Business plan template
is searched approximately
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I'm here to tell you to stop
searching because in today's
video, I'll be showing you how to
make the ultimate business plan.
Business plans are absolutely
essential for any business.
Why?
Well, because a solid business plan
will allow you to rigorously assess
idea 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 funding it.
If you haven't already, make
sure you're subscribed to
the channel as we release new
videos every week that will
help you build your business.
Oh, and stay tuned to the end
of this video when I share a
little gift from me to you.
Let's get into it.
The first part of every business
plan is the executive summary,
the executive summarys 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 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 summary 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.
To answer these questions,
you'll 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 is 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?
Can 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 invest
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 volunteer 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.
Um, 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, Nike's 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 longterm.
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 headstart 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 factual description
of your target audience.
For example, if you're targeting
millennial customers in the
U S I would first start by
looking at government data
about the size of that group.
Secondly, I researched 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 mask
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 time.
I would then dive into what
made it 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.
Okay.
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 this section,
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
TikTok, 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 onto 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,
manufacturer, 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, where?
Outlining the tools and
technology that you require
in order to be up and running.
This includes everything
from computers to light bulbs
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 going to end
with the financial plan.
Now I know what you're
thinking, boring, 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 cashflow 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 businesses assets, so
what you own and on the other
side, all of your liabilities.
So what you owe.
This will provide a snapshot
of your business's shareholder
equity, which is calculated as.
Assets minus liabilities
equals equity.
Now, your cashflow 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 cashflow statement to
identify gaps or negative cashflow
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 scope.
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.
Let us know.
Oh, okay.
Lettuce, lettuce know.
If had a piece of lettuce.
That'd be fantastic.
