How to make a business plan

Making a credible and realistic business plan is very useful in the event that we need to obtain a loan to start a new business, or to obtain financing from investors, among other possibilities. However, there are many issues to consider and it may not always be easy, so in this article we will give you some guidelines so you know how to make a business plan.

Steps to follow:

1.The first thing we need to create a good business plan is a business idea, around which our plan will revolve. Along with the idea, we must determine the product or a series of products that we have to offer to the market, and in turn, who are the potential consumers of this product. Once we have defined these fundamental details, we can begin to study each of the points of the business plan.

2.We will have to carry out a market analysis, to know who our potential customers are, how much market share we can reach or what news has been in this market recently. That is, everything around us: the macro environment of the company. For it:

• Meet our competitors: what they offer.
• Market prices in that sector.
• Distribution Methods
• Market innovations
• Competitive marketing strategies.

 

3.Another important issue is the organizational design of the company, that is, how it will conform and function in order to operate and offer its products:

• Selection of the legal form of our company: limited, anonymous, sole proprietorship, cooperative, etc.
• Organization chart and formal organization of work.
• Human Resources.
• Physical location of the place of sale, production and storage.

4.Once we know how the environment that surrounds us is and how we structure the company internally, we will have to make a marketing plan to get our product to reach consumers:

• Analysis and coordination of 4 P variables or marketing mix: price, distribution and product promotion.
• Segment the market, to know the demand and know who we have to address in such a way that we have greater success.

5.Finally we have to know if our project is economically viable, since if it is not, our company would not make sense. We will need:

• Knowing where we can get the financing we need to get it going, as well as the interest and terms to which we will have to repay the loans.
• Future projection of sales and income.
• Calculation of fixed and variable costs. Such as rental of premises or warehouses, personnel, raw materials or purchase of products, among others.
• Analysis of possible risks that we can face. It is advisable to perform a SWOT analysis.