Startup Business Plan: What is it?

To achieve a goal, you need a plan first. Otherwise, it just a wish to achieve. Like that, every startup and business must have a plan to reach the goal. A business plan is all time recommendation before you go out to pitch opportunities. As per your concern, you are here to know  about startup business plan or a business plan.

As one said,

“A clear vision, backed by definite plans, gives you a tremendous feeling of confidence and power.”

So what exactly does a business plan do? What does it mean? Here’s the detailed explanation to know what it is.

What is a business plan?

A business plan is a strategy to achieve your target. It is a detailed description of your business that what you’ll plan to do next and how you will do it. A new business or already existing business needs it to create a roadmap for both operation and success. It’s like jotted down dots on paper to make a piece of art.

Business Plan Definition: It is a written document that describes the marketing, operational and financial goals of a business.

A startup generally prepares a startup business plan to convince investors and clients for funds to get certain resources and abilities. At the other side, existing business creates it to change the direction for attracting new market opportunities.

The startup business plan helps to see your business’s future after three or five years. For that period, You must have knowledge about what is the different set of resources and abilities as well as assets and profits that you would have? This plan gives a complete view that how you will get there. It’s just like a guide for your business.

As long as I may concern, a startup business plan has become a fundamental tool for any startup business needs to set the priorities at the beginning of its operation. It gives the clear picture to enable owners of potential abilities, drawbacks, market misconceptions or other particular things which helps to take the right decisions. It also provides an overview of the target market where potential competitors are sustaining and how it will differentiate a new business from competitors.

  A Business Plan Answers These Questions

Just take a paper write it down answers to all the questions given below or you can save them into a word document.

1. Introduction of a business
2. What are the mission, Vision and Core Values?
3. Who is your team?
4. Which products or services do you sell?
5. Who do you sell your products or services?
6. How will you market your products or services?
7. Who are the potential competitors for you?
8. Find the right options for distributing and advertising your offers?
9. What will be the milestones and timelines to reach where you want to be?
10.  the sources of funding?
11. What is the budget plan to complete financial objectives?
12. At last, what must be the expected amount of cash flow (Return on Investments)?

Therefore, it can set a clear understanding for the recipients of a business plan, to start with the further process of writing a business plan. Along with these answers, an owner will get to know what type of financial planning required to keep the business up and growing.

How much longer a  business plan can be?

The length of the argumentative business plan can vary from business – to – business. In fact, the business plan is a combination of two distinct documents. The first document is a most important section, as it has an executive summary of business. It gets the reader impression to dive into some specific sections of the project. So the executive summary can be at most 10 pages long.

The other document covers product or services, market strategy, financial projections, and cash flow analysis etc. This one will vary between 15-20 pages in length. The length of a plan much depends on the nature of your business. It’s like if your concept is simple, you could able to express in a quick summary. On the other side, if you are into a new business or want to pitch your idea, it may need a bit of explanation to get through readers mind.

As a matter of fact, you can choose the right type of business plan for your startups or existing business. Depending on the concept behind your business and what problem your product/services intend to solve, you may need a different type of plan. The right plan selection is so important as it put a powerful impact on the presentation of your business plan.

The Right Type of Plan for Your Business

Business plans can be divided into three types. This includes single page, lean and standard business plans. The main purpose behind selecting a  type to deliver the right messages. It is not guaranteed that results would be great with elaborated one.

Single Page Plan:  It’s like a quick summary of your business. It describes all details about the business in a concise and clear way. This is the best approach for investors who have very less time to read detailed plans. This one-page plan is so great for startups and new businesses where you can sketch an idea in a broad way. Just think about writing small tasks on a napkin and connecting them into a goal. To know the concept of your business at a glance by the recipients, you can choose Single Page Plan.

The Mini Plan: This is a more detailed approach than single page plan. A Mini plan consists of  2 to 10 pages which include business concept, financial details, marketing strategies, revenue model and income projections etc. It’s used as tools for strategic planning and growth. The mini-plan focus exclusively on business objectives, tactics, milestones, financial statements, and budgets. What it does not include, company’s history, team structure and other certain information which has known by everyone.

It’s a management guide that works for both startups and existing businesses. Mainly entrepreneurs use five to ten pages to construct with valid details of the business. As a matter of fact, a mini plan can also serve valuable source for full-length plan later on.

The Standard Business Plan: The Standard or external business plan document is mainly used for outsiders to fund a large amount into the business and secondly, approval for a loan application. It is the extension of the mini plan.

Here, a business plan will clearly mention details that how potential funds are going to be used. As no investors just hand out cash without any benefits attached. They want to understand how their funds will be used and what the expected amount of return on investment is. Considerably, the investors look for good people to invest their funds, so it’s important to include biographies of each team members and add experience for the potential growth of your business.

Lastly, every month review and revision of business plan must be done after printing, as the reality of business and market may get change which results in a bad impact on goals you want to achieve.