How To Create a Great Effective Business Plan
Entrepreneurs are people with ideas who make it happen. If you have an idea that you want to put forward, you are going to have to construct a business plan before you do anything else. Creating a business plan is fun, simple and will act as a guide in all your future endeavors with your business. The first business plan is the one that you will never forget, and it will be the place from which your idea grows as you learn and grow yourself and your business. Here is our guide on how to create a great, effective business plan for your small business in minutes.
Step One: Clear Idea of Your Idea
Ensure you know what you want to do. That is the most important step. Do not consider how you will get there (aka your business plan) until you 100% know what your business idea is.
Step Two: Brand Your Business
Choose three values for your business. How do you want your customers to see you?
Here are some to choose from:
- Trust
- Strength
- Ethical
- Kind
- Professional
- Friendly
- Approachable
- Knowledgeable
- Supportive
- Fun
- Trendy
- Modern
- Traditional
Then you will choose some visuals that you will use for your brand.
The shapes and colours you use for your brand are psychologically important so ensure you get it right.
Choose three colours that you will use for your business, the colours should represent what you are doing in your business and be psychologically appealing.
Choose a shape for your business. If you are an animal welfare business, you might want a circle to symbolise empathy. If you are a builder’s yard you may want a square or if you are a legal firm, you might want a triangle, which can evoke feelings of power and success.
Go on an online logo creator service and create a logo for free. Download it and import it into your business plan.
This should take fifteen minutes.
Step Three: Numbers
This can be daunting so don’t let it affect you. This is the preliminary numbers stage there will be another later in this guide.
Write out how much money you have to put into the business and make a note of any grants or loans. Write a figure for what you have spent already and what you will spend in the future. Try to be specific about what you will spend money on but don’t worry if the numbers are off.
Consider:
- Advertising and marketing
- Product packaging
- Online advertising
- Signage
- Website
- Domain name
- Online subscriptions
- Buying stock
- Business cards
- Equipment
- Rent
- Bills
Leave space to add more in the future and write it in pencil so you can alter it as you need to. This should take five to ten minutes.
Step Four: Look Up Suppliers
Look up any suppliers you will use and make a note of them. A quick Google search should suffice.
This should take five minutes. Remember, they don’t have to be a supplier long term. This is just an exercise to get you started. You are your own boss now and can change your mind when you need to!
Step Five: Online World
Write out how you will set-up your business online.
What socials do you want to be on?
Which other online tools might you like?
What website domain would you like? Google Domains can show you if it is free or not.
Make a note of how you would like to advertise online and that you will set up a blog page, somewhere like WordPress.com to start a business blog to market your business.
Spend five minutes on this step, it does not need to be detailed as you will find out more as you go.
Step 6: More Numbers
By this point you might have seen there are more subscriptions and costs than you first thought. Add them to your budget and figure out the maximum cost. Then double it and work from there. Chances are there will be more extra costs on the way in your first few months at the start.
This should take you another ten or so minutes, you are now nearly finished!
Top Tip: Google ‘free tools to…’ and find free online tools that you can use without all the subscription fees when starting out in your new business.
Step 7: Any More News
If there is anything else in your head about your business, then get it onto paper. It is important, when starting a new business to write all your first thoughts down. Even if you do not use them, they might well be the core of your business plan that you somehow forget on the way. Make a note of what you are thinking as a brainstorm on the back page of your new business plan.
Hey, presto! You have a fully-fledged business plan for your new small business. This can be the start of something great. We hope it has shown you that your goals are achievable and your business is sound. Do not worry if you can’t afford a huge budget, select what is the most important to you and which parts will make you the most sales and go with them. Remember to continually update and revise your plan as you learn more about the world of business.
Need a business plan? contact us!
