1. Business Plan
IMRAN AHMAD TANVIR
CIIT/SP-13-BS(EE)-014-A/ATK
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
COMSATS INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY ATTOCK CAMPUS, PAKISTAN
2. Introduction
A written document that outlines the future activity for an existing and proposed business
venture.
A business plan is a document that brings together the key elements of a business that
includes the detail about the product and services, the cost, sales and expected profits.
Success doesn’t just happen it usually takes thorough planning, and of course, money always
helps.
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3. Where do you need a business Plan?
A business plan is a necessary tool for all businesses. Just as a home is not built without blueprints
or a movie made without a script, you don’t start a business without a sound and workable
blueprint.
You will learn how much you need to borrow, whether you can afford to borrow, your break-even
point, and whether the business can afford to pay you a satisfactory wage.
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4. Where Do You Find Help With
Business Plan?
With the Internet, sample plans can be freely downloaded and used as a reference. Most banks
and large accounting companies have publications or try these following resources.
Small Business Administration
Entrepreneur Magazine
Center for Business Planning
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5. What is a Business Plan?
Follow a plan format that ensures you research all the important areas of your business, and if it is
being used for lending or investment purposes, that you have provided all the information that lenders
need. Your first task is to decide why you are preparing this plan. Answer these questions:
Why am I preparing this plan?
Who else will be reading it?
Why will they be reading it?
What do they need to know?
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6. Executive Summary
A short summary of the overall plan gets the reader interested and allows
you to mention the important aspects of your plan and then go in depth
within the body of the Business Plan.
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7. Business Description
Things to consider while researching:
What is the product or service you are offering?
What is your Mission statement?
What is your Company vision?
Who will you be to your customers?
What makes your company better? Can you keep others from duplicating that?
How will it affect your Stakeholders?
What are the barriers to you entering this market?
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8. Business Description
Questions you should answer within your business plan
What is your product or service?
What needs in your industry are not being met?
What methods can you use to meet these needs?
What will your market niches be?
Who will your key customers be?
Will customers buy the product or service more than once? What is the life cycle of the
product or service?
What are your company's future goals? 5 years? 10 years?
Who are the owners?
Is the firm a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation?
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9. Market Overview (Opportunity)
Demographic
Education
Geographic Area
Income
Age
Gender
Psychographic Trends
What type of media do they consume?
What are their beliefs?
Why do you believe they are the type to buy your product? Can you prove it?
Phase of life
Is your product limited to certain time periods in customer's lives? (e.g., single, child rearing,
retired, empty nest, college age)
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10. Market Overview (Opportunity)
Questions you should answer within your business
Who is your customer – provide a specific description (summarize the information above
that describes your ideal customer)
How many potential customers are there in your target area?
How are these customers currently being served?
What is the unmet need and how will you meet it?
Think about how you will win the customers currently being served by others?
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11. Industry Overview
How are the other companies in this Industry set up?
Competition – Who, How Many, How Big
Stage of Industry (Startup, Growth, Maturity and Declining)
What are the Trends?
What are the Government Regulations for this industry?
What Promotions are other companies utilizing?
What Pricing mechanisms are being used by other companies?
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12. The Marketing Plan (Four P's)
Product
Price
Place
Promotion
Questions you should answer within your business plan:
What is your product or service?
What is the price? How did you determine this price?
Where do you plan to locate your business?
What promotional ideas will you use?
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13. Segment, Target & Position (STP)
Segment
Target
Position
Questions you should answer within your business plan:
How do you promote your product in the market? To whom?
2. What is the position you will go after in the market?
3. What is your value proposition - why is it better?
4. What is the evidence that it will be successful?
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14. The Organization Plan
What form of a company will be needed, (e.g., Sole Proprietorship, General Partnership,
Limited Partnership)
What does management look like?
How will management be structured?
Will you have any consultants for the business?
What questions you should answer within your business plan:
How will this Company structure benefit the company and owners?
What special skills or experience does the key management have for this industry?
What other resources will you be bringing into the company (i.e. consultants, employees)?
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15. The Financial Plan
Income Statement
Balance Sheet
Cash Flow
Capital equipment and supply list
Breakeven analysis
Assumptions upon which projections were based
Questions you should answer within your business plan:
How much money do you need?
When will you need money?
How many customers do you need to break even? What percentage of your target
market is that?
When will you break even?
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16. Exit Strategy
How do you plan to pay off the investors if the company does not work out? Just in case,
show it the other way also.
Questions you should answer within your business plan:
Is your company separate from you? Is it a legal entity?
What is the value of the company at the time of the exiting? How will you pay off the
investors?
If you sell?
In a partnership make a plan for who retains the company, who gets bought out and
how the price could be determined.
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