Business plan is my business. Costs and production schedule

In this article, we will analyze in detail what a business plan is, why it is needed and how to write it correctly.

Greetings, dear readers! Alexander Berezhnov is in touch. Today we will talk about business, or rather about business planning.

As you know, any business or project starts with. But it doesn't carry much value on its own, since most people come up with dozens of ideas every day.

Many famous entrepreneurs talk about it, prominent people in the field of management, leadership and planning training. These are Stephen Covey, John Maxwell, Vladimir Dovgan, Alex Yanovsky, Tony Robbins and others.

Surely you had situations when an idea was born, but you didn’t have enough time and energy to bring it to life, and most importantly, you didn’t know where to start.

This article will be useful for both beginners and current entrepreneurs, because, as you know, any prosperous company or project always has a plan to achieve its goals.

When I myself was trained in the field of business planning, I well remembered the words of one of the trainers:

A dream differs from a goal in that it does not have a clear plan to achieve it!

In other words, if you don't have a good plan to achieve your goal, it is unlikely that it will become something more than just a dream for you even after many years.

In this article, I will cover issues related to business planning, as myself I have experience in writing business plans for my own entrepreneurial projects. But in order to convey information in plain language, before writing this article, I spoke with two of my acquaintances who are professionally engaged in writing business plans for entrepreneurs to order in order to attract third-party capital to their clients' businesses. The guys help by writing professional business plans to entrepreneurs in obtaining loans, grants and subsidies.

Dear readers, I draw your attention to the fact that in these articles we will consider a simplified model for writing a business plan for starting a small business. And if you are faced with the task of writing a business plan for big company, then I advise you to use the services of professionals who specialize in this.

I won't take any more of your precious time, let's get started...

1. What is a business plan

Every term has many definitions. Here I will give my own, it is quite short and reflects the main meaning of the concept of "business plan".

Business plan- this is a document or otherwise a guide that describes the idea of ​​the project, business processes and mechanisms for their implementation in order to achieve the goals stated by the author of the document (business plan).

In general, business planning, like any process, should have a goal, in this case, the success of your project will depend on 3 key factors:

1. Awareness of your level at the current time (point "A");
2. A clear idea of ​​​​the ultimate goal of where you (and your company) plan to be (point "B");
3. A clear understanding of the sequence of steps to get from point "A" to point "B".

2. What is a business plan for?

From my own practice, I will say that a business plan is needed globally in 2 cases, and in each case its writing is different in a certain way.

These are the cases:

1. Business plan for investors(creditors, grant givers, bodies providing state support in the form of subsidies, etc.)

Here the main purpose of the business plan is to prove the viability of the project and effective use funds. And it does not matter whether you will return them, if it is a loan or not, if it is a subsidy or a grant.

In a situation where you are thinking about how to write a business plan for investors, you need to emphasize the logic of the actions you are planning to take, perhaps even bluffing about certain points that will help you get funding. When writing a business plan, you can embellish something, but the main thing is not to get carried away.

In a word, your finished plan should be clean, neat, logical. Everything should be beautifully painted in it, explanations of the facts you have given, and so on.

It will not be superfluous to prepare a good computer presentation and speak publicly to investors.

Therefore, when I am asked how to write a business plan, I ask the question in response: “For whom is a business plan being drawn up? For yourself or for investors?

2. Business plan for yourself(according to this plan, you will actually act for the successful implementation of your own project)

Let me explain with an example. If, when writing a business plan to attract funding, you write that you need 300,000 rubles to buy 10 computers, then further in the form of a table you paint a detailed estimate:

№	Expense name	Quantity (piece)	Cost, rub.)	Amount (rub.)
1	Intel based system unit	10	20 000	200 000
2	Samsung monitor	10	8 000	80 000
3	Mouse	10	300	3 000
4	Keyboard	10	700	7 000
5	Speakers (set)	10	1 000	10 000
Total:				300 000

That is, you really need 10 computers to run the project. This is how you write it. BUT!

If you are making a business plan for yourself, then most likely even this small estimate for computers will look different for you. You will ask why?

Example

You know that you and your partner, with whom you are going to open a business, already have 3 computers for two, and you can find 3 more computers at your father at work, at home on the loggia and at your grandmother in the garage, having upgraded them a bit.

This is very figurative, but I think you understand the meaning. All this concerns the available resources, but for the investor, you will request funds for the purchase of new office equipment, since you will need to document it.

The same thing, if you are going to open a business in the field of cargo transportation, then in the business plan for the investor you write that you need 5,000,000 rubles to buy 5 trucks. Then it will be easier for the investor to navigate the expediency of using his funds.

Even if you already have 1 or 2 similar trucks, you can simply add them to a new fleet when you receive funding and everyone will be happy.

Because often there is a situation when in negotiations with an investor you say that for the successful operation of your project you need 5 trucks, but in principle you have 2 ... And then you start to disorient the investor, saying that one of these trucks was bought in half with your friend, and the other belongs to your wife and she may not give it to you for a new project, and so on.

Conclusion

Write a business plan for investors as much as possible detailed and beautiful.

When writing a business plan for yourself, focus on the resources you have and write such a plan as close as possible to yours. realities.

Moving on to the technology of writing a business plan ...

3. How to write a business plan

Drawing up a business plan begins with a preliminary analysis of the current situation.

