Writing Your Business Plan - Training Transcript

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Writing Your Business Plan

Training Transcript
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Free Online Business Training - Week Two - Writing Your Business Plan
www.baanabaana.com | Facebook.com/Baanabaana | @Baanabaana | info@baanabaana.com

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(Slide 1)
Welcome
Hello and welcome to Week Two of our free business training webinar series. Again, my name
is Sirra Ndow and I will be your trainer for the training sessions.

Last week we explored what it means to own a business, how suited we were to becoming an
entrepreneur, what we envisioned when we think of being our own boss, how to find out what
our options were and how to access and evaluate what would work best for us.

(Slide 2)
Training Overview
Today we will move on and take our business vision further – Writing Your Business Plan.

(Slide 3)
Writing Your Business Plan
The areas we will explore in the section are:

What Is A Business Plan?
Why Write A Business Plan?
How Can A Business Plan Be Used?
Anatomy Of A Business Plan
Steps In Writing A Business Plan
What To Do / What Not To Do

(Slide 4)
What Is A Business Plan

Wikipedia defines a business plan as “…a formal statement of a set of business goals, the
reasons they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals”


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and

Susan Urquhart Brown, Author of The Accidental Entrepreneur defines it as with a little more
details as “…a document that precisely defines your business, identifies your business
objectives, describe your strategies to reach the business objectives, and includes key
financials such as balance sheet and a profit and loss statement”

Your business plan is quite simply meant to be a road map, a tool to guide you in your journey
to becoming a successful business owner, – from start up to managing to growing your
business.

A business plan can be as simple as a one page business plan or it can be extensive and
detailed depending on how you plan to use it.

(Slide 5)
Why Write A Business Plan?

Writing a business plan can be hard. It can also take time and involve quite a bit of effort and
costs so why bother?

Going through the process help focus your energy and thinking on defining your goals,
objectives and the strategies that you will use to achieve them. The clearer your goals, the
easier it will be to implement the strategies to get you there

The process will gives you the opportunity to systematically and objectively access your vision

When you are clear on what needs to be done and to what end, it will be better able to
prioritize

Earlier in the year I worked on a business plan that I believed was brilliant. Everything was
great for the most part except that when I did the financials; it showed that I will be running
out of cash two years into that business venture if I used the numbers I had so a business plan
can identify shortcomings and help avert such consequences

More information and clarity of purpose simply make for better decision for the most part


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Just as a turn-by turn road map to your destination does not mean you will not miss the way
or end up in a ditch, writing a business plan does not guarantee a successful business. It
makes getting back on track easier and quicker

(Slide 6)
How Can A Business Plan Be Used?

This is an important question to ask and answer before you set out to invest in writing a
business plan or having one written for you because the end use can make a difference for
example the focus and level of details you will need to include if you are writing a business
plan to present to bankers or investors to get funding will probably be different than if you are
writing a plan simply to track performance.

A business plan can be created for an internal audience and as a startup, operational and
management tool or put together for an external audience such as lenders and potential
buyers. There will most likely be more depth, details, and formality for a business plan
intended to external audiences.

The top 4 bullet points on the list are internal audience and the bottom half are considered an
external audience.

(Slide 7)
Anatomy Of A Business Plan?

While there is no hard or fast rule about the how a business plan should be organized, it is a
common enough document for your audience to expect certain essential elements that is
presented clearly and is professional. In fact, some lenders/investors may have certain
requirements both in terms of content and layout.

There are thousands of business plan samples and templates out there. It is good to review
some samples out there but remember to focus and refine your plan based on your needs.
Keep it simple. Scale your plan based on your needs.


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(Slide 8)
Title / Cover page
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
General Company Description
Market Analysis
Products / Services
Marketing & Sales Plan
Operational Plan
Management & Organization
Financial Plan & Projections
Appendix

(Slide 9)

Title Page

The title page identifies your business and should generally include the date of the plan,
business and contact information such as business address, telephone number as well.

This is a good place to start making yourself stand out with you logo, slogans, company colors
etc.

(Slide 10)

Table Of Contents

The reality is that not everyone will read your plan from cover to cover. Each audience will be
interested in specific sections and would want to jump to that specific section.


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(Slide 11)

Executive Summary

This section may be the most important part of your business plan. It should give a clear,
concise overview of your business concept, written in a professional yet positive and
enthusiastic tone to convey your confidence in the opportunity you see and your business’s
strategy for succeed.

