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plan business plans are absolutely
essential for any business why well
because a solid business plan will allow
you to rigorously assess idea of
feasibility research and find insights
on target markets and assess your
competition these are all things that
you need to do in order to make your
business as successful as it can be and
when the time comes
investors will rely heavily on your
business plan to evaluate the
feasibility of your business before
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you let's get into it the first part of
every business plan is the executive
summary the executive summaries purpose
is to distill everything in the business
plan into a single page and give a
high-level overview of your business
this is like the the Canadian tuxedo
almost like a blazer over a flannel
shirt admittedly that one page
constraint can make it seem like
squeezing in a lot of information will
be impossible but trust me it's not what
I like to do is break down each section
of the business plan into one or two
sentences to ensure that everything is
succinct and easy to read
here's what your business plans
executive summaries should include your
business concept business goals and
vision product differentiation and
description your target market your
marketing plan your current financial
state projected financial state the ask
so if you're asking for money how much
are you asking for and your team for
more ideas on how to identify your
target market be sure to check out our
last video on how to build a brand in
the right hand corner right up here now
let's move on to a biggie your company
overview this section of your business
plan should include two fundamental
questions who are you and what do you
plan to do answering these questions
provides an introduction to why you're
in business why you're different what
you have going for you and why you'd be
a good investment answer these questions
you want to include these components in
your overview your business structure
for example is your business a sole
proprietorship a general partnership a
limited partnership or is it an
incorporated company this can often be
visualized using an organizational chart
you also want to share the nature of
your business what are you selling now
specify the industry are you in fashion
electronics what does your landscape
currently look like and where could it
be heading you're going to also want to
list your team including key personnel
and their salaries if I was doing this
right now it would just be me but I
would also want to include future plans
for scaling up my company so I can see
here that you've got four years of
working experience as a good boy you
start on Monday or I could just leave it
as me you can also use this section to
highlight background information on your
business or its history get creative and
be authentic in this part this is where
you can really draw people in and have
them invested in how it all started for
you so I thought it might be good to
provide an example here so sit with me
the dog rescue that I volunteered for
and run the store for has been operating
since 2012 and since then we've gone on
to help over 1200 dogs we do not
discriminate based off of breed medical
history or age so every dog has a chance
to find their forever home through our
rescue and that was very important from
the get-go and we also do not have
anyone that's making a salary so it's
entirely volunteer based it's all by the
good graces of our community and
everyone that's out there willing to put
in money time and effort to help these
dogs a big component of your company
overview will be outlining your
business's vision mission and values I'm
going to do a deep dive into this one
with you to define your values start
thinking about all the people that your
company is accountable to including
owners employees suppliers
customers and investors now I want you
to consider how you'd like to conduct
business with each of them as you make a
list your core values should start to
emerge
for example IKEA lists some of its
values as humbleness and willpower
leadership by example and daring to be
different now
the mission statement your statement
should explain in a convincing manner
and ideally a single sentence why your
business exists for example Shopify's
mission statement is make commerce
better for everyone it's the why behind
everything we do and it's crystal clear
and needs no further explanation next
craft your vision statement what impact
do you envision your business having on
the world when you've achieved your
vision
make sure you phrase that impact using
assertive language for example Nikes
vision statement is bring inspiration
and innovation to every athlete in the
world if you have a body you are an
athlete finally include your business
objectives both short and long-term I
like to keep my goals on track by
ensuring that they are smart meaning
specific measurable attainable realistic
and time-bound now get ready to do some
serious work as the next part of this
plan we'll be diving into market
research for the marketing analysis
section you want to be including an
overview of your potential market an
analysis of your business's position
within that market and an overview of
the competitive landscape I'm not
exaggerating when I say that your market
can make or break your business if you
choose the right market with the right
products one with plenty of customers
who understand and need your product
you'll most likely have a head start on
success when diving into potential
markets you will need to be looking into
as much relevant independent data as
possible to validate your business this
can be a huge task but I find that
breaking it down into two starting
points it then becomes much more
manageable first I seek to identify my
ideal customer profile a customer
profile should be a detailed back
description of your target audience for
example if you're targeting millennial
customers in the US I would first start
by looking at government data about the
size of that group secondly I research
relevant industry trends and
trajectories I like to approach this
section by going to Google Trends and
using keywords as a jumping-off point
and then diving into more granular data
for example say that I wanted to start a
Halloween masks business and I wanted to
know the trends of that industry I would
go to Google Trends type in Halloween
masks and then get granular on the
results page looking at things like
where this industry has peaked outside
of seasonal times I would then dive into
what made a peak and have a look at some
