home Sample documents How a business plan is created. What calculations are coming? How to create a business plan and avoid major mistakes

How a business plan is created. What calculations are coming? How to create a business plan and avoid major mistakes

All aspiring businessmen are faced with the need to build their own business model. To understand firsthand how to start your own business, you should write a business plan. It is this that becomes the basis and foundation of any undertaking, because without a competent, structured and correctly written business model, it is extremely difficult to create something worthwhile and profitable. Let's look at step-by-step instructions on how to create a business plan in more detail.

Business plan - what is it?

Many people think, and some succeed and make a profit, while others are left without money. There are many reasons for this, but the foundation of any startup is a good business plan. A business plan is a visual aid for launching a specific idea; it is a document that contains all the information about a startup or company: characteristics, market and risk analysis, financial situation, marketing plan, organizational structure and more.

Simply put, this is a description of your entire future business on paper. In addition, this document helps you understand whether your startup needs to be launched and whether it will generate income, or whether it is better to “curtail” this idea at the development stage, otherwise there will be more losses than profits.

Business plan structure

Let's look at the steps of how to create a business plan yourself. A business plan is a step-by-step instruction that should lead you from point A (initial data) to point B (desired result). The main task of this document is to identify all the shortcomings of your initiative and eliminate them at the development stage. By describing all the data on paper, you can understand whether the project can compete with current market leaders and whether it will generate income in the future. In order to understand how to correctly draw up a business plan, consider the structure of this document.

And so, let's look at the step-by-step instructions on how to write a business plan in more detail.

The first step in how to write a business plan correctly is to create a title page, where you should indicate the working name of the project, contact information, and the names of the founders. Also, on the first pages, you need to write an outline of the document: indicate the number of pages and the names of sections. The document itself takes on average 30–40 pages. An example of how to draw up a business plan can be found on the Internet or at special master classes.

In the introduction, you should briefly describe the idea of your project, its advantages and uniqueness, why you think it will be successful and what benefits it can bring to the market. The introduction, oddly enough, is better formulated after writing the business plan - this way you will understand the whole essence of the idea and will be able to briefly describe all the information in an accessible and understandable way.

The next small but important step in how to draw up a business plan yourself is writing a confidentiality memorandum. This is a sheet in which you indicate that your business plan is copyrighted and all rights belong to you. That is, when you submit a document for consideration by potential investors, it will be protected from full or partial copying. For those who do not know how to draw up a business plan correctly, this point is a must have.

In your short summary you should answer all the key questions:

What service will you provide or product will you produce?
Who will be interested in this?
Production volume - how much product/service do you want to supply?
What will be the profit?
How much will you need to spend to open a business?
Sources of financing?
How many people will be involved in production?
Approximate desired profit for a certain period?
When will the business start to pay off?

When answering these questions, you need to try to show your project from all sides as advantageously as possible (but never lie!) in order to interest potential investors, advertisers or possible co-founders.

The next stage of how to write a business plan for a small business is traditionally devoted to describing the main idea of your startup. At this stage, you should describe what goal and objectives you set for yourself, and what problems may arise along the way. You should also describe what actions you are going to take to achieve your goal as quickly as possible. It is important to write not in the abstract, but by precisely formulating everything you will do step by step. For example, it’s not easy “let’s launch an advertising campaign”, but “let’s hire a PR manager who will promote the brand using social networks by attracting popular bloggers with the audience we need.”

It is also worth doing a SWOT analysis at this stage. This is a planning method, the use of which helps to determine the weaknesses and strengths of a product/company/business/person, as well as their opportunities and threats.

This analysis looks as simple as possible - only four columns, but with its help you can clearly see all the advantages and disadvantages of your future business, and weigh all the pros and cons. So, if there are many times fewer weaknesses compared to strengths, the project is unlikely to be successful.

Another point on how to create a business plan for yourself is to do a marketing analysis. This is a description of the financial viability of your business, where you need to provide examples of successful sales of similar things/products or services; talk about the success of the industry in which you want to start a business; make an assessment of the ability to compete with competitors: study the current market and understand the features of pricing, as well as the prospects for its development. This analysis can be done either independently or by specialists. You can find out how much it costs to create a business plan from marketing companies.

And the last stage of how to write a business plan is to reveal the idea. At this stage, you need to describe in as much detail as possible, with all the details, your product or service that you want to launch: appearance, color, size, production stages, implementation, project cost, and more.

Marketing plan

In addition to the above data, the business plan also needs to draw up marketing, organizational and financial plans, as well as conduct a risk analysis.

Let's start with a marketing plan. A marketing plan is a part of an enterprise's business plan that describes the steps necessary to achieve its goals. To do this, the current market situation is analyzed; goals are actually set; a work strategy is created and tips are described that will make it easier to complete the assigned tasks. That is, this is an action plan for the company, using which the set goals will be achieved.

If you are going to launch any product, be sure to describe the entire process of creating it, including the required equipment, floor space, production capacity and other technical details.

Of course, in large companies special marketing departments deal with all this, but novice businessmen often cannot afford to hire professionals. There is no need to despair - you can do everything yourself. Of course, this will take more time and the results may not be as accurate, but in general the necessary information is freely available, and understanding it is a matter of time and desire.

