Are you looking forward to new business and sketching up your business plan? Or, are you rethinking your business model?
Business plan writing can be tough, especially if you have a time crunch. Not to mention that business plan writing is sometimes boring and a mighty task – a turn-off for many entrepreneurs in the first place. No matter how boring the task is but at some stage a written business plan is required by either banks or lenders, or any other third party. When this happens, a quick way is to look for templates online. These templates most of the time serve the purpose but they have downsides too. For example, the template you are using might be a business plan template for a bank loan, or it may be for internal management use or it has been designed to meet the needs of investors.
What is a business plan and how to write one?
A few tips may help you make your business plan better, helping you get even better results.
Display a Strong Cashflow
If you are looking to go to banks with your business plan, look to document the existence of a positive cash flow that can repay your loans’ scheduled principal and interest easily. If you have already been in business for a while, this option can work great since you have your past cashflows. When you are a new business, cash flow forecasting can be a bit challenging for a non-accounting person. You should be needing a full set of financial projections to display detailed cash inflows and outflows in the financial section of your business plan.
Simply ask yourself a question: If I am a lender what should I see for the business to repay me on time and minimize my risk.
Segment Your Plans When You Can
You need to create a business plan that does more than just chalking out the details. The right segmentation, for one, is important. If your marketing plan talks about each step in detail, consider separating the high-level items from the low-level ones. The high-level plan will capture your overall goal and be short. The sub-plans are where you will get into more detail.
Look to Remove the Fluff
Every business plan has a goal. Prioritize the aims of your business plan and look to customize it. You don’t want to talk about everything and make it look too boring. You need a short plan, and only need to talk about things that are essential to the main idea.
If you are writing a business plan to get a business loan, try to keep it around 20-30 pages and avoid unnecessary details. Focus more on the cashflows and profitability of the business. Business plan writing for immigration to Canada or any other country, you should follow the guidelines provided by the provincial governments or other bodies. Focus more on different objectives like job creation and economic impact on society.
Take feedback and accept suggestions
You don’t want your business plan to take unfounded assumptions!
Have a friend or your partner read through to ensure that you don’t set any unrealistic expectations through the business plan. You may see that most people feel they could have done a ‘better job’ with the business plan than you but don’t let it deter you. It’s part of the feedback process, and if you are looking to convince clients and investors, it’s something that you need to get used to.
Be flexible to change when necessary
Business plan writing can seem difficult. If you feel you need to do more research, don’t hesitate. Flexibility is what you need here. You need your business plan to talk about your business goals in the short and long term. Any business plan that doesn’t do so isn’t a business plan in itself. You need to be flexible in looking for ways to compete and get the competitive edge – that you need to write.
Don’t Forget to Take Care of Your Health
Good health helps you work efficiently, helping you do more. You get to remain focused and weed out mistakes that you otherwise wouldn’t have seen. Look to maintain a healthy diet & sleep to be able to stay in a routine. The success of your business depends on your good health too, so focus on you too!
Hire Professional Help
Writing a good business plan needs you to think ahead. What are your business strength and weaknesses? If you are not experienced in business plan writing, certain areas, particularly SWOT analysis or financial projections can be a little bit challenging. Take the help of a professional who can guide you through the entire business plan writing process. When the stakes are high – getting a bank loan or being admitted to an investor immigration program – always seek professional help whether limited or full-on.
Business plans need time, ideas, energy, and hard work. You would want one that can predict market challenges properly, and have steps that work given the market conditions. It’s why many businesses spend months drafting one, taking into account their business model, the company’s internal operations as well as the financial projections they have in mind.
Maroof HS CPA Professional Corporation helps entrepreneurs, start-ups, and small and medium businesses with their business plan writing process. We write business plans aimed at banks, investors, immigration, or internal management use. Every business plan written by us is client-specific and not based on any kind of template. We thoroughly understand the requirements and the purpose, perform extensive research, discuss all the assumptions, give suggestions and feedback on your project, and then write it from scratch. For each business plan, a detailed set of financial projections is prepared to keep in mind the target users of the business plan. If you are looking for a business plan writer in Toronto or Canada, who always delivers, contact us today.