of the search terms and show shifts and
changes in the popularity of the
industry from here I would then dive
into sources such as government
statistics offices industry associations
academic research and respected news
outlets covering the industry to get a
robust view and understanding of
landscape now when assessing my
business's position in the market I like
to use a SWOT analysis to break things
down using a grid format you want to
start listing out the strengths
weaknesses opportunities and threats to
your business I like using SWOT because
you can clearly see the positive and
negative internal and external factors
that may impact your business visually
now the competitor analysis for this
analysis I like to include a list of a
few companies that I would consider
direct competitors and then I state how
I plan to differentiate my product and
business from theirs
ok now we're into the products and
services section you want to provide
more detailed information here on your
products and state why your product
stands out in the market like before we
want things to be succinct and visual
patents copyrights and trademarks that
you own or have applied for should also
be listed in this section in the
customer segmentation section you want
to give a holistic overview of your
ideal customer a lot of this information
should be clear to you after you've done
preliminary research on your target
market when talking about your customers
in the SEC
you want to include a number of general
and specific demographic characteristics
such as where they live their age range
their level of education how much they
earn their values beliefs or opinions
ideally you should be specific enough
that it's very clear who you're trying
to reach with your business and even
more importantly why you've made the
choices you have based on who your
customers are and what they value now we
should be ready to move on to
highlighting your marketing plan your
plan here should outline your current
and future strategies for marketing your
product to your ideal customers for
example say that I have a phone case
company and I know that a lot of my
audience is on tick-tock I will show
that I plan to leverage that knowledge
into creating a paid campaign on that
platform using content specifically
created for my key customers I will then
also include how I plan to measure the
success of that campaign now although
sometimes marketing is seen as purely
promotional your plan should include
information on the following four key
subjects price so how much does your
product cost product what are you
selling and how do you plan to
differentiate yourself in the market
place where will you sell your products
and finally promotion how will you get
your products in front of your ideal
customer by including these you're
showing investors and yourself that you
have thought about every facet of how
your marketing strategy will be
effective in driving customers to your
business now on to our logistics and
operations plan you really want to cover
all parts of your business operation in
this section including where you get the
raw materials you need for production or
where your products are produced
highlighting if you'll make manufacture
wholesale or dropship your product then
stating how long it takes to produce
your products and get them shipped
you'll also want to touch on how you
might handle a busy season or an
unexpected spike in demand discussing
facilities for example where will you
and your team members work do you have
plans to have a physical retail space if
so we're outlining the tools and
technology that you require in order to
be up and
running this includes everything from
computers to lightbulbs to everything in
between finally discuss the specifics on
how you're handling inventory for
example how much will you keep on hand
and where will it be stored
how will you ship it to partners if
required and how will you keep track of
incoming and outgoing inventory this
section should demonstrate that you've
got a solid understanding of your supply
chain and a strong contingency plan in
case of any potential uncertainty
finally we're gonna end with the
financial plan now I know what you're
thinking but I assure you this will be
an important step in your business plan
the level of detail required in your
financial plan will really depend on
your audience
and goals however typically you want to
include three major views of your
financials an income statement a balance
sheet and a cash flow statement your
income statement is designed to give
your readers a look into your revenue
sources and expenses over a given period
of time your balance sheet should offer
a look at how much equity you have in
your business on one side you'll list
all of your business's assets so what
you own and on the other side all of
your liabilities so what you owe this
will provide a snapshot at your
business's shareholder equity which is
calculated as assets minus liabilities
equals equity now your cash flow
statement is similar to your income
statement with one important difference
it takes into account when revenues are
collected and when expenses are paid it
can be especially helpful to forecast
your cash flow statement to identify
gaps or negative cash flow and adjust
operations as required if you're worried
right now about how to best format this
out because numbers and math are not
really your thing don't be put off by
this section Shopify has created a set
of formatted sheets specifically for
helping you formulate this section of
your business plan by taking the time to
develop your business plan you're
actually achieving a number of extremely
beneficial things for your business a
business plan will allow you to evaluate
your business idea for your business to
be successful it needs to be tangible
this plan will help solidify that it
will also help you plan for the next
phase of your business and help you
think about scaling and
go it will then empower you to start
thinking about hiring additional staff
or even building partnerships
additionally it will clarify strategies
goals and tactics and make them
actionable finally it will help you if
you're looking to secure funds for your
business whether it be from a bank or an
investor as promised I did say that I
would have a little gift for you and
that is my ultimate business template
you're welcome and hey if you did use
our template to create your own business
plan
let us know what learnings you had from
doing that did you find a new customer
base or a cool new market to tap into
let us know listen let us know okay let
us let us know if I had a piece of
lettuce that would be fantastic