Organizational plan

The organizational plan describes the principles of startup management, management, discloses information about the founders and personnel, the legal and actual address of the company, and more.

An organizational plan is an essential component of any business plan, however, it is often drawn up “for show.” This is a fundamentally wrong approach, because it is with the help of this plan that you can clearly distribute who in the company is responsible for what and manages what. An insufficiently thought-out organizational plan, on the contrary, leads to confusion and problems.

The main task of the organizational plan is to show prospective investors that human resources and their proper use will be sufficient to achieve the set goals. In the organizational plan, it is necessary to indicate how many people are on staff, and who is doing what, because everyone must be in their place and perform the assigned task.

Financial plan

One of the most important components of how to draw up a business plan for an investor is the financial component. The entire final economic indicator will depend on the choice of the most profitable and sustainable plan, the company’s budget. That is why it is necessary to write a financial plan. In this regard, you must predict the efficiency and financial results of your business.

Here you need to indicate the source of the initial capital, the total amount, register taxes, analyze the dynamics of exchange rates and do a break-even analysis, and much more.

The financial plan is the most important for a potential investor, as it outlines all the capabilities of the startup, and also analyzes its expected success or failure. is at a low level, and a competent financial plan allows you to immediately see the full attractiveness of the project for the investor. Therefore, for those who do not know how to correctly write a business plan for an investor, it is worth paying special attention to this point. is extremely small and you should rely only on your own strength.

Risk analysis

An equally popular section of any business plan is risk analysis. In risk analysis, potential threats are calculated that could cause a decrease in the company’s income.

There are several types of business risks:

Uncontrollable - risks that cannot be influenced. But they can be taken into account and their likelihood can be reduced when starting a business. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Uncontrollable risks include crises, natural disasters, currency risks, changes in legislation and others. To minimize the consequences, you need to insure property, create cash reserves, etc.;
Controllable risks are those whose impact can be minimized or eliminated altogether. These include production problems, lack of funds, problems with employees (dismissal, strikes), changes in the market and more.

When creating a business plan, it is important not only to write down possible risks, but also to distribute them according to the level of threats: which of them are most likely for you, and which are the least likely. In the same paragraph you need to describe your action plan in case of unforeseen situations. Anyone who is interested in how to draw up a business plan on their own should understand that such an analysis should be carried out quite often, because the market is changing, and accordingly, the data from the document will not stand in one place either. The more up-to-date information you have, the easier it will be to calculate risks. And it doesn’t matter whether you are wondering how to draw up a business plan for agriculture or are looking for it, you must do a risk analysis!

Business plan requirements

Although a business plan is an official document, it must be written simply and clearly, without complicating the text with difficult formulations and excess terminology. The total volume of the plan is approximately 30 pages. Each point does not need to be described much - it is better to be brief, concise, and to the point.

Describe all the data that will be useful to a potential investor in more detail - he must see why you are creating your project and what are the prospects for its development in order to want to invest his money in it. But don't make anything up. Remember: all the data you provide in your business plan must correspond to reality. You can present the facts in a favorable light, but in no case should you invent or embellish anything.

And don't forget to make your plan easy to study. All sections should be structured and interconnected so that there is no need to re-read the same page several times. Of course, you can entrust this matter to professionals, but who can draw up a business plan for your startup better than you?

Video on the topic Video on the topic

Mistakes when drawing up a business plan

Of course, no one is perfect and it is unlikely that you will be able to avoid all mistakes when drawing up a business plan. But there are things that are very easy to fix or prevent, but they greatly affect the overall perception.

So, when drawing up a business plan, pay attention to its design. When the entire document is made in the same style, without errors and typos, with highlighted sections, it is much more pleasant to study it. Also try to avoid grammatical and punctuation errors, because an illiterately written text is repulsive, even if a sensible thought was written. Check it yourself or have the document proofread by a professional proofreader - it won’t take much time, and you won’t spend a lot of money, but the result is worth it.

Don’t overload your business plan with unnecessary information and fluff – it’s better to write briefly and meaningfully than to let your thoughts run wild. But you shouldn’t shorten the text too much - try to give all the important facts and data. You can find an example of how to write a business plan correctly on specialized websites or take a master class at various events.

conclusions

We have reviewed detailed instructions on how to write a business plan yourself. Thus, we can conclude that a business plan is a mandatory document that must be drawn up before launching any company/product/service. It doesn’t matter whether it’s this or that - it’s simply necessary to describe the concept and prospects for the development of your initiative.

Firstly, this document will help you structure all your thoughts and find the shortcomings of your business at the development stage. Secondly, with the help of this document you can clearly and simply show potential investors what you offer them and why, in your opinion, they can invest money in this business. Investors like to work with responsible people, and your business plan is an indicator of your commitment and reliability.

Brief instructions

You have an idea. You want to create your own business. Great. What's next? Next, you need to “put everything in order,” think through the details (as far as possible) in order to first of all understand: is it worth developing this project? Perhaps after researching the market, you will realize that the service or product is not in demand, or you do not have sufficient funds to develop the business. Maybe the project should be improved a little, unnecessary elements should be abandoned, or, on the contrary, something should be introduced?

A business plan will help you consider the prospects of your idea.

End justifies the means?

