The business plan is THE essential document for any business project (creation or takeover). Its content differs according to the motivations that drive the entrepreneur to establish it. That said, the structure of a business plan obeys certain standards. It is important to keep them in mind in order to produce a good business plan, that is to say a document that will convince its reader. Here are 15 questions and answers that will help you better understand what a business plan is .
What does a business plan actually do?
A business plan has several objectives . First of all, it is a document that reassures you , the project leader. You have normally defined your offer of products and/or services and have verified that a demand does indeed exist for it (by carrying out, for example, a market study). So you have acquired the certainty that your project is viable, but you do not know to what extent . This is the first objective of a business plan.
Then there are business takeover plans . They are made when an entrepreneur (or a company) plans to buy back the securities of an existing company. The financial accounts of the target company are then reviewed and are subject to more or less long-term projections. At this stage, the business plan is essential because the purchase of securities is generally financed by means of a loan.
For more information, see our file: When should you make a business plan ?
How many pages should a business plan contain?
No standard exists in this area. Once again, everything depends on the addressee of the business plan, that is to say the person to whose attention it is addressed. If it is only used by the project leader, it may only have a few pages . In this case, it includes only the most important financial tables: balance sheet, income statement and cash flow plan.
Who should write the business plan for a business project?
The drafting of a business plan is normally the responsibility of the project leader , both for the financial part and for the economic part. In theory, it is therefore he who must be responsible for establishing it. However, in practice, the construction of this document can prove to be complex. Moreover, some project promoters do not have sufficient skills to establish it on their own.
How to build the financial tables of the business plan?
How to present a business plan?
The economic part follows this section. It includes several parts: presentation of the project leader, the offer, the environment, the market, the competitors, the strategy, the business model, the action plans and the financial study of the project.
The presentation of the business plan ends with the financial forecast , that is to say the presentation of the financial tables that we have revealed to you previously. Their number depends, once again, on the audience targeted by the business plan.
What are the mistakes not to make in a business plan?
Many mistakes are made in business plans. Here they are, so you can avoid them . First of all, the first danger that awaits you is “over-optimism”. Excessive optimism is bad because it will lead you to overestimate your projected turnover and contributes to truncating the real profitability of your project. This error is easily corrected with the realization of a market study.
Finally, take care of the form of your business plan. Present your document in a clear and airy form. Insert a cover page and a summary, bind the file. Proofread yourself and have yourself proofread several times. Correct any spelling mistakes . And… Practice presenting it orally .
