plan That Works
A Layman's Step By Step Guide to Creating Your Own Business Plan A to Z
(Downloadable Template)
In the last three decades, I worked as a business consultant for 27 different small to midsize start-up companies.
During my tenure with each of the companies, I have learned the biggest asset of any company is their growth plan which is also known as the business plan. Each time I had to get very creative when creating a business plan for the start-ups as that is the most critical document banks and lenders look at. You can imagine most start-up's first order of business is securing a favorable bank financing so they can actually get their business up and running.
Business plan to me is the backbone of your business; it is truly the GPS of your business that navigates you in the right direction. Regardless if you are applying for a loan for your business or not, every business should have a plan which should be updated periodically to help you stay on track to success.
In this book, I show you a simple and easy to follow the process of creating your own business plan for any business. You don't need to be a writer or a Business major to be able to draft a great business plan, it is not your proficiently in English language, instead, it is all about laying out a simple to understand plan for the future of your business and how you want to navigate your business forward to prosperity.
Here are the Three most Common Excuses I hear from entrepreneurs about not creating their own business plan.
- I am not good at writing
- I don't know what to say in the plan
- I am not business savvy enough to write one
Five Biggest Myths about the Business Plan
- It is a complicated document
- Only a seasoned business writer can write a good business plan
- No one reads it, but you have to one to get a loan
- A good business plan needs to be 20-30 page long
- I don't need a loan to start my business, so I don't need a business plan
False, false and false, as I am sure you have guessed it, all of them are false.
In this book, I show you the baby steps to get started on the right foot. I take you through all the elements of creating a great business plan that is custom crafted just for your business. Before you buy this book, I want you to take a look at the Table of Content so you can see what all I covered inside this book, you will see the topics like:
- What is a Business Plan?
- How Critical is a Business plan for your Business
- 5 Reasons you should have a Business Plan
- What and How do I write one
- 9 Essential components of a great Business Plan
- Two Best Practices of Business Plan Writing
- Lean vs. Traditional Business Plan
- Example of a Lean Business Plan
- Step by Step instructions to Write a Traditional Business Plan
This last part is the most significant part of the book; this is where I show you (with examples) every major and minor detail you need to include in your plan, items like
- Cover page
- Executive summary
- Company Description
- Aspects of Service or Product
- Problems you are trying to resolve
- Your Competitive Landscape
- Your Competitive Edge
- All 4 Stages of Product Life Cycle (PLC)
- Market Analysis
- Evaluation of the Competition
- Marketing & Advertising
- Management Team
- Operating Plan
- Financial Plan (Income statement, Cash Flow, Balance Sheet & Break-Even Point)
- Request for Funding
Lastly, I offer you a link to a fully Functional and Customizable Business Plan Template which you can download and use.
Good Luck.