When starting to write a business plan, keep its goals and functions in mind. First of all, you carry out preparatory work to understand how realistic it is to achieve the planned results, how much time and money is needed to implement your plans.

In addition, a business plan is necessary to attract investors, obtain a grant or a bank loan. That is, it must include information about the potential profit of the project, the necessary costs and the payback period. Think about what is important and interesting for your recipients to hear.

Use a small cheat sheet for yourself:

Analyze the market you are going to enter. What leading companies exist in this direction. Research their experience and work.
Identify your project's strengths and weaknesses, future opportunities and risks. In short, conduct a SWOT analysis*.

SWOT analysis - (English)Strengths,Weaknesses,Opportunities,Threats - strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A method of planning and strategy development that allows you to identify the main factors influencing business development.

Decide clearly what you expect from the project. Set a specific goal.

The main purpose of a business plan is to help you, first of all, develop a company strategy and plan its development, as well as help in attracting investments.

So, any plan has a structure. Regardless of the specifics of the project and the requirements of investors, a business plan, as a rule, contains the following elements:

1. Company summary(short business plan)

Product Description
Description of the market situation
Competitive advantages and disadvantages
Brief description of the organizational structure
Distribution of funds (investment and own)

2. Marketing Plan

Defining the “problem” and your solution
Determining the target audience
Market and competition analysis
Free niche, unique selling proposition
Methods and costs of attracting customers
Sales channels
Stages and timing of market penetration

3. Plan for the production of goods or services

Organization of production
Infrastructure Features
Production resources and space
Production equipment
Production process
Quality control
Calculation of investments and depreciation

4.Organization of the work process

Organizational structure of the enterprise
Distribution of powers and responsibilities
Control system

5. Financial plan and risk forecast

Cost Estimation
Calculation of the cost of a product or service
Calculation of profit and loss
Investment period
Break-even point and payback point
Cash flow forecast
Risk forecast
Ways to minimize risks

It is clear that a business plan is one whole and its parts are inextricably linked with each other. However, a well-designed structure will help you not to forget important things, as well as to take a deeper look at each aspect.

Company summary. Briefly about the main thing

Marketing plan. There are empty seats?

When creating a marketing plan, you will have to analyze the market you are going to enter. In this way, you will identify trends for yourself, collect information about competitors and get to know your consumer, your target audience, better.

Having assessed the potential client, his interests and preferences, you must determine the optimal location of the office, retail outlet, etc. It should be comfortable. Calculate the required number of clients for your business to pay off and compare it with the audience living or working around the intended location of the business. For example, for a business in the field of public services, the size of this audience should not be less than 2% of the number of people living within a short walk or five-minute car ride.

It is quite possible that the market you were planning to conquer is oversaturated at the moment. Analyze the actions of your competitors, create your own strategy, focus on your uniqueness, bring in something new to fill an empty niche in a certain area.

Of course, creating something that is not yet on the market is quite difficult. However, you can carefully analyze the situation and open, for example, a point where the consumer really needs it or play on the difference in prices and level of services provided relative to nearby competitors.

You also definitely have to decide on sales channels. After reviewing the existing methods on the market, find the ones that are best for you. Calculate how much it costs you to attract each client.

Finally, when deciding on pricing, you will need to calculate: what is more profitable? A high price with a small number of sales or a price lower than that of competitors, but a large customer flow. You should also not forget about service, because for many consumers it is crucial. They are willing to pay a price higher than the market average, but receive high quality service.

Production plan. What are we selling?

This is where you finally get into detail about the core of your business: what do you do?

For example, you decide to produce dresses and sell them. In the production plan, indicate suppliers of fabric and equipment, where you will locate the sewing workshop, and what the production volume will be. You will describe the stages of product manufacturing, the necessary qualifications of employees, calculate the necessary deductions to the depreciation fund, as well as logistics. The costs of future business will depend on many factors: from the cost of threads to the cost of labor.

When prescribing the technology for creating your final product, you will pay attention to many little things that you had not thought about before. There may be issues with storing goods or difficulties with imported raw materials, problems with finding employees with the necessary qualifications, etc.

When you have finally written down the entire path to creating a product or service, it’s time to calculate how much your project will cost you. It may well be that later, when making financial calculations, you will understand that you need to make adjustments to the production plan: cut some costs or radically change the technology itself.

Organization of the work process. How will it work?

Will you manage the business alone or with partners? How will decisions be made? You need to answer these and many more questions in the “Workflow Organization” section.

Here you can describe the entire structure of the enterprise and identify duplication of powers, mutual exclusions, etc. Having seen the entire organization diagram, it will be easier for you to optimally distribute rights and responsibilities between departments and employees.

Having understood, first of all, for yourself how your company functions, it will be possible to more effectively develop a system of interaction between structures, a system for monitoring employees and the entire personnel policy.

The importance of this section is that it describes who and how will implement the project in reality.

A business plan is a short-term course of action for a business entity. The document contains information about the company and ways of its further profitable operation. It contains information and proposals for the production of a new product, the provision of a service, the sales market is assessed, calculations of the necessary materials and equipment, marketing moves are made, and a conclusion is drawn about the feasibility of implementing the project from a financial point of view, the profit received and the payback period are predicted.

