business plan examples for student

business plan examples for student

Creating a Successful Business Plan

1. Introduction

A good business plan makes sure you stay on track. It involves doing only the things that you have planned to do and avoiding things that are not in your plan. If you have a good business plan, you will know when to change your original plan. This can be a result of an increase in sales, changes in the market, new competition, or a new product. All of these changes require that you re-evaluate your business and marketing plan and change the timing or the strategies. A business plan can take time to write and many hours of research, and because of that, it’s very discouraging when you can’t seem to get it right. What are you doing wrong? How do you know you’re doing it right? What is the “right” answer?

Every year, there are thousands of businesses that start. What will make your business any different? If you have a business idea and take the time to read this selection, you’ll learn how to start with a “good” business plan. A great business plan will always include a strategic and aggressive marketing plan. This typically consists of four different marketing strategies: “capture the market” to generate a “buzz” about your company, “build sales momentum” and finally “follow through”. It’s very simple to do business these days. However, with the right business plan and the right public, you will generate just the right amount of revenue to keep the business running strong.

2. Executive Summary

Your company’s profile should touch on the what, where, when and how of your business. Specifically what it is that your business will do. What customer need will you be fulfilling. How does it benefit them? How are you going to deliver, and how does your business differ from the present competition? Now tell the investor the grand scheme of things for your business. What are the next few steps for your business? Where do you picture your business in a few years, and how are you going to get there? This is your vision. You want to explain this vision in a manner that the investor can be a part of it, i.e. he will want to invest in your idea. Finally, relay what it is that you (and your business) are looking for, and exactly why you are looking for it. Make sure the viewers are compelled to read your business plan. To sum it up, create excitement. Spark interest. But don’t lose realism. Make sure the plan is clear and concise. Although it is at the start of the business plan, right now is your only chance to convince the reader, and if the plan doesn’t hold water, this is where it ends for your potential investors read of your business plan.

Your executive summary should summarize the rest of the business plan. The key is to grab the reader’s attention. If you don’t provide enough excitement, those who read it (if anyone) will simply put the summary down and forget about it. But don’t fall into this trap: Make sure your excitement is not just fluff. Investors will know if you are not being genuine. Briefly talk about what you are passionate about. Why are you starting your business? How can you relay that passion to others? Your purpose is to get the readers to believe that they will be making a good investment if you let them in on this great opportunity. Now that you have their attention, elaborate on exactly how this business is going to be a good investment. Succinctly describe your business strategy.

Your executive summary is a snapshot of your business plan as a whole and touches on your company profile and goals. Read these tips about what to include. While the executive summary is the first part of any business plan, it is often the last part of the business plan to be written. This is due to its nature as a summary. In addition to trying to be an overview, it has to also entice the reader to read the rest of the business plan.

3. Market Analysis

C. Make a comprehensive market size analysis. The goal is to make a microcosm of the target market, enabling you to target the exact same customer as your competitors. First try aggregating the revenue of the top competitors of the industry. Case data such as annual reports should indicate the amount of revenue that is spent in capital expenditure projects related to your product, so your aim should be to multiply the amount of product related project and your competitor’s average revenue to create a more accurate market size. Then use a top-down approach by looking for case data that shows what percentage of a company’s revenue is spent on your product at an industry or division level. Finally, this can be crossed with employment and wage occupations statistics to make the most accurate forecast of the market and the subsegments in which the product has major demand. High growth consulting endeavors often end up making a simplistic revenue-based forecast using only one or two variables, but the aforementioned methodology lets you see why and how the market is at a certain size, and what areas are more lucrative than others. This is very beneficial knowledge for the entrepreneur.

B. You should look at the market from the prospective of the industry you have chosen. Look at the market through the eyes of your major competitors. How do they perceive the market, what are the triggering events that make them consider reaction, what are the key factors to their market success, and how does that affect your business endeavor? This can allow you to look at the market size and forecast through a different perspective.

A. Define the industry in terms of historical background, the geographic area it services, and the product it offers. What are the products and who are the customers? How is this industry structured? What are the dynamics of the industry? Are there erratic market cycles, or is the industry in a steady state?

4. Business Strategy

A business strategy is an improvement on the background of your business idea and environment. It is sometimes compared to a game. In starting a business, there is always a gamble. An effective business strategy will help you determine where to spend your energy and resources. This enables you to increase the chance of success. A business strategy is generally a long-term action plan designed to achieve a particular goal or set of objectives. Successful business strategies can help build a sustainable competitive advantage. A competitive advantage is the advantage you have over your rivals that is usually short-lived, and the competitive advantage you have over your rivals is sustained over a long period. The primary role of a business strategy is to ensure that resources and energy are not wasted. This is equivalent to working hard at something that you later found was the wrong thing to do. A good business strategy helps you avoid squandering. A comprehensive business strategy usually consists of marketing tactics, big and small tactics, and brand tactics.

5. Financial Projections

Revenue and expense estimates are central to any business plan. A business plan is created to guide your business to success. Try to think of it as a GPS for your business. You will use the plan to determine where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there. It will also be used to obtain funding from banks or investors, so it is important to have a well-thought-out plan to present. Financial projections are either your map or GPS to your business plan depending on how you want to look at it. All roads (marketing) lead to a prospective revenue and the expenses that are later detailed in your financial projection. By creating a detailed map of your revenues and expenses, it allows you to make many what-if decisions. For example, what happens to your plan if you must delay the launch of a product? What are the key expenses you must control to be successful? How will changes in your marketing program affect your business? If you don’t have a plan in place to answer these questions, it’s going to be much harder to steer your business in the right direction and keep steering it in that direction. Most financial projections are composed of the following: – Sales Forecast – Expense Budget – Cash Flow Statement – Break Even Analysis – Some form of a contingency plan.