How to Write a Start-Up Business Plan
Creating your own company is a thrilling and exciting opportunity. But the main question that arises from the entrepreneur, “how to write a business plan for a start-up?” A start-up business plan is usually referred to as a traditional business plan. The main goal of this type of business plan is to introduce a business idea to potential investors and lenders. A start-up plan provides a clear insight into a company’s goals, products, services, market place, resources, strategies, financial analysis and monthly projections of profitability and expenditures.
Remember that all businesses are unique and have their own challenges that must be met. A well-written business plan will help you not only to avoid confusions and obstacles on the road to success, but can also be a perfect way to present your business to potential investors. Therefore, you should pay proper attention to writing a startup business plan.
Tips for Writing a Start-Up Business Plan
- Make time in your schedule for preparing a business plan for your start-up.
- Start with an idea. Make a list of desirable products and services and choose the best one. Begin your planning with a fluent description of your idea, its features and characteristics.
- Pick the right name for your start-up. Your start-up name will say who you are, what you do and may become a strong advertising element of branding your business.
- Do market research. The business’ success depends on your knowledge of the market. Taking the market into consideration will help you meet its demands.
- Research your competitors. List their strengths and weaknesses. Describe the competitive features of your product or service and unique features that will set it apart from competitors.
- List your resources: work force and equipment you need. Identify the number of employees and their functions. Also make a list of items for business functions.
- Explain your financial data. It is an essential part of a start-up business plan to attract the investor’s attention. Your projections should show detailed information about how and how much money you plan to spend and the time for the payback on the loans.
- Revise your drafts. When you are writing a business plan for a startup company, check for false or incomplete statements. Maybe you’ve forgotten to add a client category or failed to research your competitors.
- Write an executive summary, but place it at the beginning of your plan. State here the mission of the company and its main strategies. This part should describe a general sense of the business plan.
You may also be interested in our infographics with a short prompts on how to create a business plan.
Mistakes to Avoid While Writing a Start-Up Plan
- Not planning and budgeting marketing activities. Many entrepreneurs usually forget about this important component.
- Failing to acknowledge the competition. This problem usually is caused by the desire of the entrepreneur to show the business idea in a positive light to investors. But that would mean that you didn’t do enough research. Such actions will make investors wary of the ability of the business to succeed.
- Limited research. The lack of information or not appropriate won’t add confidence to your business plan. If you have no proven resources of information about your topic, you may hire a consultant or agency to provide assistance.
- Failing to seek an outside review. A fresh look can help identify errors and discrepancies within your business plan.
- A long business plan. Usually investors are very busy and have no time to read long business plans. How to write a startup business plan which investors would like to read? Your entire document should not be more than 20-30 pages. It should convey your most important ideas within an economy of words.
Remember that your business plan should be unique and requires an ample amount of attention in order for it be crafted sufficiently. You need to understand the nature of your business without exception. Think carefully about the purpose of the business. Plan your business in the most realistic way possible, considering all faults that you may encounter in the future.
Check out our guide on how to write social media profile for business and our sample start up business plan to manage your business fully.