A business plan is an important strategy, management and planning tool. Any investment agreements and transactions are concluded subject to the mandatory availability of this document. Having seen the forecasts set out on paper, confirmed by real figures, investors will make a deal with the entrepreneur, enter into a contract, and invest the necessary resources.

When issuing loans to start-up entrepreneurs, the bank needs a guarantee of repayment of funds. The provided business plan informs the credit institution about the existing or future activities of the businessman in a succinct, understandable form. By and large, such a document answers the question that interests every business owner: is it worth investing in a particular project?

Writing a business plan is a long, labor-intensive process that will require the author to have extensive knowledge in the subject area and the ability to analyze - in total, this data will allow you to clearly define tactics and strategy to achieve the desired result. There are 3 ways to become the owner of a finished document:

Compose yourself. In this case, the entrepreneur will need knowledge of the economy, legislative acts, all the nuances of his business, and, finally, the rules for drawing up a business plan.
Use the services of specialists. There are companies that, in a number of services provided, prepare and compile similar documentation. The negative aspects of this method include the high cost of the service and the subjectivity of the information presented.
Download from the Internet. Rather, this option is recommended to help the first.

You can see how to correctly compose such a document in the following video:

Stages of document preparation

A competent business plan should contain maximum information about the company’s activities.

Its approximate structure:

Although a summary belongs to sections, it should be written separately, after completing the entire document. It performs the function of an extended output, a summary. After reading it, the investor, lender or business owner will have a general understanding of what is written below.

A standard resume is 1 page in A4 format.

If you have not yet registered an organization, then easiest way This can be done using online services that will help you generate all the necessary documents for free: If you already have an organization and you are thinking about how to simplify and automate accounting and reporting, then the following online services will come to the rescue and will completely replace an accountant at your enterprise and will save a lot of money and time. All reporting is generated automatically, signed electronically and sent automatically online. It is ideal for individual entrepreneurs or LLCs on the simplified tax system, UTII, PSN, TS, OSNO.
Everything happens in a few clicks, without queues and stress. Try it and you will be surprised how easy it has become!

Overview section

The purpose of compiling this paragraph is to provide information about the enterprise. The section should provide answers to the following questions:

What is the organizational and legal form of doing business?
The main activities of the company?
Job profile: sales, production, intermediary, etc.?
What does the company intend to offer to the potential target audience?
What goals does the organization pursue in implementing this project?
In what geographical area does the company plan to develop?
What is the main difference between this company and its main competitors?
How does the company see its development prospects in the next few years?

At the end of the paragraph, the legal details of the organization must be provided: address, contact phone number, website (if available).

Description of the product (service)

The main objective of this section is to present in a concise form the features, qualities and characteristics of a product or service offered by a specific business. The section should contain a physical description of the product or service, a description of the benefits, possibilities of use, problems that the described product helps to solve, and the stage of readiness to enter the market.

It would not be amiss to indicate the data of experts and consumers who had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the products and give positive feedback. If we are talking about a product, it is recommended to attach high-quality photos from different angles.

Marketing plan

The section allocated for marketing research is one of the largest and most important parts of the business plan. The main task of the compiler is to explain how the described business will influence the market and respond to its rapidly changing trends in order to ensure the sale of goods in the stated volumes. The marketing plan should reflect the following aspects:

demand for the products offered;
market expansion opportunities;
analysis of competitors, factors influencing the internal and external environment;
market research results;
projected sales volumes.

To confirm the information described, one can cite ready-made versions of SWOT analysis tables. To summarize the point, a description of the marketing strategy is given (the expediency of using marketing means is explained, in particular a description of sales strategies, product promotion, advertising, pricing, and sales promotion).

Production plan

The purpose of creating this section is to describe the technological process of product production. A general approach to organizing production is indicated. Characteristics are given to suppliers of raw materials and auxiliary materials that will be used. A description of the main technological processes is attached. Options for purchasing equipment, its main characteristics, and power are considered.

A separate paragraph indicates the qualification requirements for personnel involved in production. Divisions are formed (if we are talking about a large business). The terms of payment, labor incentives, and proposed changes in the personnel structure as the enterprise's capabilities expand are considered.

Below it is recommended to draw up a production flow diagram that will clearly demonstrate the processes of receipt of raw materials and components, the processes of their processing into a finished product, where the goods will be stored, how and where they will be delivered from the enterprise.

In the case of the provision of services, the scheme will have a slightly modified form. It should reflect the way in which services are provided to clients, where the initial stage will be the provision of the necessary tools and materials.

The following aspects of the production process should not be ignored:

estimated production capacity;
need for land, buildings, structures;
the need to purchase equipment;
terms of supply of raw materials;
quality control of received materials;
requirements for sources of energy, water, gas;
quality control of manufactured products.

Financial plan

An important condition for drawing up a business plan is to determine the financial indicators of the business. These calculations are based on taking into account costs and sales (income) forecasts. The result of the calculations will be the amount of profit that the enterprise will receive from the implementation of this project. In essence, this is basic information that is of interest to investors and credit institutions.

Investment costs (to start a business):

registration of an organization;
purchase or lease of production space;
arrangement of the premises;
acquisition of equipment and auxiliary materials;
registration of a license.

