Business plans (1)

• What is a business plan?

  A business plan is a document that sets out the nature of a business, information about its functional areas, its future objectives, and strategies for achieving its objectives.
• Executive summary

  The executive summary will briefly describe the business opportunity that is to be exploited. This should summarise the strategies that will be employed and how finance will be obtained.
• Objectives are the goals/results that a business wants to achieve. Business objectives are often written in a SMART format. They should be:

  Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time bound
• Marketing plan

  This is information about the target market and the competition. This section may contain information on market research
• Operations plan

  The operations plan will include details of where the business will be located, production methods and any equipment required
• Human resources plan

  Details of the owner(s) and management team will be outlined along with their credentials and experience.
• Financial plan

  Various types of financial forecasting will be required, including a sales forecast, a cash flow forecast, profit and loss and balance sheet forecasts, and breakeven analysis.