Despite the advantages of a business plan such as allowing assess the viability of a business, provide guidance to implement and manage, and help demonstrate their attractiveness to others, many entrepreneurs tend to ignore the development of one in their businesses due to consider it a difficult task to perform.
But if this is not your case and be sure to take full advantage involved, we present below 8 tips to help you easily develop a business plan:
Use other reference business plans
Using other business plans as a reference to develop one, especially that address the business that is to be performed, it is the first thing you can do to simplify your writing and save time.
Instead of making your business plan from scratch, look for other plans already made, especially that address the business you want to make, for example, support centers for entrepreneurs, universities and Internet (you can find a model business plan our article: a model structure and business plan), analyzes its structure and content, selects the best, and use them as a reference or basis for developing yours.
Keep in mind the objectives
Take into account the objectives of a business plan at the time of development is another way to make this easier and save time, but also achieves a plan most likely to achieve these goals.
Develop your business plan taking into account and according to its objectives; for example, if the main aim of your plan is to evaluate the feasibility of launching a new product, avoid overly explain the operation of this and give greater emphasis to the study of the market; and if the main objective is to get funding, avoid too much explaining technical issues and give greater emphasis to financial assessment and the description of your executive team.
Consider the audience
Take into account the audience of a business plan (people who will be targeted) at the time of development is also a way to simplify this, save time and achieve an effective plan.
Develop your business plan taking into account and according to your audience; For example, if your plan is aimed at credit institutions focus on the business opportunity and projections of revenues and expenditures; and if it is aimed at investors also focus on the business opportunity but keep in mind that for these before the most important projections is the return on investment and, therefore, focus on this.
Start with the easiest parts
Develop a business plan starting with the parts or sections easier makes your writing easier because it avoids frustration might have to draft a plan in order and feel that you can not advance to the next part until you have finished one.
To develop your business plan first determines the structure that will according to your objectives and your audience, then enter the titles and subtitles of each party, and then go to develop each of these starting with those that make you easier of writing or, in any case, for those of whom You have more information for the moment, and no need to complete a portion to move to the next.
Make a business plan a few pages
A business plan is not just a few pages easier to develop, but is also a plan most likely to be read, because today where time is scarce are very few people interested in reading extensive plans.
Make a business plan with enough information to explain the business to be carried out and support everything he said, but may not be too many pages. To this end, while taking into account your objectives and your audience at the time of its development, also recalls its main objective is to point out a business idea, how it will turn that idea into a business and how it will maintain such business for a certain period of time.
Use images and graphics
The use of images and graphics not only make more bearable the development of a business plan, but also allows better describe or explain the elements that comprise, in addition to making it more attractive to the reader.
Use images and graphics throughout your business plan; for example, uses images of the products or services you will offer, flowcharts with the process or business process, organizational charts with the areas or departments that make up, and plans to store location where it will operate or disposal the elements of this.
Do not hesitate to ask for help
One has more experience in developing business plans or else who knows all the particulars of your business, a little help to develop one will always be a way to simplify your writing and save time and effort.
Whether or not you have experience in developing business plans or know or not all the specifics of your business will never hesitate to ask for help developing your plan if you consider it necessary, which would not necessarily have to come from professional advisors but simply of friends or acquaintances who have developed one before or who have experience in the type of business you want to do.
Remember that a business plan is a flexible document
Finally, remember at the time of development that a business plan is a flexible document that can and must be constantly updated, easier wording as it detracts from one pressure for wanting to make a perfect or final plan.
Strive to make a formal business plan, review it well several times, take good care not have misspellings that could detract seriously, but avoid the desire to make a perfect or final plan, remembering that a business plan, especially in the world changing today is not a document written in stone but a flexible one which can and must be updated constantly adding, removing or correcting him information.