Basic costs are usually divided into fixed and variable.

The volume of fixed costs does not change depending on the increase (decrease) in the volume of output:

rental of premises;
depreciation of fixed assets;
employee salary (rate);
tariffs for water, heating, electricity, gas, communications;
equipment servicing;
payment of taxes.

As a rule, the basis for calculation is a time period: month, six months, year, etc.

The volume of variable costs is directly proportional to the volume of production:

costs of raw materials;
salaries to employees (piece-rate form of accrual);
transportation costs (gasoline, etc.);
payment for communications equipment.

To determine operating profit, it is necessary to subtract expenses from the cost of production. An important condition for making correct calculations is the construction of a break-even point - a graph displaying the minimum permissible volume of production and sales at which costs will “cover” income. This means that the production and sale of each subsequent unit of production will bring profit.

To calculate the level of profitability of production, it is necessary to relate the cost of goods for a certain period to the amount of costs. The calculation of the payback period for production is carried out by the ratio of investment costs to net profit.

Risk assessment

This section provides an approximate assessment of the risks that are most likely to occur for this project. In addition, a number of preventive measures are proposed to prevent or minimize their negative impact on business.

If you are going to seriously do business, you cannot do without a business plan. The most successful idea must be supported by a well-designed action plan. The rules for drawing up a business plan for a small business will help you understand the sequence of actions.

There is little in common between dreams of owning your own business and real business - in fantasies we clearly imagine only the result, in business it requires planning. Even the most successful business idea is worthless without a well-designed action plan. We will look at the rules for drawing up a business plan for a small business, and we hope the information will be useful to aspiring entrepreneurs.

When we go on a trip, we draw up a route so as not to wander at random; starting a new business requires a similar approach.

What is a business plan

A business plan is a guide to action describing the idea, process, implementation mechanisms and goals.

Defining a specific goal in this chain is crucial, since it is this point that allows you to clearly formulate:

What is your current position, i.e. where is the starting point to start.
What should you get as a result?
What steps need to be taken to promote and develop the business.

Purpose of the business plan

Drawing up a business plan is useful at the start of any business, but in two cases a plan is required:

To provide investors and creditors, as well as to obtain financial support from the state.

The purpose of drawing up a business plan is to confirm the viability of the idea and the efficiency of using money. The information presented in the plan should be detailed, appear reliable and logical. For clarity, it is useful to accompany the defense of the business plan with a presentation of slides.

Real business plan “For yourself”

A working version of a business plan for “internal use.” There is always a difference between the “front” and “working” plans.

Development forecast and prospects

Consider several business development options. Try to objectively assess the prospects based on expected income and expenses. Put yourself in the shoes of an investor and think about whether you would agree to invest money in the company described.

I know a lot about business planning. Planned and opened 3 family businesses. I compiled 4 business plans to receive grants and one subsidy from the Employment Center. I helped several friends formulate their ideas, edited dozens of documents for clients, and studied hundreds of materials from applicants - businessmen applying for a loan.

For two years I worked at a business financing institution. Beginning and experienced entrepreneurs applied for funds, and we assessed the prospects and payback of the idea, drew up a business plan or adjusted the client’s existing calculations. Information about the applicant was presented at a meeting of the credit committee, where a collective decision was made to issue the requested amount or to refuse.

To convince all credit experts to vote “for” financing, it was necessary to analyze all possible risks of the project and find solutions for any situation, protect the lender’s money from all sides, and provide escape options if everything goes according to a negative scenario.

The discussion of business projects at the credit committee was structured as follows:

– What if he divorces his wife, who will sell in his store, since she is now standing behind the counter herself?

– Hire a second salesperson. By the way, the wife acts as a guarantor for the loan, so she will take on half of the debt during the divorce.

– What will happen to the debt when the “off season” for sales comes?

– In the off-season, I propose to reduce the monthly payments in the schedule so that the client “pulls” this amount during the period of declining profits.

– What if his warehouse is robbed?

– The warehouse is guarded, but we still insure the inventory – this insurance company pays compensation within a couple of weeks without quibbles or delays, so the client will quickly recover losses and be able to order a new batch of goods.

Become such a strict commission for your own project and go through all the weak points of the business to find a plan B and C for any development of the situation. Discuss ideas and brainstorm with friends. It is better to find possible problems and think through their solutions on paper before opening a company, than to take risks and incur unnecessary expenses later.

Quite everyday situations can turn into a disaster for a micro-business and problems for a large enterprise. Take this into account when planning so that you don’t unexpectedly go into the red later.

My experience will help you create a business plan and get financing for it. It can be used when approaching private investors, requesting a bank loan, or obtaining a start-up grant from the local government.

Using the example of my new family enterprise - a small blacksmith's workshop - I will show you how to create a business plan to attract funds from the budget.

A business plan is a document that comprehensively describes the idea, project, work and results of such work. It takes into account everything from the launch schedule and recruitment to different development scenarios and payback periods. The full version of the document lists possible risks and options for minimizing them.

What are the differences from feasibility studies?

A feasibility study is a feasibility study for launching a project. The calculations in it concern only the necessary investments, upcoming costs, expected income, and payback period. It calculates the financial benefits of planned activities. A feasibility study can be drawn up when a separate issue is being resolved, for example, about transferring accounting to .

