And this question is asked of people planning to set up a ‘one person‘ business, or a company with premises and staff. Or, of an established SME business requiring a Business Plan to support an application for a commercial loan or investors.
Unfortunately, so many people acknowledge that they need a documented Plan, but completely fail to create a working Plan that includes even the minimum essential details.
Talking to one entrepreneur about his plans for a new product in a very high growth area, the ‘Business Plan’ he shared with us, was 22 pages of market data which could have been collated from Google: and it did not include any of the required key figures and forecasts. When questioning the source of the document, he advised that it had been created by a local business support organisation and validated by a local business management advisor. !
Many people take a different route to creating a working Business Plan. Taking a template for a Plan, either as a download or from a business support group, they attempt to complete the plan themselves. A recent survey report shows that over 80% of these are incomplete with key numbers, or , figures are unrealistic ( eg : forecasts ). In many cases the expectation for the business was not viable, for any one of several main reasons.
It is recommended to create a Business Plan, which will help you set up a successful business, and one that addresses all the essential elements of a working business, that you take advice from one or more experienced business people. ( not just marketing people, or business advisors who have no personal experience of setting up and running a business ! )
Best of all, get an experienced person or organisation to create a working Business Plan with you, for your business idea, or startup business or funding application. This will help confirm all the issues necessary to start or develop a successful business, and should be 90% successful in seeking funding .
Presented by: Startup Assist UK and The Croydon Business Hub – Creating Business Plans for Startup and growing UK businesses.
Contact to arrange a chat about a working Business Plan for your business situation; email: ian@startupassist.uk