Before moving on to formulating, describing and filling sections, you need to gather together all the information that you own, and if it is not enough, then fill in these gaps using third-party sources or by contacting specialists.

One of the recognized technologies for preliminary analysis before the upcoming business planning is the so-called SWOT analysis.

It is quite easy to understand and clearly structures all the information you have.

4. What is SWOT analysis and how is it applied in business planning?

SWOT is an abbreviation and stands for:

• S trends- strengths;
• W eakness- weak sides;
• O pportunities- opportunities;
• T hreats- Threats.

SWOT analysis is needed in order to assess the internal and external factors of the company, making an objective picture for the upcoming business planning.

For example, in your case it could be the following indicators:

Strengths:

• Low cost of production;
• High professionalism of the project team;
• The company's product (service) has an innovative component;
• Attractive product packaging or high level providing services to the company.

Weak sides:

• Lack of own commercial premises;
• Low brand awareness among potential buyers.

Opportunities and Threats are characteristics external environment, which the company cannot directly influence, and therefore, they can influence the outcome of its work in the future.

These factors can be:

• Economic and political situation in the country or region;
• Socio-cultural environment (features of the mentality of consumers);
• The level of technology development in the territory of doing business;
• Demographic situation.

According to the analysis of the current conditions, it is possible to highlight the potential of the future project.

Opportunities:

• Introduction of new materials and technologies for the production of the company's product;
• Obtaining additional funding for the project;
• Adapting product design to cultural and age features region.

Threats:

• High customs duties on raw materials for the production of goods;
• Strong competition in this market segment.

After the SWOT analysis is done, you can proceed to the description of the sections of the business plan. Below I will describe each of them, explain my point of view, and in the 3rd part of this instruction I will give in a concise form examples of filling out each section. This will help you visualize the technology of writing a business plan.

And so that my examples are not general phrases like “it’s better to be healthy and rich than poor and sick,” I will reveal the question “How to write a business plan” using the example of opening anticafe or in another way time cafe * .

anticafe(or time-cafe) is a new format of cultural and entertainment establishments that first appeared in Moscow in 2010.

Their essence lies in the fact that visitors do not order food and drinks for money, as in an ordinary cafe, but pay by the minute for the time they are in the establishment. For this payment, they get the opportunity to play board games(for example, the very popular game " "), play video games on game console X-BOX, organize your own events: birthdays, corporate parties, parties, as well as use free WI-FI Internet.

Here visitors can also participate in entertainment and educational activities: musical and theater evenings, trainings, clubs foreign languages, take training courses on the game on musical instruments etc.

By the way, personally, as a person leading healthy lifestyle life, pleases that in these establishments it is not allowed to drink alcohol and smoke.

5. What sections should be in a business plan

In order to understand the structure of a business plan, you need to decide on its sections. I will offer you my own version, which is classic for most business plans.

Business plan sections:

1. Introduction (summary);
2. Description of goods and services;
3. Market analysis and marketing strategy;
4. Production plan;
5. Organizational plan;
6. Financial plan(budget);
7. Expected results and prospects (final part).

When starting to develop a business plan, I recommend that you conduct a small brainstorming session, describing your idea on 1-2 A4 sheets. This is necessary in order to understand the big picture and only then proceed to the detailed description of the above sections.

Important point!

Before filling out the sections in detail, collect as much information as possible on the topic of your project (business).

It can be:

• Industry analysis with quantitative indicators;
• Ways to promote your products or services;
• Current competitors in the market;
• The amount of tax deductions for your company;
• Technologies applied in the industry of your future business.

All this will help you write a business plan as efficiently as possible on your own and not look for material for its sections along the way. This way you save a lot of time and get good results.

In the second part, we will analyze in more detail how to fill out the sections of the business plan.

A business plan is a project that allows an entrepreneur to display all the moments of organizing his future business. A competent and convincing business plan makes it possible to attract large investors, creditors and start a promising business.

Careful study of each item of the business plan is the key to drawing up a competent and promising project. Initial points worth paying attention to.

Key Points	Description
Line of business	Determining the direction of work is the starting point in drawing up a business plan. It is important to clearly describe the type of activity that the entrepreneur plans to engage in. It is necessary not only to determine the direction of development, but also to justify why this particular type of activity, in the opinion of the compiler of the business plan, will bring him profit. Here is a list of goods and services that will be the products of the entrepreneur
Business location	AT modern conditions a business can be located not only in a real room, but also on the Internet. In the second case, the business plan indicates the address of the site and the residential premises from which the entrepreneur plans to access the Internet. In the first case, it is important to indicate not only the location of the retail space, but also the method of its operation (purchase, rent, leasing). Justify the choice of business location
Control	The entrepreneur must determine for himself who will be the manager. This can be directly the owner of the business, or an outsider who is empowered by the manager.
Staff	Personnel plays an important role in the formation and development of any business. The more qualified specialists working in the company, the more profit they will bring. The desired number and quality of employees is indicated in the business plan, along with the calculation of the approximate costs of maintaining this team and the justification for the need for these costs.
The target audience	The entrepreneur must decide which categories of citizens will be his clients. The business plan provides a description of these categories of consumers, as well as ways to attract them (advertising, marketing strategy of the business)
Competitors	It is important to soberly assess the situation in the market for the provision of similar services, or the sale of similar goods. In the business plan, you need to list all major competitors, study their activities and describe possible ways fight
Amount of costs	In the business plan, you must specify the total amount of costs that will have to be incurred in the implementation of this project. It takes into account the cost of equipment, salaries of employees, rental and advertising costs, the cost of purchasing goods, contingencies, etc.