A business plan, compared to a feasibility study, covers a wider range of issues, including promotion and marketing of the project, organizational arrangements, and risk assessment. The social component of a startup is also considered here. A business plan is a more comprehensive document; it is needed when opening a restaurant or store.

Why do you need a business plan?

A business plan shows the seriousness of the entrepreneur’s intentions and the depth of his immersion in the topic. He needs this himself in order to understand what awaits him in the process, how to avoid problems and make a profit.

But this document is most important when raising funds. Without a business plan, an investor, credit specialist or administration employee will not discuss the possibility of issuing borrowed or budget funds.

Let's return to our forge. My husband and I need a business plan for internal use - to understand what startup costs will be needed, how much and what will have to be purchased, what and how to register for legal work, what income is possible, what to produce and how to sell.

But another purpose of drawing up a BP is to apply for a grant. Budget funds are allocated at the district level to support start-up entrepreneurs. It is possible to receive up to 300,000 rubles free of charge by passing a competitive selection, during which a commission evaluates the business plan and its indicators. To beat your competitors and get one, you need to correctly draw up this document and competently present your project.

Internal – for making management decisions. A businessman needs such a document for himself, for his partners, for his employees.

External – to attract financing and government support, search for an investor. It is compiled for communicating with banks, applying to the district/city administration for a grant or subsidy, and negotiating with possible partners.

The tasks that different business plans solve differ. You cannot draw up one document and go with it for a loan, for budget support, and in search of a private investor.

1. Money from the budget

Objectives of the business plan when attracting budget funds:

Demonstrate your vision of the project, convince officials distributing funds that you understand the chosen area and understand where to start. It doesn’t matter to them how and what you do during your work, the main thing is that your business stays afloat for at least 3-5 years. This is how long they track the fate of support recipients.
Choose a priority direction of development: make and sell what the market needs, provide services that are lacking in the area, satisfy the demand of different categories of the population. This is again important for improving statistics in the area, so that the authorities can report that the consumer market is developing.
Confirm the social significance of the project: job creation and employment of the unemployed, youth, disabled people, parents of large families - the more workers a business needs, the better. The number of new jobs is one of the criteria for evaluating the project.
Calculate the budgetary efficiency of the business - the volume of tax and non-tax revenues, including insurance premiums for employees and personal income tax; the more you plan to pay to the state, the higher the likelihood of providing a grant. Ideally, these revenues should cover the costs of providing you with a grant in a couple of years, and then cover them.

Consider all these points when drawing up a business plan in order to correctly place the emphasis.

All indicators of the business plan and forecasts will be checked after the issuance of budget funds - once a quarter, six months or a year, the commission will go to the site and request financial documentation and reporting from you, and compare the indicators with the planned ones. If you don't hire employees or start delivering products to local stores as promised, you may be forced to return the money because you failed to fulfill your contractual obligations. Therefore, on paper, do not inflate the numbers and do not embellish anything; approach planning more realistically.

2. Bank loan

If you decide to go to the bank for money, then a business plan for a loan will perform other tasks:

Prove the understanding of the project by the entrepreneur himself, provide a calendar plan that will help draw up a debt repayment schedule.
Calculate the amount of income and expenses taking into account mandatory payments to repay the loan.
List the risks of loan non-repayment and suggest possible ways to minimize them - guarantee, insurance, property pledge.

The lender needs the client to reach the planned income and be able to fulfill his obligations without delays or failures, even during an emergency. In a business plan for a bank, it is necessary to focus on this. He does not care about the number of jobs created or the amount of taxes paid; what is more important is the financial stability of the borrower.

3. Investor funds

The financial component of the project is also important for the investor; he needs information about the profitability and payback period of the investment. When investing his money, he must understand how quickly he will get some results - a return of money, a part of the profit.

The business plan should immediately provide for options for distributing profits between investors, providing them with a share in the company, and the degree of involvement in the work.

4. Internal resources

A business plan “for yourself” can perform any tasks and contain a wide variety of information about a future or existing enterprise. With its help, you can prepare a report for management and shareholders with calculations and arguments in favor of expanding production, opening a new outlet, entering the market of another region, or developing a product line.

In such a document, you can go into detail, describe all the nuances and take into account not only financial issues, but also organizational work, marketing policy, and production issues.

There is no universal business plan; you always need to understand what and for whom it is intended and draw it up with this in mind.

To receive a grant, the forge’s business plan must tell more about what it will provide to the area and what benefits the budget will receive from its opening.
Thus, it is necessary to indicate that the nearest forge is located in another area of the region, 200 km away, so the opening of a new enterprise will provide local residents with affordable products. And it will be suitable for household needs and satisfy the needs of all categories of the population - hardware tools, interior items, furniture.
It should be emphasized that in the first year the entrepreneur-blacksmith himself will be employed, and in the second year it is planned to hire another employee as an assistant. This will create 2 jobs.
It is also worth calculating in detail how many insurance premiums a self-employed entrepreneur will pay for himself and how much for an employee next year.
The employee’s salary must necessarily exceed the average salary in the relevant industry in the region. Thus, in the Novgorod region, statistics say that workers in the production sector receive an average of 32,000 rubles. Payments to the employee in calculations must be indicated no less than this amount.
This will need to be mentioned in the brief description of the project - that part of the business plan that will be read and carefully studied by all members of the competition committee.
If we went to the bank for a loan, we would focus on other details - payback, stable income, profitability, which allows us to repay the requested amount with interest.

