Drawing up a business plan...

Stephentlig

Is there any sites that aid you in this department? I am currently writing up my first business plan and was told it needs to be at least between 10-20 pages and was wondering if anyone knew of a site that helped you carry such a task out?

Your help would be much appreciated

Pax Christi
Stephen

DoMyBooks

Sage have a free piece of software which can help you structure your work when preparing a business plan http://www.sage.ie/sage-planning-for-business/software-details.aspx

I've used it for two business plans and it helped

I've done a few , some for myself and some with clients. I find its better to try to think of it as a document your drawing up for your own use rather than anyone else's. Take it one small step at a time. Its very daunting thinking you need to complete 20 pages.

If you need any advice please feel free to ask.

Stephentlig

DoMyBooks wrote: »

Sage have a free piece of software which can help you structure your work when preparing a business plan http://www.sage.ie/sage-planning-for-business/software-details.aspx

I've used it for two business plans and it helped

I've done a few , some for myself and some with clients. I find its better to try to think of it as a document your drawing up for your own use rather than anyone else's. Take it one small step at a time. Its very daunting thinking you need to complete 20 pages.

If you need any advice please feel free to ask.

Thanks, you've been a great help, we seem to be doing ok at the moment and if I should run into any trouble I'll certainly come back for some more advice.

Pax Christi
Stephen

Southsider1

Who told you it should be 10-20 pages? It's the content that matters not the quantity. No bank is going to look at it and say Ooh, he's only done 9 pages.... Decline him. You need to produce a good quality and concise document. No waffle! Your figures need to be bang on more so now than ever because every plan is being stringently stress tested by the banks (had they done this over the last 10 years we mightn't be in such a state now!!) It will also help to do a summary page at the front.

Oasis678

Hi Mate try www.planware.org its more suitable for comprehensive business plans. Very detailed had a look at it yesterday

HelenT

An appropriate size for a business plan is no longer than 30 pages. Anything over that should be included in the Appendices (supporting evidence to your assumptions).

The Executive Summary (best to complete this last, even though it is the first section of the business plan) should be no longer than a page and it should be a very high level account of the overall business plan.

Details on the promoter and team (including any gaps that need to be identified)

The Proposition. Including history, market research, market validation, competitors and competitor analysis, development plan including key milestones. Unique selling points

Sales & Marketing Plan - How much, to who and how. How and where are you going to communicate with your customer. How much is it going to cost to acquire a customer - how can you bring these costs down over time.

Key Financial Assumptions: Sales over 3 - 5 years. Expenses over 3 - 5 years. P&L & Balance Sheet.

I have a spreadsheet for the financials - gimme a shout if you would like a copy.

It’s hard to expand any further than that as I don’t know what line of business you are in.

Best of luck!!

miju

You can download a business plan template from the business section of aib.ie .

Also many of the county enterprise boards have good business plan & cashflow forecast templates.

thephantom

www.bplans.com is a good site with free business plans broken down into different businesses.

Business Plans do not need to be 20 pages unless your looking for serious capital investment, generally banks will be happy with the basics like your predited profit and loss account for the first year, a cashflow account, and an initial set up cost particularily if there is alot of equipment involved and you are looking at Leasing Loan Finance. After that you just need the basics like your staffing needs/wages, suppliers, customer base etc.