In order to draw up a competent business plan, you need to carefully study the factors presented in the table.

Research highlights	Description
Market Condition	The area of ​​residence of potential customers, age and gender of potential buyers, current prices, volatility in demand (for example, for seasonal goods), etc. All these data can be found in the media, on the Internet, with the help of observations and surveys, in statistical reports.
Activities of competitors	Name of companies, location, characteristics of goods and services, distinctive features, price level, ways to promote products, pace of development. Competitor analysis makes it possible to adjust for initial stage their plans and focus on products and services that compare favorably with those offered by competitors
Price for similar products	To calculate the estimated price, you can take into account: competitors' prices, demand for goods, production costs, expected profit, uniqueness markup, etc.
Existing risks	Threat of falling demand, unreliability of suppliers, inflation, activity of authorities, increase in the cost of equipment, etc.
Sources of financing	Possible subsidies, investments, loans, leasing.
Methods of taxation	It is important to study all the ways to pay taxes and choose the best option. There are three types of taxation in Russia: general, simplified, imputed.

When drawing up a business plan, it is desirable to consider the following recommendations:

• at the beginning of the business plan, make a short discussion of it, which will concisely state the essence of the document;
• describe the future company in as much detail as possible (name, actual address, legal address, description of the direction of activity, area of ​​​​the premises, landlord, etc.);
• give a detailed analysis of the sales market (market segments, consumers, development trends, possible risks, expected profit, etc.);
• tell about future goods, services (reasons for choosing this particular product, target audience, advantages over competitors, the process of production of goods, etc.);
• describe the chosen strategy (a way to conquer the market and find your niche);
• carefully study the activities of dozens of the closest competitors, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses;
• make a complete description of the production, paying attention to even the most insignificant at first glance moments (method of delivery of goods, the procedure for writing off debts from debtors, the process of training and training personnel, equipment, technologies, licenses, legal aspects activities, etc.);
• describe the workflow. You can attach your resume and letters of recommendation key employees (for example, the manager and key managers), describe job descriptions, calculate estimated costs for staff salaries;
• attach all relevant documents to the business plan. In addition to documents describing the duties and qualifications of employees, it is necessary to attach accounting documents, loan documents, lease or leasing agreements, statistical reports, etc.

At the initial stage of drawing up a business plan, it is important to prevent common mistakes. These errors include:

• excess information. The business plan should be devoted exclusively to the description of the planned business activity. The presence of a large amount of secondary information (personal merits of the author, professional terms, too detailed description production process, etc.) may create a negative impression on future investors;
• blurry and unattainable goals. The tasks that the entrepreneur sets for himself must be realistically achievable;
• adequate financial performance. Indicating an unnecessarily high percentage of a venture's return in order to impress investors can lead to the opposite result. Financial indicators should be based on real research and calculations, as well as take into account possible risks;

Thus, when drawing up a business plan at the initial stage, it is important to decide on the direction of activity, to collect all the necessary information. A competent project will be the key to building a successful business.

The failures of novice entrepreneurs are most often based on typical mistakes. The study of business failures at the start and the analysis of the causes of this phenomenon showed that in most cases gross blunders are made. They can be avoided. We bring to your attention the TOP of the most common mistakes of novice entrepreneurs.

Break-even point not defined

You will be surprised how many people start a business without doing the basic calculations and determining how many products or services you need to sell to break even. But it is one of the most important markers and indicators of business viability.

The break-even point is determined by elementary calculations. Add up all current expenses for the month. The break-even point is reached if your profits cover all costs. This is the minimum you have to earn. If, according to forecasts for several months, it is unrealistic to reach such a level of income, it is better to abandon this business.

Conclusion: You can not invest money (loan or savings) in a business idea if you do not have a complete and clear financial analysis.

Illusions about the perfect start

Many start-ups rely on a reference business - they purchase high-tech equipment, rent a chic office in a central area, organize an elite restaurant, etc. In itself, striving for the ideal is highly commendable, but in practice we fix bulk examples bankruptcy of ambitious projects. After analyzing the causes, two main errors appear:

• The service or product was not in demand. If there is no demand in a particular region or city, a chic office will not help.
• Improper distribution of capital. Example. The young enterprise invested the lion's share of the start-up capital in the acquisition of high-tech equipment, leaving no necessary reserve for the purchase of raw materials and other current expenses. The first months of work did not give the expected profits. The result - to pay off debts had to sell equipment.

Conclusion: Make sure your products or services will be in demand. Do not rush to invest large sums, create small business with minimal investment and test the viability of your idea in practice.

Lack of professionalism and love for their work

Do you smile skeptically? In vain. Explore success stories in Russia and around the world. You will not find a single example of a profitable business whose owner does not understand the essence of his field or is not in love with his business. Regular reports on economic development show the most profitable directions. Do not believe in the importance of love for the chosen field and passion for your work, choose the most promising area and start. You will see from your own experience that this is a road to nowhere. But we see a lot of examples when businessmen, in love with their product or service, achieved outstanding results, despite the pessimistic forecasts of experts and the misunderstanding of others.