Main sections of a business plan

Any business plan should contain a comprehensive description of the project so that important information is not missed. The main sections may have different names, be combined or divided into additional subsections, but their content must be in the document.

What sections does a business plan include?

Detailed content of sections of the business plan

What should we write about in the main points of this document in order to get a complete picture of the company’s development?

Business Description

date of creation, official registration of an individual entrepreneur or legal entity.

Distribution of shares in a company between partners, co-founders, investors.

Businessman experience before that – education, experience as an employee. It is not necessary to indicate your entire work history and attach diplomas, unless this directly relates to a new project. So, when a businessman planning to open a cafe has previously worked for several years as a manager in public catering, this will be his advantage. If he graduated from a university with a specialty in the restaurant business, then this is another point in his experience. And if all his life he has been turning nuts in a car service center, trained as a veterinarian and then suddenly decided to open a bar, information about education and experience will be superfluous.

Place of registration, business area. You need to indicate not only the address, but also the overall coverage of the territory.

Project goals and objectives. Here you need to describe the scope of activity, as well as measurable results - open 1 cafe with 30 seats, sell 500 kg of baked goods daily, etc.

I’ll show you how to describe an enterprise in a business plan, using the example of a forge. In the “Project Description” section there will be the following information:

IP registration date: May 2018.
The entrepreneur will run the business independently, without involving partners. The employee will be hired in the spring of 2019.
The entrepreneur spent a year doing forging in his home workshop. In the spring of 2018, I rented space for a forge on the production site, equipped it and continued working.
At the end of 2017, I completed a three-month course in “Hand Art Forging” at the Academy of Metalworking (St. Petersburg) and received the qualification “blacksmith” (a copy of the education certificate is attached).
The goal of the project is to open a forge in the N-rayon for the production and sale of forged products to the population.
By 2019, it is planned to produce products worth 250,000 rubles monthly.

Market assessment. You need to estimate the market capacity, population, and number of potential customers. It is quite difficult to do this without full-fledged marketing research. Therefore, it is worth looking for ready-made results of such an assessment for your region. In extreme cases, you can roughly predict effective demand.

The main thing is to formulate sales goals for yourself: will you work only within the microdistrict, open retail outlets throughout the city, take the products for sale throughout the district, or supply them beyond its borders.

How exactly you plan to reach your target audience, how you will choose suitable promotion channels, you will describe in detail in the “Marketing Plan” section, now indicate only the direction.

Competitors. Make a list of your competitors who are already operating in this market.

Not only direct competitors offering similar goods and services are taken into account, but also those companies that produce substitute products and provide alternative services. If there is no specialized tea boutique in your city, this does not mean that the market is clear of competitors: you will have to compete for customers with those department stores and supermarkets that also sell different types of tea.

There are no other blacksmiths engaged in artistic forging in the territory of the regional center itself or neighboring areas. The nearest company selling such handmade products is located 250 km away (in the regional center).
Factory-produced hardware and entrenching tools - pokers, staples, machetes, axes, accessories - are offered in 6 hardware stores in the district, but consumers complain about their low quality, and monitoring of goods has shown that such goods do not last long. Hand-forged products are more durable, and a local blacksmith can compete with factory suppliers, guaranteeing not only high quality, but also sharpening of the tool, its repair, and manufacturing to the required dimensions to order. Forged decorative interior elements and household products - door handles, hooks for gates and hinges for gates, hangers and hooks for clothes - are rarely found in stores; mainly plastic products are sold. Forged garden furniture - benches, gazebos, lanterns, tables - are not sold in the area.
These products are in steady demand among the local population. Handmade artistic forging products are bought not only by rural residents for their village homes, but also by summer residents, owners of tourist centers and country cafes.
The forge will supply goods to the market of the N district, enter into contracts with stores for the supply of products for sale, and participate in craft fairs in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Production plan

Business processes. Write a list of equipment, tools, raw materials and supplies that are required to create the selected range of goods and provide services. Calculate the optimal production volumes that your equipment can handle. Indicate which employees and with what workload you will need.

Products. List the products, services and work that you will offer to clients. Calculations of the costs of organizing business processes will allow you to find out the cost and draw up a price list.

Starting investments. Calculate how much money you will need to start the project. Add up the cost of all assets, fixed assets, repairs, materials and other costs that will be required to begin production.

For example, this section might look like this:

Organizational plan

Organizational and legal form. Is an individual entrepreneur or LLC, or some other form of organization suitable for the implementation of the selected project? What is the rationale behind the choice? What taxation system has been chosen and why is it suitable?

Distribution of founder roles. If there are several partners, their role in the management and operation of the company is described. What will they do and what will they be responsible for?

Staff. What employees will be needed, who should be hired, who should be hired temporarily, what functions can be outsourced or performed independently.

Settlements with counterparties. How do you plan to receive money from clients? Do you need to open a cash register, buy an online cash register, or are there options for making payments in some other way?

