Do you need a business plan? We give you the keys to make it

Do you want to launch a new product or project and need to make a business plan? We tell you what it is, how to do it and when it can be used.

Undertaking or launching a new product or service is quite a complicated task, in fact, according to statistics, 80% of companies do not last 5 years. Some of the reasons why businesses fail are the following:

• Lack of planning. If you do not know the objectives of your business in the short, medium and long term, you will work aimlessly and without focus, so you will go straight to failure.
• Little training . Running a business correctly requires knowledge in many areas such as tax, legal, financial, marketing, sales or human resources. Although you can delegate part of these tasks, it is important that you have training to understand how to run a company and make it successful.
• Insufficient financial resources . Any company needs money to be born and evolve. Lack of funding often prevents businesses from thriving. In many cases, the sources of financing are not known or the project does not sell well to potential investors.
• Lack of leadership . Every business needs a leader, a person capable of involving the team and making it work for common goals. If there is no leader, the staff will be demotivated and will end up leaving the company.
• Excess expenses. Not knowing how each euro is spent in a company can be a problem, because it can cause excessive and unnecessary expenses that end up affecting the liquidity of the company.

What is a business plan and what is it for?

A business plan is a document that arises after analyzing and designing a business or a project.

The business plan can be used to:

• Have a complete picture of the business . The business plan analyzes in detail all the aspects of the company or the project, thus giving a true picture of its viability.
• Know what the objectives are . A business plan will help you know what goals you want to achieve and in how long.
• Define strategies . Based on the objectives, you can develop a strategic plan in which the actions to be carried out to achieve those objectives are defined.
• Request financing . When financing is requested, both from banks and investors, the business plan is the fundamental instrument so that the project and its chances of success are known.
• Analyze the viability of a project, product or service . Developing a business plan can help you to know if the product or service can be really viable in the market, if there are interested people and if a sufficient profit can be obtained for the business to prosper.

The development of a business plan is complex, so it is important to have a business consultancy to guide you and advise you on all the steps to follow.

What content does a business plan have?

A business plan must contain some basic parts that are usually the following:

• Definition of the project . This is the part in which the project is presented and what it consists of is explained. It is essential to draw attention to this part so that the person reading the business plan continues reading with interest. In general, it is explained how the project was born and what objectives it has.
• Presentation of the team . Behind all projects there are people and team members are essential for the business to continue. It is about giving a brief description of each member of the team, their training and their experience related to the business to be developed.
• Marketing plan. This section describes the products or services to be sold with all their characteristics, including a market study, the sales plan and the communication and advertising strategy.
• Production plan . The way to produce the product or provide the service, the machinery that is needed, the suppliers and the storage needs are detailed.
• Human resources plan. It is necessary to detail the people who are going to be necessary in the company (their functions, their training and their experience) and prepare the organization chart. In addition, it should be described how the selection processes will be carried out and what salary costs each employee will have.
• Financial plan . It is one of the most important sections because it tries to establish whether the business or project can be profitable or not. It includes a calculation of the necessary investment, financing (both own and third parties) and fixed and variable costs, among other aspects.
• Legal form of the company . It establishes what form it will have and what the regulations in this regard, as well as the procedures to be followed and their cost.

The development of a business plan is the linchpin of any company, not only when it is created but also when a product or service is launched, and it requires a detailed study of the business to be useful.

Posted by: Abdul Rimaaz