Conclusion: You must love your job and be in it. the best specialist. This is the main ingredient for success.

“Step by step business organization plan”

Quite often one has to observe the chaotic movements of novice businessmen and the complete lack of action planning. But the creation plan is extremely important. If you do not have knowledge in this area and do not know what stages the creation of a business consists of, we offer you a plan that is suitable for any area.

Stage 1. We are looking for an idea

This is the first thing to start with. If you can't come up with an idea, you shouldn't be entrepreneurial. But first, it’s worth understanding the terminology and making sure that you and I equally understand the meaning of the expression “business idea”. We are not talking about a brilliant and innovative idea that can revolutionize an entire industry. We are talking about ideas that are already working, but you see that it can be done better and provide consumers with a better service. We are not talking about large-scale projects, you can start a business with little or no investment.

A true entrepreneur sees the opportunity in the challenges they face on a daily basis.

A simple example. How is garbage disposal in your city? Yes, it's very serious problem, but for you it is an opportunity to organize profitable business for the removal and processing of waste. Now it is one of the most promising areas.

Are you into needlework? Sell ​​your products online, there is a huge demand for handmade items. Do you have a cottage or small plot? Grow and sell greens or vegetables - this is very much in demand. Interesting ideas right in front of your eyes, pick whichever one you have a taste for.

Stage 2. We analyze the market

You should have several preferred ideas in reserve. Now you need to evaluate each of them for relevance. Conduct a survey, observe the situation in your city or region, read analytics. If your idea is in demand, evaluate the closest competitors. Objectively evaluate the pros and cons of their work, think about what you can do better. Compare everything: quality and service, assortment, prices. Soberly assess your capabilities and work out your advantages as carefully as possible.

If you have come to the conclusion that your product or service is really needed, that you can compete with existing companies, proceed to the next step.

Stage 3. Planning

The preparation of a business plan must be approached with the utmost seriousness. The majority ignores this stage and orders the writing of a business plan to specialists only if it is necessary to attract investments. But this is a big mistake. A clear and realistic plan is what you need first of all. Do not buy ready-made business plans- they are useless.

Write down everything you need for a successful start, and plan your current expenses for the next six months. In the future, try to stick to your planned expenses, but create a reserve fund just in case. Based on the costs, you will be able to determine the break-even point and start pricing. In the process of organizing and developing a business, try to check the plan as often as possible and analyze the reasons for deviations, if any.

Stage 4. We are looking for start-up capital

There are options in which a business is created without money or with minimal investment. But, as a rule, a certain amount is still needed to start. By writing a business plan, you have already determined how much money you need. Add at least 20% to this amount immediately. So you will get more or less the real size of the required start-up capital. Start searching.

Great if you have the required amount. Starting with a loan is strongly discouraged. Look for options with franchises and small business assistance programs, attract partners with money or investors, try to find additional income, but do not take a loan.

Stage 5 Registering a business

Do not even hope that you will be able to work without registration. If you do not understand the intricacies of registration and find it difficult to choose the form of registration, hire an experienced lawyer. Payment for his services will pay off with a vengeance.

Stage 6 Reporting and paying taxes

During the registration process, you will determine the most beneficial tax payment system for you. The choice largely depends on the scope and scale of your business. Hire an experienced and qualified accountant - this is extremely important. But you yourself must have at least minimal knowledge in the field of finance. Read articles, study, without this success in business is impossible.

Stage 7. Quick idea testing

This stage can be completed before registration, although much here depends on the chosen field. As a last resort, try to conduct a rapid test before a serious investment big money. How is testing done? At your own expense, run a minimal promotion, create a small batch of a product or offer a service, and try to sell it. Studying the demand in practice is extremely important.

Remember one of the typical mistakes? Do not rush to invest large amounts of money and do not build an ideal business right away. Create something minimal and experience how it works. If the expected result is not achieved, do not rush to abandon your idea. Perhaps the reason was hidden in the wrong planning, price, wrong estimate target audience. During the test, conduct a survey of consumers, find out why they do not buy your product or refuse services.

Based on the results of quick testing, you will be able to see your mistakes and make adjustments to the plan. The option of rejecting an attractive idea and searching for a new one is not excluded. This is very milestone, it allows you to save money, effort and time on the implementation of an erroneous plan or an unclaimed idea.

Stage 8. Development

You conducted testing, adjusted the plan based on its results and began to receive the first profits. You need to start development right away. Distribute income as follows:

Cover current expenses.
Set aside a certain percentage for possible force majeure circumstances.
The rest is invested in development.
In this list, you did not notice the cost of meeting your personal needs. There is no mistake here. When planning to start a business, you had to find a source to meet the needs of the family in case of failure. Stick to this plan and don't waste the profits of your new business, it should be invested in development. Only a few adhere to this rule, this is one of the most common causes failures after a more or less successful start.

Stage 9 Active promotion

This is component development, but it is too important and requires a separate discussion. By development, everyone understands the increase in production capacity, the expansion of the staff and the range or range of services. This is correct, but many entrepreneurs in Russia underestimate the importance of advertising and finding new markets.

