PREPARING A BUSINESS PLAN

PREPARING A BUSINESS PLAN

By Ayo Emakhiomhe

The first step in setting out a business plan is the necessity to find a need or spot a gap; a space to fill, find a problem to solve. After spotting a gap, we then find ways of filling this gap; creating value; learning the trade; at this juncture we feel it is very essential to reiterate the fact that we should never go into a business we know next to nothing about.

Never start a business you do not know at least the basics. You might have the idea, good. After that you learn first, it does not mean learning everything, what we are saying is learning enough to be very, very sure you know and understand the basics excellently.

Most times, we pop up with an idea and we decide that we cannot wait a second, we have to start like five years ago.

Well the truth is that it is your idea so it’s original to you and cannot be copied yet, go learn the trade. The time you invest learning the trade is part of the execution and start.

Learning can be one week, one year, one month, one training session, a few books, a few practical sessions, a period of apprenticeship, whatever it takes, learn first.

The reason to learn is because you will have a better understanding of the idea and stronger product knowledge and a very powerful implementation strategy. Also, you will have a level of technical knowledge to be able to define what we call your UNIQUE SELLING POINT – USP. Your USP is that thing you do in that service/product that no one does as good as or better than you.

For example, Coca-Cola would tell you that no one can get a refreshing Cola taste as theirs. Qatar airlines would have a USP of a unique five star experience; CNN says no one tells the news better than them. You see, your USP helps to define your brand.

The business plan defines the outlook and vision of the enterprise; the long, medium and short term plans and goals of the enterprise.

By reading a business plan, you can know if the company will be around for a short while or a long while and how serious are the owners of the business. The plan states the boundaries and playing ground of the entity, it gives a focus, vision, direction, meaning, objective, bone structure and definition to the enterprise. This is how important the business plan is. The plan defines the success of the enterprise.

A successful business plan is like a flowing river, it will always find its path.

Another important thing to note is that, your business plan must always be stated and set out by you. It does not matter your level of knowledge or education or skill, you must set it out first, and it can be in form of outlines, bullet points or a very comprehensive plan. It is after you do these that you can now go further to see consultants like COINBOX LIMITED

(You should always try discussing the business plan with consultants, it adds life to the plan) to discuss the plan and how to put flesh to it. The reason you should be the first to put pen to paper is because it is your dream, you are the originator, so there are salient points, we would miss as consultants, but you would have put down as the owner of the dream.

The business plan basics and flesh would then be added by us, but, it will still take you to put life into the plan. It is your drive and passion/desire that will fire up the enterprise.

In outline the business plan will be structured around the following

    The business idea or value proposition. Your proposition should also state the business opportunity or the reason behind the venture. For example you can state a proposition like “the dearth in management of new businesses has propelled us into creating a company that will work to empower businesses into long lasting ventures.”

    Your business concept: for example you can answer the question “is it venture capital, not-for-profit, or a private company?”

    Define your product/service. For example you could simply state your service could be investment advisory, or your product is a rubber doll.

    Define your team and the members. If not now, you will need to have team members later; you can also call them board members, management team, and people to run the ship with you. It’s better to define them now, not when the need arises. The reason is because when the need arises you might not know then that that is the missing link or the trouble spot. As an entrepreneur/business owner, pro-activity is the key to getting ahead and staying there. Stating your team members also helps you define how far you plan to go with your enterprise. Maybe you plan to sell it once it gets very big or you plan to keep it till it goes public or you plan to run the company alone till the day you die of exhaustion or hypertension or heart attack or all these combined.

Having a team list helps you prepare your mind for the level of training you need to set up for expansion and succession as the company grows. A good example is like stating who is likely to be the CEO, listing other portfolios like General Manager Operations, General Manager Human Capital, Director of finance, Director Logistics, head training, etc. it is more of setting out your company organogram.

    State your core business and marketing strategy. For example is that you can decide to start small and grow over time or you will start with heavy advert and promotions while flooding the market with your product.

    The financial requirements. In stating this part, be realistic and specific. Let it include current minimum required financial commitment and a future outlay of a minimum of 3-5 years. State the expected costs, expected sales, projected balance sheet size, expected profits/losses for these periods and how much of these amounts you have available and how you plan on getting the rest and when.

    Set time lines realistically. For example, you can state that for an enterprise that requires one million (NGN1, 000, 000) Naira capital to start off that currently you have cash of four hundred thousand (NGN400, 000) Naira, an equipment costing two hundred thousand (NGN200, 000) Naira had previously been procured for other use by you which you would transfer to the company books at one hundred and fifty thousand (NGN150, 000) Naira while the other equipment costing four hundred and fifty thousand (NGN450, 000) Naira would be leased through a bank to start the company, the lease arrangement are already ongoing and equipment should arrive in three weeks by which time the company would kick off.

Once all the above have been done we move to the next level which is determining the marketing plan.

We are at your service as always.

SUCCESS IS YOURS ! ! !

emakhiomheayo@yahoo.com

Please don't forget to click on the 'join this site' button to ensure you get all our future publications directly to your email box.