“Your business plan is a document that needs to be accurate and realistic, because it will detail everything that your business does, where it stands now, what you hope to achieve with your business, your target market, your unique selling point, and all of your financial forecasts for your business,” notes Helen Cox, webmaster of Angel Start-ups. Business plans are decision-making tools; there is no fixed content for a business plan, Cox notes. “Rather the content and format of the business plan is determined by the goals and the audience,” she explains. “A business plan should contain whatever information is needed to decide whether or not to pursue a business goal.”

You also need to ensure that your business plan is updated on a regular basis as it is a living document, adds Cox. “You need to make sure that when something changes within your business that it is documented within your business plan,” she advises. “This will allow you to keep track of your businesses development and will ensure that you know what is happening in your business from start to finish.”

Preparing a business plan draws on a wide range of knowledge including finance, human resource management, intellectual property management, supply chain management, operations management, and marketing, Cox continues. “It can be helpful to view the business plan as a collection of sub-plans, one for each of the main business disciplines,” she says. “Within your business plan you should define your business position and your market. You need to outline your competitors and include any market research that you have conducted. You should be fully aware of your marketplace and understand the trends that happen within it. It is also a good idea to know what your competitors’ advantages and disadvantages are and then compare these to your own.”

Finally, says Cox, “once you have written your plan you should get at least two people to read through it to make sure that they understand it, while checking the grammar and spelling.”

Source: EzineArticles.com

Posted August 24th, 2010 under Intellectual Property Marketing

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