What Your Business Plan Should Include

By Angela Turton, ActionCOACH Growth Specialist

Let's start with a question! Why are you writing a Business Plan? Don’t get me wrong, I think every business needs one, but why are you writing yours? And why now? You see, what you put into a business plan will depend very much on the reason you are writing the plan.

Consider the advice in this short article as it will ensure the right things for your business are included in your plan, so here it goes

My ideal version of a Business Plan is structured to provide a clear picture of the business and its potential I strongly believe Vision, Mission & Culture should take centre stage and is a great place to start

Vision and Purpose

You need to state what your company is going to do and show what the future of your business looks like

List the values of your company and include the Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) that your company is striving towards

Mission

Explain how you plan to get to your BHAG and add what are you choosing to do in the world to bring it about?

Culture

Think about the following and include them in your plan:

What does the internal business look like?

Who are your team and your stakeholders?

How will your team and stakeholders communicate, work together, and cooperate?

What are the internal rules which govern the business?

Don’t be afraid to include your strengths and weaknesses

Including a SWOT analysis will show that you are aware of what you ’ re good at, not so good at but can develop, and that you are mindful of external threats to your business

Consider the internal strengths of your business and the team within it Most people struggle to list their own strengths, so start with what your team is good at

Think about the internal weaknesses of your business

Be candid and talk about mitigating any perceived problem areas

Now investigate the external opportunities that exist in your marketplace and how you will capitalise on them

What are the external threats to your business? What could de-rail you that you would have little or no control over? Government regulation is a good one to start with, but think outside of the box Think about what the worst is that could happen, and explain how you would aim to mitigate or avoid the problems that would cause Think E-cigarettes and their effect on the tobacco industry

Have a Sales & Marketing Plan

This section needs to focus on how you will execute your marketing to attract customers as well as create sales to bring in the all important revenue

Some areas commonly missed are test and measure metrics, client lifetime value, sales process, budget along with acquisition investment and strategies