Drafting a Business Plan? Here are #5 Rules for Making it Perfect Your business plans should be able to persuade people into thinking that working with you or funding your company is a smart choice
By Baishali Mukherjee •
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A business plan is the groundwork of any business and it is extremely important to learn to draft a plan efficiently. A good business plan can potentially steer you through the phases of preparatory and eventual business transactions. One can use the business plan as a roadmap for how to construct, operate, and grow new businesses.
Business plans can even help get finance or new business associates. Your business plans should be able to persuade people into thinking that working with you or funding your company is a smart choice.
- Plan Should Meet Requirements
Vinat Pillai, Co-founder of Dekkho, a disruptive new-age video streaming service, feels that there's no hard and fast rule about writing a business plan, though it is important that your plan meets your requirements.
"Starting a new business is not easy. However, it is wise to be prepared for the challenges – and try to get ahead of them. One key move in preparing for the challenges is drafting a solid business plan. Technicalities and standard information that a business plan includes are easy enough to figure out. You just need to focus on your basic needs," he elaborated.
- Build Your Vision
The secret to a successful business model is having a clear vision of what the owner wants to achieve as a company. "Before you write a business plan, it is recommended to figure out three to four essential strategies that will facilitate you to achieve that vision," advised Pillai.
Creating the vision for your business is also connected with the mission statement. The mission is about the "why' you're doing what you doing. "Once you completely comprehend the why, then you will have to classify "what' and "how' you are going to do it. The next part is the "who' you want as clientele and the ways by which you are going to deal with them," he added.
- Clarify Your Business Model
Tejal Kamdar, an independent business development consultant, said a high-quality financial model must be incorporated along with other details in an official business plan. "Hiring, pricing, sales, cost of acquisition, expenses and growth are some of these elements. The model must be amended and rationalized as the realities of business unfold," he explained.
4. Identify Your Target Market
Recognizing the target markets is always a risky blockage to get through. To help zero down the specific market, Udit Sheth, Founder of Trans Stadia (an urban sports infrastructure company), requests to answer the question, "For whom are you trying to solve a problem, or offer better solution/option?"
"If you are unable to find the answer, you must have ended up targeting the wrong market and more efforts will be required to recognise your prospective customers," he opined. "If what you are selling doesn't appeal to your target clientele, you must change your product or redefine your target market, he added.
5. Test Your Business Idea
According to Sheth entrepreneurs should reach out and interact with established industrialists, prospective consumers in the target market and fellow entrepreneurs. This helps them find out the viability of their business ideas or models, the market size, if the market will buy the products and also about their competitors.
"It is a given that writing a business plan will never make your company profitable, however, it will definitely provide a road map to reach there. The foresight that is put into the business plan spots the landmarks by which you can mark your growth," he concluded.