It is not enough to expand the staff and capacities, all this economy must be provided with work. Don't rely on word of mouth and lame, standard marketing techniques. Use aggressive advertising, actively look for new customers by any of the methods available and possible at the moment. Use everything, but be sure to analyze the results and weed out what is not effective. Keep and develop advertising methods that bring tangible results when minimal cost budget.

10 stage. Expand your geography

You have reached the level at which the business works with dignity within the same city. Do not stop and go to the market of neighboring settlements or regions. No desire or opportunity to expand geography? Explore options with the development of a related direction, explore innovative areas. Do not stop, otherwise you will gradually begin to roll back and wait until a more enterprising and nimble competitor appears who will offer your customers more favorable conditions.

“Important Criteria for Evaluating Business Performance”

There are very clear markers by which you can determine the success of the development of an enterprise and find dangerous mistakes at the very start. These should be taken with the utmost seriousness.

• After a few months of work, conduct an audit. If, according to its results, you see that the business does not bring even the minimum income and even works in the red, it is not viable. Investments and loans will not save the situation, but will only aggravate your situation.
• If actual sales are much lower than planned, immediately change the style of work or plan.
• Building a business is a challenge. You will experience stress - this is normal only to a certain extent. If a entrepreneurial activity causes you clear and persistent discomfort, either leave the business or change your approach.

15Jul

Why I decided to write this article

Because many who ask me questions ask something that at first you shouldn’t even bother at all. There are even questions that a person may never face at all. In general, “Woe from Wit” occurs in the minds of many novice entrepreneurs, and we will “eliminate” this grief in this article. At least I'll try my best. Now let's talk about the errors, and then I will issue step by step plan the way I see it.

Some errors and their solutions

1. Break-even point not calculated

Many start a business without even considering how much in what period they need to sell in order to break even. This is important because many business models are cut off at this stage.

Calculating the break-even point is easy. You consider how much you incur expenses per month and then consider how much you need to sell goods or provide services per month in order to recoup these expenses. If the figure is too large and seems unrealistic to you, then it is better not to take on such a business. If you think you can sell right amount goods to cover expenses or start covering expenses in a few months, then you can think about this business further.

Conclusion 1: Until you have a complete financial picture of the business in your head, you can’t borrow money or even use your savings.

2. Everything must be perfect

At the beginning of your business, you want everything to be right and beautiful: you buy the most modern equipment, the most functional site is being created, the office is being renovated, etc.

Striving for the best is useful, but there is one "BUT" - before you spend money, check the performance of your business model. If you are going to make an expensive website design, first make sure that your services or products are in demand at all.

Or, if you're opening a cafe, before making expensive renovations, try to start selling in the premises that are available with minimal investment. If sales go on and a place in this area of ​​the city will bring at least some profit, then you can expand or make cool repairs.

Conclusion 2 A: Don't invest a lot of money until you're sure people want the product. And you don’t need to bring everything to perfection, thereby delaying the start. Start with what you have and gradually develop and improve.

3. Not understanding your future business or simply no love

I personally think that a business should at least like it. For example, I love each of my business projects, and if I didn’t love them, they wouldn’t turn out to be profitable.

Some start-up entrepreneurs write me questions like “What to sell”, “What services are profitable to provide”, “What kind of business is profitable to do”, etc. I answer everyone: "Open your own bank." And no one likes my answer, although it answers all these questions. Every entrepreneur has a different life situation, different interests and different knowledge. If one likes selling toys and the other likes selling men's suits, then they won't be able to switch businesses and be as successful. This is because they do not understand the model itself and simply do not feel interested.

Conclusion 3: You can't build a business on an idea just because you just know it's profitable and you're not interested in it. Business needs to be understood, loved and “be in the know”. For example, I could not open massage parlor and lead your business to success. Not because I don't have enough money, but because I don't understand this business nothing.

How to start your own business - 10 steps from scratch

To begin with, I want to say that below I will give 2 plans on how to start your business: complete and simplified. Let's start with the complete.

Step 1. Business Idea

Of course, to start a business, you need to know what to start. I have always said, I say and I will say that an entrepreneur must have an idea. If you can't even come up with an idea, then what kind of business are you talking about. It is not necessary to be an innovator and come up with something unimaginable. You can take an already working idea, look around, find flaws in it, or simply improve it the way YOU see it and it will be a different business. It is easier to enter a formed market than to form it yourself. And the idea should not be global, you can start a micro business or.

In order to come up with or find a business idea, read the following articles and after reading you will 100% decide on the idea:

After the articles are read, the ideas are thought up, you can proceed to the next step.

Step 2. Market Analysis

After choosing a business idea, you need to analyze the market, find out if people really need your product. Evaluate the competition, identify the positive and negative sides of competitors, find in yourself what will make you different from your competitors. Compare prices, quality of service, assortment (if it is a commodity business) and look to the maximum for what you can be better at. It is necessary. Why? Read!

Once you have assessed the supply and demand, realized that you can compete with existing companies, you can move on.

Step 3. Business Planning

Step 5. Registering your business

This step cannot be missed, because the business must be registered. You can use LLC or IP. It all depends on your activity. This article will help you:

Once your business is set up, you can move on to the next step.

