Now let's look at the first section of your business plan: The Executive Summary. Where your entrepreneurial dreams are concerned, you should do everything possible to set the stage for success. The owner of the company, Marty Cycle, has over 20 years experience in the bicycle business, having served as a product manager for Acme Cycles as well as the general manager of Epic Cycling. So where do you start? In our rental example, one problem is cycling enthusiasts who don't--or can't--travel with bikes. A good business plan anticipates and accounts for new competitors. It’s easier to do now as you have extensive knowledge about your market, target customer and your competitors. Do you purchase products from suppliers or wholesalers? Use simple terms and avoid industry buzzwords. If you plan to open a clothing store, you will compete with other clothing retailers in your area. The Management Team section for our cycling rental business could start something like this: Joe has over 20 years experience in the cycling business. You can use mind maps to visualize all this data to your audience. Your products and services have to stand out from the competition in some way. Once you identify your main competitors, answer these questions about each one. What ranks high in terms of importance? Backup for market research or competitive analysis, Additional financial documents or projections. For the most part rental bikes are more of a commodity. Thank you for the content which was very usefull for me. Start by evaluating the market at a relatively high level, answering some high-level questions about your market and your industry: Fortunately, you've already done some of the legwork. Competitive Analysis. Promotional events. In the competitive analysis section, you'll learn how successful your direct and … Who makes the decisions? understanding your market and the opportunities, skills, experiences, and resources your management team will need, Be as objective and logical as possible. To make the process easier, stick to analyzing companies you will directly compete with. Ltd. All rights reserved. Additional descriptions of products and services, Examples of marketing and advertising collateral. All slides are fully editable. For example, if your business involves a commission-compensated sales force, describe your Sales Programs and incentives. Products and Services. In other businesses and industries, answering the above questions can be more difficult. What does that mean for your business? For example, your Business Overview and Objectives section could start something like this: Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals is a new retail venture that will be located at 321 Mountain Drive, directly adjacent to an extremely popular cycling destination. Before you start a business you must be sure there is a viable market for what you plan to offer. question. Total households. Before you start to market your business, think about how you want your marketing to reflect on your business and your products and services. Do your homework and create a smart marketing program. The market potential inherent in those visitors is substantial. Or you might realize the fundamental idea for your business is sound, but how you implement that idea should change. Is research and development required, either during start up or as an ongoing operation? You can learn how to use these tools along with other useful techniques in more detail in; This is where you outline how you plan to market and sell your product. List them down in this section along with their expertise. What will you do to take advantage of the opportunity? Mary was the 2009 U.S. Mountain Biking National Champion. Check out sales materials and promotional literature. Providing an overview of your business can be tricky, especially when you're still in the planning stages. question. Then work to accomplish your secondary objective by focusing on your readers. 2. Even the most basic accounting software packages include templates and samples. How will they respond when you enter the market? Enlist your management team, or for a sole proprietor, trusted family and friends, to contribute to your plan using a checklist business … We will then leverage our customer base and position in the market to offer new equipment sales as well as comprehensive maintenance and service, custom equipment fittings, and expert trail advice. While you may use your business plan to attract investors, partners, suppliers, etc., never forget that the goal of your business plan is to convince you that your idea makes sense. With your marketing strategy, you have to consider factors like your marketing or communication channels, marketing goals, marketing budgets, resources etc. If you need seed money from a bank or friends and relatives, your business plan can help you make a great case. If that's the case, provide detail on segmentation that supports your plan. Through a market analysis, you can find enough detail to define your target market, its size, customer segments, and their needs. Why do customers need and why will they be willing to purchase your products and services? Is the overall industry growing, stable, or in decline? It can be tough to predict when and where new competitors may pop up. You'll need employees with a very particular set of skills to serve those customers, and you'll need an operating plan to guide your everyday activities. Participation and population trends favor our venture: According to the latest studies, recreation spending in our target market has grown by 14 percent per year for the past three years. What niche will you attempt to carve out? Other people may see the same opportunity you see. You know what you will provide to meet your customer's needs. In particular we forecast a spike in demand in 2015 since the national road racing championships will be held in Richmond, VA. A joint venture is a formal agreement to share the work--and share the revenue and profit. (Creating an organization chart might be helpful.) In this post we have explained how to create a business plan presentation step-by-step. The Products and Services section for our cycling rental business could start something like this: Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals will provide a comprehensive line of bicycles and cycling equipment for all ages and levels of ability. How to write a Business Plan? It shows how and when cash will flow through the business; without cash, payments (including salaries) cannot be made. Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals will offer road and mountain bike rentals in a strategic location directly adjacent to an entrance to the George Washington National Forest. Identify your industry. Spending ability is important. Over time we will be able to market specifically to those customers. As a new company, you will likely be an unknown quantity in your market. Lending naturally involves risk, and a great business plan can help lenders understand and quantity that risk, increasing your chances for approval. That's why marketing plans and strategies are critical to business success. They can make or break a sale within a certain period of time. Tout d’abord, avant de présenter votre business plan à des partenaires potentiels, il est indispensable de le valider avec un professionnel (un … Otherwise, include staffing plans in the Operations section. This way anyone who refers to the mind map can easily access the linked resources from one single place. According to third-party research data, approximately 30 percent of all cyclists would rather rent than transport their own bicycles, especially those who are visiting the area for reasons other than cycling. Are products or services in development or existing (and on the market)? (For example, before there was Federal Express, overnight delivery was a niche business served by small companies. The key is to describe what you will do for your customers--if you can't, you won't have any customers. What is the size of your intended market? For example, if you manufacture a product or provide a service and will hire a key skilled employee, describe that employee's credentials. She worked in product development for High Tec frames, creating custom frames and frame modifications for professional cyclists. Once your Summary is complete, you can use it as an outline for the rest of your plan. How much? While we expect sales to rise, for the purposes of performing a conservative analysis we have projected a zero growth rate for the next three years. If you do seek financing or outside capital, you may not include all the detail in your business plan--but you will have answers to any operations questions at your fingertips. This tools helps you depict and analyze how your (potential) target customer perceives the brands or products of your competitors. You can also find templates in Excel and Google Docs. In our case, the cycling rental business does not require much segmentation. Are competing businesses growing or scaling back their operations? This is the section where you provide all financial information related to your business. GST302 – Business Creation and Growth, NOUN Students GST302 Business Plan Submission and Presentation Date in 2020_2 Semester. In the Products and Services section of your business plan, you will clearly … For a business plan presentation, you can use a digital database of your financial information with a simple Creately mind map. As you develop your Summary, you will naturally focus on the issues that contribute most to potential success. Here are some of the basic steps involved in creating your marketing plan: Then focus on providing detail and backup for your marketing plan. Here are some more tips on making your presentation a hit. What are your initial staffing needs? But there are other ways to predict when competition may follow you into a market. Your marketing program should consistently reinforce and extend your brand. However, sellers of new equipment do indirectly compete with our business since a customer who buys equipment no longer needs to rent equipment. You've already defined and mapped out your products and services. It’s a great way to prepare your competitor analysis data to be added to your business plan presentation. Now distill what you've learned by answering these questions in your business plan: The Competitive Analysis section for our cycling rental business could start something like this: Our nearest and only competition is the bike shops in Harrisonburg, VA. Our next closest competitor is located over 100 miles away. This is to inform all National Open University Of Nigeria(NOUN) students that are offering GST302(Business creation and Growth) that Uploading and Presentation of GST302 business plan … Some may pertain to you; others may not. Over time, however, we do expect equipment rentals and sales to increase as the popularity of cycling continues to rise. … © Cinergix Pvt. Some visual techniques you can use in this section to present your data are. It provides concrete, factual evidence showing your idea for a business is in fact sound and reasonable and has every chance of success. Just as in the Market Opportunity section, you may want to include a few more categories. It's easy to identify weaknesses in your competition, but less easy (and a lot less fun) to recognize how they may be able to outperform