Project Schedule. What needs to be done and when, which issues need to be resolved immediately, which ones - later. It is advisable to calculate the cost of each stage in order to clearly show when and in what volume financing is required.

For a forge, it is enough for a self-employed blacksmith to be an individual entrepreneur. This simplifies accounting and reporting. Accounting is carried out by the entrepreneur himself, using the appropriate online services provided to him by the bank.
A current account is used for settlements with clients and suppliers, and a cash register will also be purchased, although goods can be sold at fairs without it. A special deduction will be used when purchasing a cash register.
After hiring an employee, it will be necessary to register with extra-budgetary funds as an employer; before that, it is enough to regularly pay insurance contributions to extra-budgetary funds.
Activities are already underway. Upon receipt of the grant, equipment will be purchased, which will increase production volumes.
When budget funds are issued in July, within a month all the necessary equipment according to the list will be purchased and installed (for 225,000 rubles), and from August the productivity of the forge will increase several times. It is planned to hire a worker in the spring of next year - in March-April, before which the blacksmith will work independently.

This section is devoted to channels and methods of promotion, necessary actions to increase sales, and advertising costs.

Promotion channels. Advertisements in newspapers, commercials on radio and TV, online advertising, creating your own website and group on social networks, advertising in local public pages and forums, participation in exhibitions and fairs.

The target audience. Who should you target when organizing sales? Who is your client - by age, gender, occupation, income level. Where to find him and how to contact him.

Cost of promotion. How much will it cost to find and attract target audience? How often will you need to run advertising, what options should you choose?

In our example business plan, this section would look like this:

Financial indicators

It is necessary to calculate the cost of production, planned sales volumes, necessary costs, projected income and profit, and the profitability of the project. If there are many and different products, it is not necessary to provide all the calculations in the business plan; they can be included in a separate application, and all indicators can be calculated based on the average cost value. You need to show your own contribution to the project and the need for raised funds. If necessary, repay the loan - an approximate repayment schedule. When making payments to an investor, calculate his share of the profit.

Risk assessment

External factors. Emergency situations and natural disasters, negative impact of local authorities, a new competitor, a change in the economic situation and a drop in household incomes.

Internal factors. Incorrect assessment of the sales market, delays in deliveries, problems with personnel, errors in production, problems with renting premises, industrial accidents.

Options for minimizing risks. Insurance of life, health, property, liability to third parties. The opportunity to reduce prices, change the range, switch to other products, change the circle of potential customers, expand the sales market and find new buyers outside the area, region or country. Agreements with partners and contractors, good personal relationships with the authorities, a large number of qualified workers on the market who are looking for work, etc.

Working out some of the risks for the forge will look something like this:

At first, the income of the forge will depend entirely on the entrepreneur himself. Health problems or injuries will negatively impact work volume and profits. Industrial emergencies can be prevented by following safety precautions. Then it is planned to hire an employee who will take the increased load off the blacksmith himself.
Fire, accidents, equipment breakdowns, natural disasters - damage from these accidents will be covered by property insurance, which will be issued for the rented premises, equipment and tools in the forge at their market value. The forge had already passed a fire inspection, and representatives of the energy company were also present; they checked the electrical wiring, the forge hood, ventilation and fire alarms. There were comments, but all the shortcomings were immediately eliminated. The room itself, with a separate entrance, is located in a brick building and meets general production safety requirements.
If there are problems with rent, you can quickly move the forge to another location - there are enough suitable empty production areas in the area, the equipment is easily dismantled and can be installed in another location within 1-2 days.
With low demand for products and small trade turnover, the sales market will be expanded, agreements have been obtained to supply products for sale to hardware stores in other areas of the region, the most popular goods will be selected, and the assortment policy will be revised. There is no need to change equipment or rebuild work - it is enough to purchase other raw materials for the production of other products, for example, forged fences, window bars, gates and wickets, entrance lobbies and canopies over the porch.
If another competitor appears on the market, the entrepreneur will choose the most profitable niche and produce products that the new market participant will not have, or change the sales strategy and supply finished products to other markets.

Project Summary

This section contains the most important things: the essence of the project, the necessary investments, results after launch, development prospects, possible risks and ways to reduce them. The remaining sections with details will be read only if the summary of the business plan is of interest to the investor, lender, or official. So, think again about what the goal of your project is and identify the important metrics that meet that goal. Repeat what you will produce, how much income you plan to receive, what expenses will be required, how much money you will invest yourself, and how much you need to attract.

Common mistakes when writing a business plan

Very optimistic. Insufficient market knowledge. Lack of adequate risk assessment.
Copying other people's calculations. Using data without reference to reality and the specifics of the business.
Without taking into account the purpose and addressee. Lack of important indicators. A lot of unnecessary information and “water”.
Poor design, illiterate presentation of information, negligence in calculations. Confused presentation and lack of clear structure.

How to get money for a business plan

Studying the design requirements

When contacting a bank or municipal government to raise financing, ask for application guidelines. Often this is a simple and understandable list of necessary documents, as well as a list of requirements for the content and design of a business plan. Sometimes a template of this document is even provided with the sections and subsections already indicated. where you just have to enter your information. There are also wishes regarding its volume, a list of questions for analyzing the project, a list of important indicators that you must calculate.