Business Planning Is Essential For Any Business

https://ift.tt/32UWfl3 A Business Plan is also known as a: Business Proposal Marketing Plan Business Strategy Marketing Strategy Sales Plan Why do I need a Business Plan? Lenders and investors are constantly presented with new business proposals. If you provide all the required information in a consistent format then lenders and investors can make an efficient and fair analysis about the viability of your business ideas. By preparing a comprehensive business plan you send a message to your lenders and investors that you have already made an objective assessment of your business ideas and that you are serious about your business plan. This is also the same for online sellers to access brands and even some market places. What is Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)? In a manufacturing environment, the Cost of Goods Sold includes the material costs AND the direct labor costs necessary to produce finished goods. In a simple retail or wholesale environment, COGS can be calculated as beginning inventory plus purchases minus ending inventory. Ideally, this indicates the inventory consumed in the reporting period. What are the benefits of a Business Plan? Benefits of a Business Plan include: Ensures you take a disciplined approach to analyze your business ideas. Shows your investors and lenders that you have systematically analyzed your business ideas. Helps you clearly define your goals and what you want to accomplish. Helps you identify and analyze your risks as well as your opportunities. Helps you assess the strength of your target market. Helps you define your day-to-day business processes and challenges. Helps you analyze costs and capital requirements. What is included in a Business Plan? While a Business Plan may vary in how it is organized, it can include: Executive Summary: This portion of the plan summarizes your company. It can include an overview of your company's management structure, a description of your product/service, your goals, and a summary of your finances and marketing strategy. Business Description and Mission Statement: This is a brief rundown of your business's history, ownership, and its mission or vision statement. Product or Service: Here you can include a breakdown of what your product or service is, its unique features, any patents you may have, as well as any future products you want to develop. Marketing Strategy: Your marketing strategy is how you plan to get your product or service in front of customers. This is where you can include your ideas for promotion (online/traditional methods), as well as how you physically plan to sell your product or service (brick-and-mortar, e-commerce, etc.) Competitors Analysis: This section describes your competition and how you intend to compete against their current strategies. SWOT: SWOT is an acronym for "Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats." A SWOT analysis evaluates these specific aspects of your business. Operations Overview: An operations overview provides a glimpse into the daily operations of your business, including the management and staffing structure, human resources plan, your physical operational facility, and your production methods, such as quotas or manufacturing details. Financial Plan: Your financial plan may include your company's income (profit and loss) statements. It can also encompass your capital requirements if you are pitching your ideas to investors. In that case, you may describe the investment amount you require and how you plan to repay this capital in a repayment plan. How to write a business plan? Research is your best friend. Find out whatever you can about businesses, market and competitors, this will give you a head start into drafting a business plan. I think this step-by-step guide by Entrepreneur.com is rather helpful. I’d suggest this as a compulsory read for those who want to write up a business plan for startups. Think about the --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/roger-keyserling/support

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