STEP 3

BUSINESS OPERATION

The next step in creating your business plan is to develop an operations method that is responsible for ensuring the customer’s satisfaction and yours.

You should include everything related to the operation of your day-to-day business:

• Operation of management
• Legal documentation
• Inventories
• Suppliers
• Distributors
• Workers and more stakeholders

STEP 4

SALES AND MARKETING

It is useless to have a great idea if you don’t put it into practice. Once you have your doors open people need to know your business exists, that is why marketing strategies are so important for the business’ success.

Before embarking into this topic you should know what marketing is:

Marketing is a series of steps and tactics created by professionals in order to build a strong relationship between your business and your client, which becomes a win-win (satisfaction for your client and profit for the company).

When creating a strategy for your marketing plan you must take into consideration several factors such as: target group, competition, branding, benefits for the consumer, differentiation of your product or service in comparison of your competition and budget.

With this information you can support your marketing plan by answering the following questions:

•  What will be my marketing strategy?
• What channels will I use to make the audience know my brand and carry out this strategy?
• Who will intervene in the promotion of my business? (Sellers, workers, influencers)
• How am I going to distribute my budget to cover the respective communication channels?
• How will I determine if the marketing plans are successful?

”THE BEST MARKETING DOESN’T FEEL LIKE MARKETING” -Tom Fishburne.

How is that? It is not just about promoting your product but giving value to your audience, listening, answering questions through different channels, informing, socializing, communicating directly with them and always giving them the information they deserve.

Today’s campaigns and strategies are more about content than the product itself. And any marketing strategy is attached to a channel, some of the channels you can use are:

• Website creation
• E-mail marketing
• Social media
• Search engine advertising or SEM
• Radio or television advertising
• Print ads
• Word of mouth
• Advertising events

And many more…

STEP 5

PROJECTION OF AT LEAST 12 MONTHS OF INCOME, EXPENSES AND FINANCING

A financial analysis answers the most important question: can my business make a profit? A projection and an estimate helps owners or investors to objectively assess the chances of success of a company, the conclusions of this will tell you how viable your business is.

The main reports and projections are as follows: (Source: www.inc.com)

• Balance Sheet: Describes the company cash position including assets, liabilities, shareholders, and earnings retained to fund future operations or to serve as funding for expansion and growth. It indicates the financial health of a business.
• Income Statement: Also called a Profit and Loss statement, this report lists projected revenue and expenses. It shows whether a company will be profitable during a given time period.
• Cash Flow Statement: A projection of cash receipts and expense payments. It shows how and when cash will flow through the business; without cash, payments (including salaries) cannot be made.
• Operating Budget: A detailed breakdown of income and expenses; provides a guide for how the company will operate from a “dollars” point of view.
• Break-Even Analysis: A projection of the revenue required to cover all fixed and variable expenses. Shows when, under specific conditions, a business can expect to become profitable.

STEP 8

LEAN ON PROFESSIONAL TALENT TO GET EVERYTHING GOING

Lastly and very importantly, you must have experts in each area for your business to grow exponentially. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Now that you have 8 simple steps to create a helpful business plan you might be wondering:

Does having a business plan ensure the success of my Startup?

The business plan plays a very important role in the profits and sustainability of your company, it is undoubtedly an element that will serve as a guide to ride your business and will keep you always projected towards your objectives. But having a business plan does not guarantee the success of your company, consistency and good organization does.

What are the advantages of having a business plan?

1. It will save you time and money
2. You will ensure that your business is economically viable
3. You will identify potential problems and study different scenarios to solve them
4. You will evaluate the performance of your business
5. You will find the most efficient way to start operating
6. You will have a professional document

What is our advice?

When making your business plan be realistic with your goals, projections and budgets. Don’t write a business plan too long in advance, and always stay updated and open to changes.

With that being said, you should not follow your business plan to the letter, since we are in changing times and the strategy that works for you today may not work for you tomorrow. It’s OK to update your business plan as many times as needed.

And at the end, it is in the practice how you will learn to manage the needs, weaknesses and strengths of your Startup.

Thank you for taking your time to read this blog to the end, if you found this helpful and you want to get more information don’t hesitate to contact us and one of our marketing specialists will be glad to assist you on any of your ventures and needs.