Welcome back to better business planning with the help of Paradiso Insurance. In our first blog in this series, we reviewed getting started with your business plan, but now we are moving onto writing the plan itself. When most professionals consider writing their business plans, a few things come to mind. Some people believe that it must be difficult but despite that, most people share the common belief that having a business plan will help their business stay prepared for the upcoming year.
Let’s review a few ways that you can simplify your business plan so that you’re ready for 2016.
Type of Plan
Many people believe that a business plan is a lengthy document that takes a long time to research and develop. While you can craft a business plan this way, it’s not required. If you’ve ever jotted down notes on a napkin, you’ve written a very simple business plan. Business plans can vary in size, appearance, and purpose; how you develop your plan is up to you. Your plan can be a written document, an infographic, or even a presentation. It’s up to you and your team to first decide what type of plan will be best for your business, or most suitable for the industry you work in.
Fundamentals
There are a few key points to keep in mind when writing your business plan that you’ll want to include wherever you find appropriate. First of all, you’ll want to include your value proposition. This is where you talk about your company’s value for your customer base. You’ll also want to talk about your customers most common problems, and highlight how you products or services will address their problems. You should also mention your competition and how you plan to stand out. Other than that, be sure to include a marketing strategy, some budget and sales goals, and major milestones throughout the year that will keep you on track.
Chapters to Include
So now that you know of which key points you should be covering throughout your business plan, let’s talk about the actual structure of your plan. No matter what type of plan you choose to write, your business plan should be comprised of a few key main sections, or “chapters.” The first chapter should contain your executive summary, which is a summary of all key points to be included in your plan. Sometimes it’s best to write this last so you have a clear vision after completing the rest of your plan. The second t chapter should be your company summary. The purpose of this chapter is to describe your company and purpose. You should include details such as when your company was founded, who the owners are, and a few details on sales and trajectory. The third chapter should be about your products and services. In this chapter, you should outline what you bring to the table for your customers. After that, include a market analysis summary, where you talk about the health of your industry’s marketplace, as well as any relevant changes in the marketplace. You should also include your marketing strategy, as this will help you stay ahead of the game. The final chapter should include a management summary where detail the key members of your staff and their individual functions, along with a financial plan where you clearly lay out your budget to help keep things in order for your expenditures.
Staying Prepared
We hope that your business plans are coming along great! Keep an eye out next week where we’ll talk about the details of financial planning for the upcoming year. Remember, building business plans are about staying prepared, but there are other ways you’ll want to stay prepared, too. If you ever need help getting the protection or coverage you need, feel free to call and ask for any of our professional insurance agents to talk about a CT Business Insurance Policy for your company.