Step 6. Taxes and reporting

I indicated this step right away, because you must initially decide on which taxation system you will work with. This must be done immediately, because the amount of taxes and how they are paid depend on it. To do this, read the following articles:

And also read other articles of the heading, because there you will always find up-to-date and complete information on the conduct of tax and accounting. You can also ask your question and get an answer from a specialist.

Step 7. Quick idea testing

Someone will say that you can test without registering a business. And you are right! It is possible and so, but it was not in vain that I wrote at the very beginning that there would be 2 scenarios for the development of events, and in the second I will talk about it. Now let's move on to testing itself.

Initially, you need exactly quick testing - “testing in battle”. With your own money, test the idea, give minimal advertising, make the smallest possible product and try to sell it. Study demand in practice so to speak. You have to look into your plan, estimate what you need at the minimum in order to get started and start right away. Why is this being done. At the very beginning, I wrote about one of the mistakes of novice entrepreneurs, which consists in delaying the start, in constant improvements, etc. You don’t need to bring it to perfection, you need to start as soon as possible in order to test the idea in action, get the first sales and be inspired to continue development.

If the start does not give the first sales, then you need to revise the plan, idea and look for errors. A quick start is also done so that in case of failure you spend less time, effort and money. Agree, it would be more annoying to prepare for a year, and then fail? It is less offensive to realize your mistakes right away, while you still have little time to do. So you can make adjustments along the way and everything will start to work out!

To test ideas and your business can help you. It is more for testing ideas on the Internet, but it is also suitable for the real sector (offline).

Step 8. Business Development

After the tests have been carried out, the plan has been adjusted and sales have started slowly, you can develop the business and refine everything that you wrote in the plan to perfection. Now you can improve the site, increase warehouses or office, expand staff, etc. When your idea and business model has shown its performance, it is easier for you to put more global goals. Moreover, you have already received the first money from the first orders or sales and can reinvest them in development.

If there is not enough money, then here you can already resort to loans and borrowings, because business brings money and you can borrow with a clear conscience for its development. If you don't need a lot of money, then even credit card. In I told how you can use credit card money for your business without interest.

Step 9. Active promotion

This step could be attributed to development, but I took it out separately. After you have wider warehouses, more powerful equipment and site, more employees, etc., you need to make it all work. This requires aggressive advertising to the maximum. You have to use a lot of promotional opportunities. Look for clients on the Internet, do offline advertising, do direct sales, etc. The more advertising tools you use, the better the result. But be sure to record the results and filter out ineffective advertising tools so as not to waste your budgets.

Step 10 Scaling

Your business is doing well, making money, you are constantly developing, everything is great! But there are also adjacent areas or neighboring cities. If your business model is successful in your city, then you can make representative offices in other cities. If there is no desire or opportunity to go to neighboring cities, then you can simply capture an adjacent direction, if there is one at all.

For example, if you are selling household appliances, you can simultaneously open a repair service and provide paid services for repair. If your client's equipment is beyond repair, you can always offer him to buy something from your store in exchange. In general, look at your business and I am sure that you will find something to cling to.

What else can you pay attention to

During the launch of a business, there are several parameters that allow you to evaluate how effective your business is at the start, take them seriously:

If the net income of your business is above zero, excluding equipment costs and taxes, then your business will survive because it generates some money. If it is below zero, it means that your business is burning money, and it will not have enough loans and investments;

If you planned sales for 200,000, and sell for 50,000, then this is an occasion to seriously adjust your work and, possibly, the plan itself;

You should be comfortable. Business is hard. If you, too, are constantly having a hard time, then it will be difficult to cope with the tasks of the business. Provide yourself enough level comfort so that you don't feel left out because of your own business.

How to start and open your own business in a simplified way

As promised, I will give another simplified diagram of how to start your own business. Because I have already written all the points above, so I will refer to them here so as not to repeat myself.

I myself have used this scheme more than once, because before I started very small projects in which a lot could be missed. So the schema looks like this:

1. Idea (it should always be);
2. Easy planning, you can not paint, but fit the main points on a sheet of notebook. It is done in order to draw a model;
3. Quick idea test. Perhaps even without investments and search for money. Or very little money will be required and they will simply be in your savings;
4. Development and active promotion. After the first orders are, you can start active promotion and bring everything to mind;
5. Business registration and scaling.

As you can see, I missed registration at the very end, because some business projects can be implemented without registration, because during the test you get not so much money to immediately run for them to report to the tax office. But if the business model has shown its performance even after active promotion nailed grow, then the design should be instant.

But you still can’t do without registration even at the first stages if you need a retail space, an office or work with companies under contracts, because this requires at least an individual entrepreneur.

Conclusion

In this article, I told you how to start your own business, talked about the mistakes that beginners often make and I made, and now you know what to do before starting your own business. Read my site, subscribe to it, and try to start doing your own thing. We will not leave anyone on the site without help. Thank you for your attention!

Sincerely, Schmidt Nikolai

It is a document that highlights all the characteristics of the future organization, analyzes possible problems and risks, their forecasting and methods by which they can be avoided.

Simply put, a business plan for an investor is the answer to the question “Should the project be financed or should it be thrown into the trash?”.

Important! A business plan is drawn up on paper, taking into account certain procedures and rules. Such a presentation of the project to some extent materializes your idea, shows your desire and willingness to work. Also, the design on paper simplifies the perception of the idea by the investor.

