My present research has shown that many are still in ignorance of how to write a
leading business plan. It is a necessity that every businessman
requires so as to
market his business to investors. Thus, I took a tour to get a sample
guide for all
entrepreneurs. I belief that its benefit will for you good.
Sample Business Plan Template
<<Company Logo>>
<<Company Name>>
Business plan
<<Prepared by:__________________>>
<<Date>>
Table of Contents
Page
Confidentiality Agreement ii
Executive Summary 1
Company Description 2
Promoters, shareholders and Board 2
Advisors 2
Products and services 2
Long Term Aim of Business 2
Objectives 2
S.W.O.T. Analysis 2
Market Analysis 3
Target market 3
Total market valuation 3
Targeted share 3
Market trends 3
Profile of competitors 3
Competitive advantage 4
Benefits to clients 4
Marketing/Sales Strategy 5
Income sources 5
Marketing strategy 5
Pricing 5
Advertising and Promotion 5
Sales Strategy 6
Research & Development 7
Patents, copyrights and brands 7
Product/Service Development 7
R&D 7
Staffing and Operations 8
Management Organisation Charts 8
Staffing 8
Training Plans 8
Operations 8
Financial Projections 9
Key Assumptions 10
Profit and Loss Accounts 11
Balance Sheets 12
Cashflow Projections 13
Sales Pipeline 14
Funding Requirements 15
Appendices 16
Confidentiality Agreement
The undersigned reader acknowledges that the information provided in this
business plan is confidential; therefore, the reader agrees not to
disclose it without
the express written permission of <<Company/Promoter>>.
It is acknowledged by the reader that information to be furnished in
this business
plan is in all respects confidential in nature, other than information
that is in the
public domain through other means, and that any disclosure or use of this
confidential information by the reader may cause serious harm or damage to
<<Company>>.
Upon request, this document is to be immediately returned to <<Company/
Promoter>>.
Signature
Name (printed)
Date
This is a business plan. It does not imply offering of securities.
1. Executive Summary
<< Introduce promoters here, and the reason you are now preparing this Business
Plan.
This section should not be completed until the business plan is
written. It will
highlight all milestones in the company's development over the next
five years. It
should sum up the following areas:
Purpose of the plan
Product or service and its advantages
Market opportunity
Management team
Track record, if any
Financial projections
Funding requirements
Financial projections should be summarised and highlighted. The
following format
is suggested as a guide:
Year 1Year 2Year 3SalesExportsNet Profit before TaxInvestmentEmployment
Remember that potential investors often make a provisional judgement based on
the executive summary, and that their decision to read the main body of the
business plan will depend on the information presented here. The appendices at
the back of the plan contain more detailed information to support the
main text of
the business plan. >>
2. Company Description
Promoters and Shareholders
<< Description of the people involved in starting the business:
Promoters
Management structure and areas of responsibility
Shareholders names, no. of shares, % shareholding and cash investment to date
Advisors
<< Financial, legal, and other advisors should be listed, with names,
addresses and
contact details. >>
Products and services
<< Explain clearly what your product or service is and what it does.
Background to its development
Benefits and Features
Unique selling points
Advantages to customers
Disadvantages or weak points
Future developments >>
Long Term Aim of the Business
<< State the long-term aim of the new business. >>
Objectives
<< State the specific milestones to be achieved by the company over
the next five
years (sales, exports, employment, product development, etc). >>
SWOT Analysis
<< Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the business and product or service,
the opportunities that exist in the marketplace, and the threats to
the viability of
the project. This is best done in a matrix diagram as follows:
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
>>
3. Market Analysis
<< This section covers market research and competitor analysis. You must show
that you have done the market research to justify the projections made in your
business plan. It must demonstrate that there is a viable market and
that you can
beat the competition in the market for sales. >>
Target Market
<< The market to which you are planning to sell the product or
service. Analyse the
segments of this market as follows:
Size of each market segment
Is the segment growing or declining?
Characteristics of potential customers in each segment >>
Total Market Valuation
<< Show the total potential value of the market for this type of
product or service,
in all the targeted markets, domestic and international. >>
Target Company revenue
<< These figures are the basis for the sales figures in your financial
projections
and must be based on realistic assessments. Include average deal size, length of
sales cycle, recurring revenues>>
Market Trends
<< Analyse what is happening in the market:
Recent changes
Future predictions
Drivers such as demographic changes, economic and legislative factors
Implications for your product or service
Your plans to meet future demands and changes in the market >>
Profile of Competitors
<<Analysis of your competitors in the market:
What are the competing products and services?
Profile of key players (company size, turnover, profitability etc) and
their market
share
Advantages and disadvantages of the competitors' offerings >>
Competitive Advantage
<< This is your assessment of why potential customers will choose to buy your
product in place of those profiled above. Advantages may include:
Unique features
Price
New technologies or systems
Better value to customers in terms of efficiency or ROI or cost/benefit ratios
Greater compatibility with existing systems
Include any independent validation or case studies >>
Benefits to Clients
<< This is what your product or service provides to potential
customers in terms of
their own business goals. Does your product or service enable them to:
Increase sales
Increase efficiencies
Save money?
Save time?
Maximise resources?
Reduce errors?
Reduce downtime?
Improve Customer Service, reduce churn, increase loyalty
What will buying your product or service actually do for the customer? >>
4. Marketing/Sales Strategy
<< This section sets out your strategies for reaching your target
market, arousing
their interest in your product or service, and actually delivering the
product or
service to them in sales. >>
Marketing Strategy
<< How you will position your product or service in the market and
differentiate it
from its competitors:
Which segments of the market will be targeted first and why?