you: While these questions may seem like a lot of work to answer, in reality the process should be fairly easy. Our website will attract potential visitors to the resort. He served for 10 years as a product manager for Acme Bikes. Be clear and to the point. Business proposals are always vital to a company. How will you react to and overcome new challenges? SWOT Analysis Templates and Examples for Any Situation, The Easy Guide to Making a Dichotomous Key with Editable Examples, How to Visualize A Customer-Centric Strategy, The Best Ideation Techniques for Remote Teams, How to Effectively Manage Your Time While Working Remotely, How to Write a Business Project Proposal that Gets Approved, Building Culture While Staying Remote: How to Conduct Virtual Icebreakers, The Quick Guide to Running Productive Retrospectives Remotely, The Complete Guide to Virtual Strategic Planning, The value you can deliver to the customer via your product or service, Which customer problems/s that you are trying to solve, Which is the job that your product helps the customer to finish, What are the different products you are offering to each customer segment. In our example, defining the above is fairly simple. Who is responsible for which aspects of the business? In fact, that's expected; no one does anything worthwhile on their own. This section is required if you are presenting your business plan to investors. With great timing, solid business skills, entrepreneurial drive, and a little luck, some founders build thriving businesses without creating even an informal business plan. Then Financial Analysis can help you answer the most important business question: "Can we make a profit?". Determining if an idea fails on paper can help a prospective founder avoid wasting time and money on a business with no realistic hope of success. While your business plan is primarily intended to convince. Some areas are more affluent than others. Please download the file by clicking on the link provided. It’s a tool you can use to ensure that your product or service fits the requirements of your customer. After that he was the operations manager of Single Track Cycles, a full-service bike shop located in Bend, Oregon. You cannot market and sell to customers until you know who they are. On the other hand, they offer inferior-quality equipment and their location is significantly less convenient. Don't try to "hype" your business--focus on helping a busy reader get a great feel for what you plan to do, how you plan to do it, and how you will succeed. Our marketing strategy will focus on three basic initiatives: We will not be the low-cost provider for our target market. Our goal is to provide mid- to high-end equipment. Most products and services do not. However, we will create web-based loyalty programs to incent customers to set up online profiles and reserve and renew equipment rentals online, and provide discounts for those who do. How will your operations change as the company grows? Customers can extend the rental term online without visiting the store. Say you sell jet skis; anyone under the age of 16 and over the age of 60 or so is unlikely to be a customer. If your business takes off, is a steady supply of products available? What is the timeline for bringing new products and services to market? Evaluate your competition. If your business is product-focused, you will want to spend more time describing those products. Product development? Those employees will be attracted through competitive wages as well as discounts products and services. We will partner with local businesses that serve our target market to provide discounts and incentives. What steps will you take to cut costs if the company initially does not perform up to expectations? Use an organizational chart to represent your team, their roles and skills. Most great businesses can be described in several sentences, not several pages. That’s why including them in your business plan presentation is a foolproof way to ensure that it’s readily welcomed by your audience and digested without confusion. Is your market likely to grow? Or say you plan to sell services to local businesses; in that case, try to determine the amount they currently spend on similar services. Our two primary competitive advantages will be location and lower costs. Research? They learn from mistakes, and adapt and react to changes: changes in the economy, the marketplace, their customers, their products and services, etc. Do your key leaders have industry experience? 460,000 people visited the George Washington National Forest during the last 12 months. If you are pitching a new product to your investors, you may also want to include your funding requirements. Your ops plan should detail strategies for managing, staffing, manufacturing, fulfillment, inventory--all the stuff involved in operating your business on a day-to-day basis. Web initiatives. You can also determine income levels by age group, by ethnic group, and by gender. Financial projections describe where you plan to go. In general terms, potential customers are the people in the market segment you plan to target. If you already own an existing business, summarizing your current operation should be relatively easy; it can be a lot harder to explain what you plan to become. What benefits do you deliver? For example, you might decide to provide information about Market Segments. Learn how to write a business plan quickly and efficiently with a business plan template. What competitor strengths will you need to overcome to be successful? Retail, wholesale, service, manufacturing, etc. Consider your brand. If one does want to dig deeper, fine--he or she can check out the documents in the Appendix.