What kind of business plan did you do?

[tarakate108]

Hi everyone
Did anyone do their business plan just for themselves, ie not for funding? If so, how did it differ from what you might have done had you been looking for financial help? How thorough was your market research? Did it inform your financial projections in a specific and mathematical way?

[bluecube]

There is a difference between a business plan and business planning, a business plan is essentially for a 3rd party, but business planning is more for yourself, so you can take a step back and see how you are doing / where you have come from / where you are going.

It's advisable to try and plan out your finances even if its as simple as working out - i need 4 new clients a month with an average contract value of £10K. At least you have something to be aiming for.

If your not doing a plan for a 3rd party then i would suggest having a scout around Google, find a few business plan templates and start from there.

Hope this is helpful

ATB

Nathan

[tarakate108]

It is helpful, thank you bluecm. I've worked really hard and done loads of market research for my plan, which is in fact just for me, and while it's confirmed everything I thought, I can't seem to find any actual figures that I can use to make sales projections. So they are total stabs in the dark! If like you say it's enough to know what kind of customer/sales levels I need, then that's fine, I do know that. I was also just interested really in people's experiences with business plans.

[bluecube]

Out of interest, what's the nature of your business??

[tarakate108]

Online ethical gift retail. God, it's taken months to get that answer down to four words! Usually need to elaborate mind you.

[bluecube]

Originally posted by tarakate108
Usually need to elaborate mind you.

...please do

[tarakate108]

Lol, thought you might say that! I'm setting up an online gift boutique, and all my stock is sourced within an ethical framework, so fair trade, organic, recycled, etc. Hope that makes it clearer!

[bluecube]

OK i like the sound of that...always good to see people doing something new. So are you going to focus on any product lines in particular?

[tarakate108]

How do you mean? Initially it's mostly quite girl related things (accessories, candles etc), but the plan is to introduce more categories as soon as poss. Don't want to say too much (sorry I hate it when people say that, but still in early stages so things may change and also am feeling a bit secretive!).

[bluecube]

Fair enough...well let me know when it launches...not that i want to buy some candles but it sounds interesting...in the meantime if there's anything I can help with please feel free to contact me

[tarakate108]

Thank you and I appreciate the honesty! Don't worry, everyone I can possibly think of will know when it launches!

[bluecube]

I said that in response to your comment "it's mostly quite girl related things (accessories, candles etc)"

[tarakate108]

I know!

[mon478]

does that mean that a template sought throuh google shouldnt be used. i'm looking for a template to used for funding.

i did a business plan for college, but this included marketing mix, swot, pestel, product life cycle and porters 5 etc. is it necessary to include all of these textbook elements as is?

ie. listing under subeheadings the physical, socia, economic, technoogical effects on my business in that format. or are these sorts of things not needed. i had a look at the sample plans on www.bplans.co.uk and they don't seem to include such things?