Business Plan, Do you need one?

Business Plan, Do you need one?

Alternate Names for Business Plans:

A Business Plan is also known as:

  • Marketing Strategy Business Plan
  • Sales Plan for a Business Proposal

What exactly is a business plan?

A business plan is a critical planning tool used by new and existing business owners to outline company goals, objectives, and challenges, as well as information about internal management, marketing, and finances.

The LawDepot Business Plan template can be used in the following situations:

The territory of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

The state of New South Wales (NSW)

Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS), Victoria (VIC), and Western Australia (WA)

What information should my Business Plan contain?

The information in your Business Plan will differ depending on the type of business you own and the information you want to include in your plan. In general, most business plans will include the following sections:

Possession (i.e. whether you are a sole proprietor, in a partnership, in a corporation, etc.)

Structure of management (e.g. an explanation of how day-to-day operations of your business are handled)

Objectives and goals

What products and/or services does your company provide?

Information about your company’s products and/or services (such as your pricing strategy, patent or trademark licence details, etc.)

Strategy for marketing (e.g. the target market, whether or not you have established customers, etc.)

The information you include in each section is usually determined by why you are creating your Business Plan.

For example, if you’re writing a business plan to send to investors in order to secure funding, you’ll want to spend more time explaining your goals and objectives, as well as the products or services you intend to sell and how they align with your target market.

If, on the other hand, you’re using your Business Plan as a blueprint to help you achieve a specific goal (such as reorganising your business structure to make your company’s management processes more efficient), you’ll want to spend time identifying your current management structure, how you intend to change it, and how the success of this goal will be measured.

When should a Business Plan be used?

A Business Plan is commonly used in the following situations:

  • An existing company is purchased, and the new owner wishes to record key details about the business in order to determine whether operational changes are required.
  • A group of people wants to start a business and use a Business Plan to pitch their idea to potential investors.
  • A board of directors wants to establish new opportunities for growth for their company, so they create a Business Plan that includes the company’s target market as well as potential sales tactics to reach that group.
  • A rapidly expanding company wants to change their company structure, so they develop a Business Plan to identify its current organisational hierarchy and how it should change.

What should the length of my Business Plan be?

The length of your plan will be determined by the reason for its creation, the type of business you operate in, the number of goals and objectives you choose to include, and, in general, how much information you choose to cover.

For example, a small company with one or two company goals, a few products and employees, and a limited marketing strategy may only require a few pages for their sales plan, whereas a midsized company with broader needs, many products and employees, and a complex marketing strategy may require several pages.

Is a Business Plan required to start a business?

Though a Business Plan is not required to start a business, it is strongly recommended because it will help you organise your business’s structure and needs in a clear, easy-to-read format.

Starting a business without a Business Plan can be chaotic if critical considerations such as outlining the company’s organisational hierarchy, main products or services, or marketing strategy are ignored, dismissed, or forgotten.

When should I make changes to my Business Plan?

You should update your Business Plan whenever there is a significant change in your company’s structure, products, or needs. A good Business Plan assists business owners in achieving a specific goal or keeps them on track by outlining the main purpose of the business.

What exactly is a SWOT analysis?

A SWOT analysis will be included in some business plans. SWOT is an acronym that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It is a planning technique used to identify areas where a company does well (strengths), does not do well (weaknesses), could improve on and how (opportunities), and any potential issues with the business or products, such as expected material shortages or a change in consumer practises (threats).

Typically, strengths and weaknesses will address internal factors that are within a company’s control, such as the company’s organisation, whereas opportunities and threats will address external factors that are not always within a company’s control, such as an increasing number of competitors.

Documents Related to:

Purchase of Business Agreement: A Purchase of Business Agreement formalises the terms of a business sale (including which assets are included in the sale, the total amount of consideration, and the payment method).

Promissory Note: Use a Promissory Note to legally protect yourself when lending or borrowing money from another person or company.

Confidentiality Agreement: Use a Confidentiality Agreement to send your business plan to a third party without worrying about your confidential information being shared.

Letter of Intent: Use a Letter of Intent to outline negotiations between you, your business partners, and others before creating a binding agreement.

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