Talking Cents

How to create a business plan

Every successful business needs a detailed and realistic business plan. Plans help you track and measure your success, and also helps with forecasting. They present your ideas in a coherent manner, which helps you discover and solve issues within your business- offering a guide for your business to grow. Here at M.A.S Partners, the leading small business accounting firm in Sydney, we understand the importance of business plans, and the impact it can have on the success of a business. With such importance, it can be fairly daunting to handle your business plan. As such, we have provided some tips to help you!

Executive summary

An executive summary is where you describe your business- going into what exactly you sell. Make sure to keep this brief, almost as if you are pitching to someone. Try to describe the goal of your business in a few sentences, making it as memorable as possible.

Understand your customers

Every business will have a different target segment. You must have a clear idea of the type of people or businesses that buy from your business. This is one of the first questions an investor will ask you- so you must be prepared. By knowing your customers, you will be able to properly cater your products or service towards them. You must know whether you customers are buying your products or services for themselves or someone else; determine whether you will have regular returning customers, or on-off buyers; and make sure you have spoken to your potential customers to understand them better.

Look for opportunities within the market

When creating your business plan, be sure to think big, identifying potential opportunities within the market. As your business begins to grow, you should note the opportunities for growth or expansion. Identifying is important even before you start your business- as it is important that you identify exactly how your business will make money. You may be planning to sell directly to customers over the internet, but you must identify how you will get traffic to your website- such as advertisements or digital marketing campaigns. In doing so, you will be able to effectively decide on what your business needs in order to grow in the future.

Understand the competition

Regardless of the type of business you run, you will have competitors. As such, it is extremely important that you understand them- noting who they are, what they do well, and what they lack. This will help you identify where your business can focus.

Consider M.A.S Partners for Small business accounting

If you are struggling with creating a business plan, consider hiring a small business accountant. Our small business accountants at M.A.S Partners provide expert advice to help your business develop- including creating business plans, budgeting, KPI analysis and setting long-term goals for your business. A small business accountant allows you to focus on growing your business, whilst they focus on the more tedious tasks and providing expert opinion. For more information on our small business accounting services, click here.