2. Business plan as a guideline of business.
Purpose of business plan:
- For external use: acquire credit, attract investor, venture capitalist, gain fund
- For internal use: guide direction, define activities need to be done, how resource is allocated.
Elements of business plan
- Executive summary: summarize all the detail of the business plan in 2-3 pages. Must carefully write it, otherwise, people may not continue reading the other parts.
- Company description: “Story telling” Show the past, present and future of business. Motivation of business. Company background.
- Management and organization: how the company is organized and what each individual’s duties and responsibility are. Who are the management team, what are the HR policies?
- Industry and market analysis: Analyze the trend of industry in which the business is operated. The market characteristic, market size, potential of the market.
- Competitor analysis: Who are the competitors, what are they strength and weakness. How would we beat them?
- Product and services (operational issues): What is the product, how would we sell it?
- Marketing strategy: Describe sales and marketing strategies. The 4’Ps.
- Financial plan: Cost calculation, budget needed, sales projection.