Business plan for small businesses, an approximate structure and tips for compiling

So, you decided to start your own business. The most important tool for starting your business is business planning. What is a business plan for small business, an example of drawing up a summary table of the plan, what should be an effective and understandable plan for correctly describing goals and key indicators? You can learn the answers to all these questions right now.

What is the business plan for?

A carefully thought-out business plan describes the idea of the project, its objectives, various aspects of its activities, key financial and economic indicators, actions to achieve its goals, analyzes possible problems and suggests ways to solve them.

Drawing up a business plan should be aimed at resolving the most important question: is it worthwhile for an entrepreneur to invest money in a business, after what time will all the funds spent be repaid and whether this business will bring real income. Such a plan is made both for oneself (to understand whether it is worth doing this business), and for prospective investors.

The laws of the Russian Federation do not provide for a clear structure of the business plan. It all depends on the nature of the business that you are going to do (manufacturing, selling, providing services, etc.), from your goals and desired income. But each business plan for small business is approximately the same in the context of some sections.

Structure

When writing a business plan for any line of business, you can use the following structure:

1. Brief overview of the idea.
2. Market analysis.
3. Marketing.
4. Financing of the project.
5. Production plan.
6. Economic evaluation of indicators.

Project Overview

This is a short summary, a possible biography of the project, designed to understand the entrepreneur and his investors (if any), how effectively this business can work. This is a brief description of all those indicators that will be discussed below. In a short review, you need to provide the most important materials to interest investors in investing money in your business.

Themes of business plans depend on the category of activity that you are going to represent. It could be a plan to create a cafe, a restaurant, a shop, organize a workshop, call-center, spa-salon, carry out production activities, etc.

Market analysis

This section should reflect the situation in the market of the business segment in which you intend to begin work. It is necessary to clearly understand which market you are going to conquer in order to understand the purpose of your business plan for small business. Examples of markets in Russia are:

• Consumer (designed for ordinary people who buy goods or use services for personal consumption);
• Intermediate (intended for the further use of goods and services in the form of wholesale and retail, franchising, dealership);
• State (purchase of goods and services for state needs or by state programs and tenders);
• international market.

In this section, it is necessary to analyze the segment market, to fully disclose the characteristics of the main players of the market, their strengths and weaknesses, and also to prove that the demand for your products or service really will be.

Marketing

The business plan of the enterprise should in advance provide for all your marketing moves. The following indicators should be reflected in it:

• Ways to promote products or services;
• Scheme for the sale of products (through its own network, through other organizations, issuance for sale);
• Types of advertising;
• Pricing methods;
• Terms of payment (advance payment, credit, in fact);
• Availability of discounts, savings and one-time bonuses;
• Presence of preliminary agreements with future consumers.

Financing of the project

In this section, you need to calculate all possible means to launch the project into action. These can be their own sources of income, possible investments, the need for loans and credits, and state support.

Production plan

In this section, you need to analyze all production indicators in order to understand how you can deal with this business with minimal costs for production capacity.

The production plan consists of two parts.

Production costs

1. The premises and costs for it (rent, property, maintenance costs, utility payments, taxes).
2. Equipment for the enterprise (composition, terms of purchase or provision, value).
3. Capacity and technology (composition, price, terms of delivery).
4. Additional costs (cost of purchasing the original product or material for its manufacture, composition and cost of funds not considered equipment, including stationery and materials for household needs).
5. Staffing, staff salaries, taxes, bonuses.
6. Specific requirements (purchase of a license, a patent, additional taxes, etc.).
7. Other costs.

Income from production

1. The number of goods sold (services rendered).
2. The average price per unit of goods (services).
3. Total income from core business.
4. Rendering of additional services, realization of additional (not basic) goods.
5. Other income.

Economic evaluation of indicators

After collecting all the indicators, you need to analyze them and draw up a project schedule to understand how effectively your business plan will be implemented for small business. An example of a schedule is shown in the table below.

Thus, drawing up a business plan is a serious business that requires certain skills in the sphere of legislation, economics and finance. In any case, this document will allow you to see the whole picture of your future business in figures and decide whether it is worthwhile to engage in this business or there is a sense to correct something in it.