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Establishing a new business is a significant step that requires careful consideration of multiple facets, in order to ensure this is the right business for you, and that it is set in a way that will succeed financially and even mentally to suit your needs.
Review your business idea thoroughly
When you take your first step and think about the idea for your business, ask yourself what really interest you? What are you passionate about? Would it motivate you to put the hard work and wake up every morning to do whatever it takes to make it happen? Even the less interesting, and more challenging tasks that are part of the business "package" to get your business off the ground and making it successful?
Don’t forget to ask yourself, how would this business fit into your lifestyle, or the lifestyle you wish to have? What skills, knowledge and experience do you need to make it happen? Are there additional skills you need to learn?
And the questions that will really help you later on to make your business successful - What is the value you give to your clients? How is it unique and different from other existing businesses? What is the niche your product or service appeal to?
Once you are satisfied with your answers to these questions, you know you have a good business idea that excites you and has a real value to offer to your clients. Now it is time to check how viable it is to start working towards achieving it… but before just rushing into it, take a bit longer to review the (sometimes less exciting) additional facets of the idea as a business before you invest your efforts, time and money into it and set your business plan .
Building your Business Plan
One of the first (and perhaps most important) steps in opening an independent business is building a business plan. Even if you have found your niche and you have an idea for a product or service that will be highly valued by your clients, it is important that you have an organised plan that clearly explains not only what the idea behind your business is, but how exactly you intend to implement it .
Your business plan needs to answer questions such as "What is the size of your market", "Who are the competitors and what is unique to them", "What is the pricing in the market" and "What is the profit potential". This is a partial list of many variables (depending on the type of business you wish to establish) that you need to get familiar with and consider. You must clearly display the actual facts and data. It is recommended to use graphs and tables, which help to illustrate the textual data presented.
Are there any areas you are not sure about or don't know enough about? Don't skip it. It is possible that these exact issues will be difficult for you during the work itself if you haven't clarified it to yourself at the beginning. Make the effort to answer the open questions. If necessary, use a professional expert in that area to support you in understanding it better and be aware of the relevant implementation.
The main sections of your Business Plan
Defining the market
Define who your typical customer is and what type of the market you are addressing. Describe it: Who is the market’s leader? Is it a growing market? What is the market’s potential? Who are the main competitors that your business will need to deal with and describe what your action plan is to sustain this competition. Ensure to find reliable business sources that back up what you write in your business plan about the market. For example: market research, academic studies dealing with it, and the like.
Product / Service Overview
Detail the product or service you offer, with an emphasis on its various aspects, advantages and disadvantages compared to competitors in the market. Pay attention to potential customers and explain how the product meets their needs.
Business model
Define and describe how your business will generate revenue and generate value for its customers. In order to build a proper business model, you will first have to understand what your strengths and weaknesses are in the market, both in general and in comparison to those facing your business. In building this part of the business plan, the emphasis is on creating an acceptable revenue and earnings model. This model should enable reaching a balanced position and even profit in a reasonable time, without exaggerating the initial sales prospects.
When building the estimates on revenues, it is recommended to adopt a conservative, even pessimistic, assessment. This allows you to see if you are still able to make a profit even when sales take longer to meet your expectations. Estimates should be made as accurately as possible, relying on reliable sources acceptable to the market.
Principles of marketing and sales Detail how you are preparing to sell your product on the market. Answer a series of questions related to marketing: Who is your potential audience? What will be the price of the product or service? How much do you think you will sell in the various stages? What is the financial model behind the sales plan? Bring detailed pricing that will show the profit and loss margins. Make sure to include any expenses that are part of your financial model.
Executive Summary Executive Summary is designed to provide a short but concise and comprehensive picture and highlight the main data of the business plan. It should include the description of the company and its product, its advantages in the market, presentation of key personnel in the business, business model, strategy, key milestones and sales and revenue forecasts. This section is usually being written in the end, once all the plan has been established, but presented at the top of the business plan.
Business plan Summary At the end of the document, write a number of focused sentences that summarise the entire business plan. Write 5-7 main points that summarise the nature of the business, the strength of the product, its advantages and the reason why it will be leading and successful in its market. Then add appendices: the documents you mentioned during the different parts of the business plan, such as studies and market analyzes.
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