If you are looking for a loan, be more specific and state how much you need, how the money
will be used and how you intend to pay it back

(Slide 12)

General Company Description

Help your audience understand your company. Provide a high level review of the company
through your mission statement, company objectives i.e why you are in business (which must
be specific), the qualities, qualifications and experience your bring to the business, products an
services you offer including your Unique Selling Points

(Slide 13)

Market Research

 The general industry you operate / will be operating in - understand the characteristics
of the industry within which your business will operate (major players?, trends,
challenges)
 Your target customers - who are they? your primary or secondary market and the size of
it
 The Competition. What alternatives does your target market have? – direct competitors
(ie those that offer the same product/service as you, those that offer similar
products/services etc.
 SWOT Analysis – indentify and describe your company’s greatest Strengths and
Weakness, the market opportunity and Threats you face /may face


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(Slide 14)

Product(s) / Service(s)

 Your products or services – exactly what are you selling?
 Your USP (unique Selling Points) – what makes your product /service stand out from
your competitors?
 Features & Benefits -
 Positioning in market - How will your products or services be packaged to match the
expectations of your customers and your business’s position in the marketplace (low,
middle or high end)?
 Stage – is it just an idea, a prototype or fully fledged product?
 Sourcing - your suppliers

(Slide 15)

Marketing & Sales Plan

 Delivery channel – How will your products/services reach your customers? online, brick-
and-mortar store front, home deliveries etc
 Pricing Strategy - Explain how you set your prices, including information about
breakeven, competitors’ pricing. What will be your customer service and credit
policies?
 Advertising and Promotions - How you will market your product or service – online,
offline, affiliate programs?
 Sales Forecast – based on sales history or market research and industry data if yours is a
new business; take your breakeven point into consideration and when you project that
you will first reach breakeven (if yours is a startup business).
 List assumptions you used in calculating the numbers. Estimate conservatively so that
your sales forecast is not unrealistic.


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(Slide 16)

Operational & Management Plan

Depending on your type of business, the section may include:

 Location & Facilities - Where is/will the business be located? How will space be used?
Describe the facility, lease, maintenance and improvements
 Production, Inventory & Break-Even Point – Detailed description of production process,
how many products/services would you need to sell before you break even i.e recover
your costs
 Equipment & Technology – what equipment and technology will your company use?
 Record keeping systems – what systems do you / would you have in place to keep track
of information (computerized and paper copies) about customers, suppliers, finances
and other essential business records like leases, tax records, legal documents, etc.?
 Legal Business Structure – legal business form, ownership agreements etc
 Management & Personnel – the role of the people behind the company? Organizational
structure; How will your business be managed on a daily basis?
 Consultants & Advisors - Who is your accountant or bookkeeper? Who is your attorney?
Who are the people you can turn to for advice?

(Slide 17)

Financial Plan and Projections

 Personal Financial Statement – complete statement of owner(s) net worth, credit
worthiness, source of investment
 Start Up Expenses and Capitalization - List your start up cost with actual or estimated
amounts (explain how you estimated). Describe your strategy for capitalizing your
business through your own investment and that of others, as well as any loan proceeds
you intend to apply for
 Cash Flow Projections and Assumptions – At least 12 Month’s worth of Cash Flow
Projection, noting assumptions about revenue and expenses. Include loan proceeds and
how they will be used and investment and loan proceeds matching your capitalization
description. Also include loan repayments in your expenses.


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 Loan Requests - name of the lending organization, the amount of the loan request and
how the money will be used by the business. What this will accomplish for the
business? In what time period? What collateral do you own e.g. real estate,
investments, that you offering as a guarantee for the loan?

(Slide 18)

Appendices

All relevant supporting documents which may include:

 Statistical Analysis
 Forecast, Cash Flow Projection, Competitive Analysis sheets and charts
 Copies of legal documents and agreements
 Marketing material
 Key employee resume(s)

(Slide 19)

Suggestions When Writing Your Business Plan

 Be flexible - See you first attempt as a draft that will be subject to revision
 Identify deal breakers/killers - factors that can shut down your business
 Don’t plan too far out – conditions can chance rapidly
 Get a loan for the amount you need but include a cushion for contingencies
 Be clear on your key success factors – what are your assumptions?
 Test and refine your business model and plan before you expand


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(Slide 20)

What To Do / What Not To Do

Do Don’t
 prepare a clear and complete plan  be overly optimistic or pessimistic
 present your business plan nicely  underplay weaknesses
 conduct a details research  under estimate competitors
 ask experts for their advice.  pin your success entirely on your USP
 frequently modify your business plan to  try to serve everyone
account for changing conditions.

(Slide 21)
This completes our session today. Many thanks to you all for being here. I sincerely hope you
found this session useful enough to join us again next week to talk about structuring your
business. Please help us improve this training by giving your feedback on the survey we will be
sending along.

Have a great weekend!


Writing Your Business Plan - Training Transcript

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