Self-drawing up a business plan

Drawing up a business plan yourself is not so difficult, you just need to carefully consider the idea. Before you grab onto the calculator and calculate income, you need to take a few steps.

1. Identify the "pros" and "cons" of the idea that has arisen. If the number of "minuses" rolls over - do not rush to give up. Some aspects can be turned in the opposite direction, think about ways to solve such "cons".
2. Competitiveness and market stability are important characteristics.
3. The sales market needs to be thought out to the smallest detail.
4. The payback of the product (service) and the time of receipt of the first profit will allow you to determine the (approximately) required amount for investment.

If, after such a superficial analysis, you do not want to abandon your brainchild, then it's time to take a clean slate and start creating a business plan.

It is important to know! unified structure and step by step instructions how to calculate a business plan, no. Therefore, the presence and order of the items included in the plan is determined independently. However, experts have established the most optimal variant of the plan structure. If there is no experience in compiling such documents, you need to use these recommendations in order to correctly compose the work.

Structure and procedure for drawing up a business plan

The structure of a good business plan, according to economists, should include 12 points. Each of them is described below.

Title page

The following parameters are specified here:

• name of the project;
• the name of the organization where the project is planned to be implemented, indicating telephone numbers, addresses and other contact details;
• head of the above organization;
• developer (team or leader) of a business plan;
• date of preparation of the document;
• it is allowed to place on the first sheet the most significant indicators of financial calculations for the project.

This document is necessary to protect the copyright of the idea and business plan. This reflects the awareness of the reader that he is not entitled to distribute the information contained in the document without the permission of the author. There may also be an indication of the prohibition of copying, duplicating the document, transferring it to another person, a requirement to return the read business plan to the author if the investor does not accept the agreement.

An example of a confidentiality memorandum can be seen below.

The next 2 sections of the plan are “Brief Summary” and “ main idea project" - introductory. They can be used as a preliminary offer (for review) to partners and investors until negotiations are scheduled.

Brief Summary

Although a short summary of such a document is at the beginning, it is written in final stage, as a result. A summary is an abbreviated description of the project idea and a list of the most significant characteristics of the financial component.

The following questions will help here, by answering which you can get a great resume:

1. What product is the company planning to sell?
2. Who wants to buy this product?
3. What is the planned volume of sales (production) for the first year of the company? What will be the revenue from this?
4. What is the total cost of the project?
5. How will the enterprise be formed according to the organizational and legal form?
6. How many workers are planned to attract?
7. What is the required amount of capital investments for the implementation of the project?
8. What are the sources of funding for this project?
9. How much will total profit(profitability) for a specific period, payback period, volume Money at the end of the first year of operation of the enterprise, profitability. net discounted income.

It is important to know! The resume is read by the investor first. Therefore, the further fate of the project depends on this section: the investor will either become interested or bored. This part should not exceed 1 page.

The main idea of ​​the project

1. What is the main design goal?
2. What are the tasks of the enterprise to achieve the main goal?
3. Are there any barriers to the goal and how to get around them?
4. What exact actions does the author propose to perform in order to achieve results and achieve the goal as soon as possible? What are these timelines?

Important! It is necessary to give clear, real and explicit arguments that will confirm the confidence in the profitability and success of the project. The volume of this part is optimal within 1-2 pages.

In the same section, it is customary to use the conducted SWOT analysis – assessment of strong, weak features of the enterprise, opportunities (prospects), as well as possible threats. It is unlikely that it will be possible to make a business plan correctly and most completely without such an analysis.

The SWOT analysis reflects 2 sides that affect the life of the organization: internal, relating to the enterprise itself, and external (everything outside the company that it cannot change).

Do not forget: you describe the enterprise, not the product! Common mistake authors in that they begin to write the characteristics of the product in the “strength” column.

Here are some parameters that can be used to describe strengths or weaknesses:

• high-tech production;
• service and after-sales service;
• multifunctionality of the product (without affecting its specific properties);
• level of qualification and professionalism of employees;
• level technical equipment enterprises.

To external factors(“opportunities” and “threats”) include:

• market growth rates;
• the level of competition;
• political situation in the region, country;
• features of legislation;
• features of the consumer's solvency.

Example

Characteristics of the industry in the market

• dynamics of sales of similar products in the industry for last years;
• growth rate of the market industry;
• trends and features of pricing;
• exhaustive assessment of competitors;
• search and indication of new and young enterprises in the industry, as well as a description of their activities;
• description of the consumer market, their desires, intentions, requirements, opportunities;
• assessment of the possible impact of scientific, social, economic aspects;
• prospects for development in the market.

Essence of the project

This section reveals the idea, the subject of the business plan. It also reflects the level of preparedness of the enterprise for the release of "public", the availability of all the funds required for this.

The most important provisions in this section are:

• primary goals;
• description of the target consumer segment;
• key performance factors for market success;
• a detailed representation of the product, the characteristics of which must be within the market segment defined above;
• stage of product development (if production is launched), patent and author's purity;
• characteristics of the organization;
• the total cost of the project, indicating the financing schedule for the periods and amounts of investments;
• the required expenses of the initial period for the marketing campaign and the formation of a coherent organizational structure.

