BUSINESS PLANNING.

What is business planning? is a guide—a roadmap for your business that outlines goals
and details how you plan to achieve those goals.
OR A business plan is a written document that carefully explain every aspect of a new
venture.
WHY DO YOU NEED A BUSINESS PLAN?/ IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS PLAN
You may need a Business Plan for a number of reasons. Here are the most important:
• If you are starting a new project or venture
• If you are looking for a business partner
• If you require finance, government or EU grants and incentives
• To manage your business better
• To measure actual performance compared to what was planned
• WHAT CAN A BUSINESS PLAN DO FOR YOU?
A good Business Plan can be useful to you in a number of ways. It can:
• Help highlight aspects of the business that need special consideration
• Help identify your core competencies (what you can do best) and
weaknesses
• Help identify weaknesses and threats to the business
• Open your eyes to new opportunities
• Help you to understand your competitors
• Help you to plan your operational setup better
• Help you to use your financial resources more efficiently and ultimately
more profitably
• Assist your management capabilities in relation to specific tasks and
functions as well as bring
• awareness to human resources and capacity needs
 ESSENTIAL CONTENTS/COMPONENTS OF A BUSINESS PLAN
• 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• This section is a brief overview of the whole Business Plan. Your
executive summary should appear first in your business plan. It should
summarize what you expect your business to accomplish. Since it’s
meant to highlight what you intend to discuss in the rest of the plan,
the Small Business Administration suggests that you write this section
last. Try to keep it to 150 to 200 words – about half a page of text.
• A good executive summary is compelling. It reveals the company’s
mission statement, along with a short description of its products and
services. It might also be a good idea to briefly explain why you’re
starting your company and include details about your experience in
the industry you’re entering.
2. Company Description
• The next section that should appear in your business plan is a company description.
It’s best to include key information about your business, your goals and the customers
you plan to serve.
• Your company description should also discuss how your business will stand out from
others in the industry and how the products and services you’re providing will be
helpful to your target audience. What is the problem and what is the solution you
come with.
3. Market Analysis
Ideally, your market analysis will show that you know the ins and outs of the industry
and the specific market you’re planning to enter. In that section, you’ll need to use data
and statistics to talk about where the market has been, where it’s expected to go and
how your company will fit into it. In addition, you’ll have to provide details about the
consumers you’ll be marketing to, such as their income levels. Look at the Market Size
& Growth(How big the market is (locally/nationally/internationally)
,Trends(Consumers are increasingly seeking food options that feature locally-sourced
ingredients)
4. Competitive Analysis
A good business plan will present a clear comparison of your business to your direct and indirect
competitors. It’s important to research both your direct competitors (businesses that offer products or
services that are virtually the same as yours) and your indirect competitors (businesses that offer slightly
different products or services but that could satisfy the same consumer need).
You’ll need to show that you know their strengths and weaknesses and you know how your business will
stack up. If there are any issues that could prevent you from jumping into the market, like high upfront costs,
it’s best to say so. This information will go in your market analysis section. Basic information to know about
competitors are level of growth of your competitor, similarities and difference ,revenue which your
competitor generate each year.
5. Description of Management and Organization 
• Your Management Team section is where you introduce your team and, if possible, explain how each team
member’s background is highly relevant to the success of your company. An ideal Management Team
section shows investors that your team’s combination of skills, experience, relationships, and expertise
make you the best group of people on the planet to drive the success of your company. Each team bio
should cover: The team member’s name, Their title and position at the company, Their professional
background, Any special skills they’ve developed as a result of their past experience and Their role and
responsibilities at your company
• If you want to, you can create a diagram that maps out your chain of command.
• Don’t forget to indicate whether your business will operate as a partnership, a sole proprietorship or a
business with a different ownership structure. If you have a board of directors, you’ll need to identify the
members.
6. Breakdown of Your Products and Services
• Whoever’s reading this portion of your business plan should know exactly what
you’re planning to create and sell, how long your products are supposed to last
and how they’ll meet an existing need.
• It’s a good idea to mention your suppliers, too. If you know how much it’ll cost
to make your products and how much money you’re hoping to bring in, those
are great details to add. You’ll need to list anything related to patents and
copyright concerns as well.
7. Marketing Plan
• In your business plan, it’s important to describe how you intend to get your
products and services in front of potential clients. That’s what marketing is all
about. As you pinpoint the steps you’re going to take to promote your products,
you’ll need to mention the budget you’ll need to implement your strategies.
Include market penetration strategy, growth strategy, distribution strategy and
communication strategy. Sales strategies should also be included to provide
information on sales staff and activities.
8 .Customer Definition
• The name of the game here is know your audience!
• This is where you show readers that you know who your audience is
(who’s most likely to buy and use your product), where they are, and
what’s most important to them. Are they price-conscious? Do they
value convenience? Are they concerned about environmental impact?
Do they tend to be early adopters of new technologies?
• Once you have a good idea of your customer and demographics,
you’ll want to explain how you’re designing your products/services,
branding, customer service, etc. to appeal to your target audience
and meet their needs.
• 9. Financials forecast
• Financial forecasting is essential in any business plan. The best advice
is to be realistic. You should research as much as you can to try to get
the numbers as accurate as possible. You should forecast sales, cash
flow, and profit and loss. You should also outline the cost to buy or
make your products, the profit margins you expect to make, the
overheads you expect to incur, any capital expenditure that is
required, and anything else that is significant financially.

• Both past financial data as well as prospective financial data will be

required by potential lenders. Include the following financial
statements for the past three to five years; cash flow statements,
balance sheets and income statements. The same statements should
be prepared with forecasted data for the next five years.
• 10.Appendix
• A separate section which should not be included in the main body of
the business plan is the Appendix. Proprietary and confidential
information may be part of the appendix and as such should not be
easily accessed by all individuals requesting your business plan.
Creditors may need access to this information, therefore it should be
available on an as-needed basis. Documents which may be included in
the appendix include market study details, reference letters, personal
and business credit history, patents, permits, contracts and contact
information for consultants.