If you need finance for your business, the bank or investor will ask you for a business plan. This will need to have plenty of detail so you can convince them that your business is worth investing in.

A plan can help you grow your business in the way you want. Without a plan it is harder to know if each activity you do is moving you towards your goals.

There are 13 sections you should include in your Business Plan –

1 Executive Summary

2 History and Background

3 Your business offering

4 Market research

5 Marketing

6 Premises

7 Capital expenditure

8 Management and staff

9 Legal aspects

10 Finances

11 Emergency planning

12 If you are buying a business

13 other information

Section 1 – Executive Summary

Write a brief outline of your plans for the business, what you aim to do and how you will do it. Mention the product or services, business location, staff, target sales for the next year, and finances needed.

If this plan is to help you get finances, state how much you need to borrow, how much you are investing and where the money is coming from, such as personal savings. At this point a summary of the business finances is important if your business is already up and running.

New businesses should just include a forecast for the next year or two. Add comments if you need to explain growth or diminished sales. You may find it easiest to come back to this section when you have completed the remainder of the plan: remember that you are summarising the highlights and key points

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