Marketing plan

Here the tasks, goals of the marketing policy and methods for their solution and achievement are indicated. It is important to indicate which task is intended for which personnel, in what terms it is required to be completed and with what tools. The funds needed for the latter must also be indicated.

Marketing plan is a strategy, a set of successive and / or simultaneous steps, created to attract consumers and effectively return on their part.

The investor will be attentive to such points as:

• a well-developed system of comprehensive market research and analysis;
• the planned volume of sales of goods (services) and its range, scheduled for time periods until the enterprise reaches full capacity;
• ways to improve products;
• description of product packaging and pricing policy;
• procurement and marketing system;
• advertising strategy - clearly articulated and understandable;
• service planning;
• control over the implementation of the marketing strategy.

Production plan

Everything related directly to the creation of products is reflected in this part. Therefore, it is advisable to compile this section only for those companies that plan not only distribution, but also production.

Points to be noted:

• required production capacity;
• detailed interpretation technological process;
• a detailed description of the operations entrusted to subcontractors;
• necessary equipment, its characteristics, cost and method of purchase or lease;
• subcontractors;
• required area for production;
• raw materials, resources.

It is important to indicate the cost of everything that requires costs.

organizational plan

At this stage, the principles of organizational strategic management company. If the enterprise already exists, then this item is still mandatory: it determines the compliance of the existing structure with the intended goals. The organizational part must necessarily contain the following data:

• name of the organizational and legal form (IP, OJSC, partnership and others);
• an organizational management system that reflects the structure in the form of a scheme, regulations and instructions, communications and dependencies of departments;
• founders, their description and data;
• management team;
• interaction with staff;
• supplying the control system with the necessary material and technical resources;
• company location.

Financial plan

This chapter of the business plan provides a summary economic evaluation written project, accompanied with calculations of the level of profitability, payback periods, financial stability of the enterprise.

The financial plan is very important for the investor, here he determines whether this project is attractive to him.

Here it is necessary to make some calculations and summarize them:

Risk Analysis

In risk analysis, the author must investigate the project and discover potential threats that could lead to a decrease in revenue. It is necessary to take into account financial, industry, natural, social and other risks. At the same time, it is necessary to develop a detailed and effective plan to prevent them or minimize the impact on the company. Therefore, the business plan should include:

• a list of all potential problems;
• a set of methods and tools that prevent, eliminate or minimize risks;
• models of the company's behavior in the event of events that do not contribute to its development;
• substantiation of the low probability of occurrence of such problems.

Applications

This is the last link in the structure of the business plan. It includes documents, quotations, sources, copies of contracts, agreements, certificates, letters from consumers, partners, statistics, calculation tables used in the preparation of this document. Attachments in the text of the business plan are required to insert links and footnotes.

General document requirements

• write a business plan in a clear, concise language, without long and complex wording;
• the desired volume is 20-25 pages;
• the business plan should cover all the information required by the investor in in full;
• the document must necessarily be based on real facts, reasonable rational proposals;
• the plan must have a strategic foundation: strict, delineated and complete, with clear targets;
• interconnectedness, complexity and consistency are important features of drawing up a plan;
• the investor must see the future, the prospects for the development of the project idea;
• The flexibility of the business plan is a significant plus. If you can make adjustments, amendments to the written project is a nice bonus for the investor;
• conditions and modes of control over the functioning of the enterprise should become part of the business plan.

Making a business plan from scratch without the help of a specialist is not easy, but possible. It is important to adhere to the above rules, construction structure and avoid mistakes.

The most common mistakes

• Illiterate syllable

The rules of the language cannot be ignored. It often happens that the most incredible and promising idea flies into the basket along with a bunch of plans of mediocre IPs. And all because errors in spelling, vocabulary, punctuation and poor presentation of the text completely discourage the desire of any investor.

• Careless design

The design should be the same throughout the document: bullets, headings, lists, font, size, numbering, spacing, etc. Contents, headings, numbering, names of figures and tables, designation of data on graphs are required!

• incomplete plan

To properly write a business plan, you need an exhaustive amount of information. The sections of the document listed above are the minimum that should be unconditionally included in the project.

• vague plan

Work should be "like in a pharmacy on the scales." clear, defined, specific language goals and (important!) ideas.

• Too many details

The abundance of technical, financial, marketing terms will only help in exams. For a business plan, you need to select only the most significant details. If there is a great need for a thorough description of a process, then you can put it in an application.

• Unrealistic data

Such business proposals are based on assumptions. Therefore, the author needs to rationally approach the idea and have a reasonable background, real reason supported by calculations.

• Few facts

For each assumption - its justification - real, valid. Facts give the work meaning and confidence. The fountain of facts is also not worth arranging, and if you are carried away, then we look at the rule about the details.

• "We have no risks!"

Rule of thumb: no business without risk. There is no such business in which "quiet, yes smooth surface." The investor knows this, and the author should also know this. Therefore, it's time to descend from the clouds to the ground and study, explore, analyze.

• “And we have no competitors either!”

The competitor, as well as the risk, is always there. It can be direct or indirect. Carefully and meticulously study this topic, and an opponent will definitely appear on the horizon, waving your pen.

• Neglect of outside help

Creating a business plan yourself does not mean doing absolutely everything yourself. Moreover, obtaining a high-quality result is possible through the joint efforts of several specialists. Don't be afraid of helpers!