Writing A Strong Business Plan
Ok guys so I have muscled up the courage to start looking deeper into how I can start to write a plan that will help my ideas come together for my business. I heard somewhere that learning how to raise capital is a very important part in becoming successful. Basically that means learning how to present your request for money in a way that will get you the amount you need from a bank/lender in order to further your dreams. Now I still haven't raised any capital yet and I'm sure I will be making mistakes aplenty lol, but for now I just wanted to let you know that I am well and truly on the path to writing it down on paper and making it more of a reality, rather than being an idea within my mind.
So how did I find out how to start? Well, as I mentioned I would be doing In ‘A Business Idea’, I simply surfed around the internet for a blueprint that would highlight some of the key things I would have to look at. I eventually stumbled on some excellent articles that provided great detail about sections to include, and also, things to consider in terms of what you would like to do should the business become successful, in order to have a profitable ending [i.e. An exit strategy]
It’s really interesting...going through this process really helped me to open my mind and explore more possibilities of how I can provide more value to the end user. It also helped me to see that I had a hell of a lot more thinking to do in terms of how I could increase the revenue and profit I could generate from this idea. I quickly discovered that it was gonna be pretty useless if I relied solely on advertising to make money, because they say that when looking for investors, in order to raise the capital you need, they want to see realistic, attractive figures which shows that the there is a good potential for them to make money and for them to get their original investment back after a certain number of years.
When I thought about the money I would have to have to pay out for an office and all the other expenses that come along with a business startup, I realized that I would need to have more money coming in if the company was to stand any chance of remaining on it’s feet for longer than a millisecond lol. This created a fundamental shift in my business model, which I will discuss in greater detail in another diary entry.
Anyway…the information I managed to find broke down all of the general things that need to be covered in a business plan and it was a great eye opener. I basically used this one source to completely fatten up my business idea. In true diary style and for your own reference here it is the pdf file that I worked from
This PDF, in my opinion, is an awesome start for those wanting to get stuck in with their own business plan.
For the meantime, in the process of writing this plan, I have decided to leave the financial projection section blank, as knowing how to do it completely stumps me. I spoke to a business owner the other day who said to me that you ultimately don’t want to be writing financial projections yourself, and that the wisest thing you can do is to approach an accountant to help you to bring that together. They sometimes help you to consider expenses that may have never crossed your mind, and it is extremely helpful to have an outside person helping you to write the projected figures so that you stay out of cloud cuckoo land lol! He did mention however, that knowing how to read financial statements is an absolute essential basic that cannot be ignored, and with that I will be intensely studying to add that knowledge to my skill base.
Other areas that I have currently left blank which are included in this business plan are “management team” and the exact details of the exit strategy, which I plan to design in a way that will have members of my team and myself exit rich! J
So there you have it, the stage I have reached so far in my business journey!
