Business Plan Outline That Works Simple and Effective

Business Plan Outline That Works Simple and Effective - Today's lesson of the day. In our last lesson we continued our series on how to start a successful business with a look at how to know if you need a patent or trademark for your business. In today's Post we are going to continue that series with a look at how to write a business plan outline. Do you need a business plan?Over the last several years there has been a growing debate about whether or not a businessplan is a waste of time. Those on the no business plan side of the argument, which is being lead by UC Berkley's Steve Blank argue that the time spent writing a business plan is better spent out talking to customers about the product or service you plan on developing.

As we talk about in our Post on how to test your business idea, we agree that you need to go out and talk to people about your business to make sure there is demand before you build it. However, we still think a business plan is also a valuable part of the success equation when starting a new business.Let's look at the components of a successful business plan.If you are writing your business plan for yourself and staff, then we do not recommend doing anything super extensive. A better approach is to put together a short and to the point presentation using powerpoint or keynote. This is also the format that many venture capitalists like to be pitched with, so this format will often work for that as well.

If you are going to need a more extensive plan this is still a good place to start, and we discuss how you can expand out on it later in this Post.The format we are using is taken from the writing a business plan page of Sequoia Capital,a well known venture capital firm.Company purposeComing up with a simple explanation of what your company does is essential to selling your business to your future customers and others. This should be one sentence.Here is an example from Airbnb a website where people can rent rooms out in their apartment or homes to travelers on a short term basis."We connect people who have space to spare with people who are looking for a place to stay".

ProblemIf you have watched our Post on how to come up with a business idea, you know that the biggest mistake that new entrepreneurs make is starting a business that solves a problem no one has. In this section list the problem that your company solves along with examples of how people are currently dealing with the issue.AirBNB Example: People have space they want to rent to others for short periods of time but no good way to rent it.How did people deal with this issue before airbnb? They would either not rent out the space at all (missing out on that potential revenue) or they would use fragmented sources like word of mouth or Craigslist.
Business Plan Outline That Works Simple and Effective Part 2