How will this be developed to reach the full target market?
How will you differentiate your product or service?
What key benefits will be highlighted?
What potential customers have you already targeted?
Have you a test site in operation, and what feedback is coming from this?
What contacts can be used to generate market awareness and sales?
Who will do the marketing: staff, agency, reps? >>
Revenue Sources
<< What contributions to revenue and profit will your business have?
IrlEUUSRest of WorldProductsServicesLicencesAfter salesUpgrades
Sales Strategy
<< How you will sell your product or service to the target market.
Directly
Retail
Distributor
Agent
Sales rep
Website
Revenue Sharing Partners
Analyse for each method the costs involved, whether it will reach the intended
market efficiently, the control you would retain over the pricing and
positioning,
the logistics, and the overall integration with your marketing
strategy. State the
advantages of the methods you have chosen to sell your product or service. >>
Pricing
<< How you will set the price charged for your product or service.
Considerations
include:
Competitors' prices
Level of competition in the market
Perception of quality-price relationship by customers
Production costs and overheads
Chain of distribution and the added-value at each stage
The extent to which the buyer can control the price
State how each product or service will be priced, referring to the
income sources
above. >>
Marketing and Communications Strategy
<< How you will promote your product or service in the marketplace.
Advertising – where, when, how, to whom
Public relations
Direct marketing
Website and internet marketing
Exhibitions and conferences
Word of mouth >>
5. Research and Development
Technology Roadmap
<< Show the intended future development of your product or service,
i.e., changes
to meet future market demands, adaptations to international markets,
or upgrades.
Also detail plans for new products or services to add to the range.
Include
Team/Department structure
Methodology
Platforms used
Milestones to be achieved
System Overview Diagram>>
Research and Development
<< Indicate whether you will have ongoing R&D as an activity of the company,
what areas this will be exploring and what future contributions to the company
you expect from this research. >>
Technical Partners
<< List all partners and indicate nature of involvement >>
IP, Patents, Copyrights, Brands
<< Indicate any protection available for your product or service: whether the
technology can be or has been patented, whether you can avail of copyright or
trademark registration, and the brand image you intend to build up as
a protection
against competition. >>
6. Staffing and Operations
<< This is where you will outline the intended structure of the
company in terms of
management, number of employees, and the physical operational requirements to
produce or supply the product or service. >>
Management (including Board) Organisation Chart
<< Include a diagram of the way in which the management of the new venture will
be organised. This should show the areas of responsibility of each manager and
the employees to be taken on over the next three years. >>
Staffing
<< State what employees will be taken on over the next three years, with which
skills, in which areas of the business. >>
Training Plans
<< Outline the planned employee and management development to be undertaken
in order to maintain a skilled workforce. This should also tie in with
the future
market developments and any new product or service developments. >>
Operations
<< State the physical requirements of the business:
Premises
Equipment
Production facilities
Infrastructure
Communications facilities
Costs involved
Suppliers >>
7. Financial Projections
I Key Assumptions p
II Profit and Loss Accounts p
III Balance Sheets p
IV Cashflow p
Requirements for Preparation of Projections
Opening figures included based on latest Mgmt/Audited accounts
Shareholders Fund analysed into Share Capital, Share Premium and Retained
Profits
Sales Assumptions provided by unit, price segment & geography and reconciled to
pipeline
Expenditure categorised into R&D, Admin and Overheads and Promoters / key
managers salaries
Identification of monthly and cumulative company operational deficits
Sensitivity analysis may be required, detailing strategies to be
implemented if sales
or expenditure targets are not met.
Projections should identify separately Operational Cash Flow and external Cash
Injections
I Key Assumptions
<< This section reviews the key assumptions used in the financial
projections. It is
a guide to explain how key figures in the financial projections were arrived at.
Included here should be items such as:
Income sources
Number of employees projected for each year and their intended salaries
Projected investment in equipment and materials
Projected R&D costs
Depreciation allowed for
Expected rent and rates charges
Creditor days expected and debtor days allowed
Expense calculations
This section should be brief and to the point. Further detail
regarding these items
can be placed in the Appendices. >>
II Profit & Loss Accounts
<< Attach here projected profit and loss accounts for the first three
years of the
company's operations. >>
III Balance Sheets
<< Attach here projected balance sheets for the first three years of
the company's
operations. >>
IV Cashflow
<< Attach here a monthly cashflow prediction for the first two years of the
company's operations. >>
8. Sales Pipeline
Table as follows:
Name of CustomerSize of DealDate PO expectedProbability % of Getting Sale
9. Funding Requirements
<< State here the total funding requirements of the business, and how those are
intended to be provided. You will also need to state the approximate
breakdown of
how these funds are to be spent.
Sources:
Promoters' funds
Bank lending
Grants or loans from agencies
Investment already received
Investment sought
Required for:
Equipment
R&D
Marketing
Staffing >>
9. Appendices
<< This section is used to provide the detailed data on which the main
text of the
business plan is based, and to provide extra information of interest
to the readers
of the business plan. Items for inclusion in appendices vary from business to
business, but normally include some of the following:
Promoters' CVs
Detailed financial assumptions
Most recent Company Audited Accounts
Share Cap table and Investment history
Term Sheet from Potential Investors
Detailed market research findings
Promotional literature
Product or service information
Details of company website
Testimonials or letters of intent from customers >>
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