Creating a Successful Business Plan

The first step in developing your business plan is to conduct research and analysis so that you can better understand your target market and hone your business concept. In this lesson, you'll learn about the kinds of information you need to analyze to identify the characteristics of your potential customers. This analysis drives your choices of product and marketing strategies.

In this lesson, you'll continue your research and analysis, but with a different focus. Competing effectively requires a deep understanding of your industry and competition. In this lesson, you'll learn to gauge how your business is positioned within the industry and how your products or services compare to the competition. This analysis will provide enough information for you to begin developing your pricing strategy.

It's time to put your research and analysis to work! In this lesson, you'll use what you learned about your industry, target market, and competition to refine your business concept. Your analysis will inform decisions about the intent and focus of your business. We'll start at a high level and identify your vision, mission, goals, and objectives. These components will guide and focus your decisions as you create your business plan. You'll also identify your unique value proposition that differentiates your product from the competition and communicates its value to customers.

Get ready; it's time to move into the core of your business plan! In this lesson, you'll identify your business structure and start building a team of experts who will provide invaluable feedback as you develop and implement your business plan. You'll also begin the exciting task of describing your products by discussing their target market, costs, prices, competition, sourcing, and distribution plans.

Your proposed marketing strategies are a critical part of your business plan. In this lesson, we'll cover some marketing topics you need to understand as you develop your marketing plan. You'll learn about the decisions needed to refine your strategies for the 4Ps: product, price, promotion, and place. We'll discuss strategies for your brand, pricing structure, promotional mix, and distribution channels.

Now that you understand what to include in your marketing plan, it's time to start drafting it. You'll begin by defining marketing objectives that will guide your pricing, promotional mix, and distribution strategies. You'll also make some decisions about your marketing budget and staff.

Your operations plan will describe the processes you use to deliver your product, whether it's a tangible good or a service. You'll discuss the daily operational requirements related to equipment and staff. You'll also describe your plans for inventory and supplier management, quality control, and compliance. Operations planning may sound tedious, but if you take the time to analyze your business processes and establish plans for these areas, the result will be a more fine-tuned version of your organization and how you deliver your product.

Business owners are often intimidated by financial data and statements. Don't worry; after this lesson, you'll be more comfortable with the financial information you need to include in your business plan. We'll introduce three important statements: the balance sheet, the income statement, and the statement of cash flows, and you'll learn how projections are developed to create these statements for a new business. We'll also consider several important financial ratios for securing funding and evaluating performance after startup.

The financial plan may be the most important part of your business plan. While all the other sections help communicate your business model, the financial plan demonstrates its viability. The projections in this section of your plan should reflect all the research and decisions you've made about your business and products. If your financial projections are clear, accurate, and fully supported by your research, you are well on your way to creating a successful business plan!

Even if you are not seeking funding for your business, you'll still benefit from this lesson. We'll talk about the different types of loans, government programs, and grants available to businesses and show you how to learn more about these financing options. You'll also learn how to access funding and other support from venture capitalists, angel investors, or business incubators.

Congratulations, you're finally ready to start compiling a draft of your business plan! In this lesson, you'll combine all the sections you've labored over so diligently. With the addition of an executive summary and your supporting documentation, you'll have a complete first draft. All your hard work and commitment during this course have led you to this exciting milestone! You're not done yet, though. You'll need to thoroughly review your business plan yourself and garner feedback from your trusted team of advisers before you're ready to present your plan to potential investors, lenders, and other stakeholders.