Bizstartup.ie - Start Up Kit

The immediate reaction from most people when it comes to a business plan is ‘how do I fill it in?’, says Crawley. “People start by downloading a standard form and filling in boxes. This is the wrong way to go about it,” he says.

“The best way to start with a business plan is to sit at your kitchen table with a dozen sheets of A4 paper and brain dump on what exactly your idea is; who is going to buy it; at what price; how you’re going to source materials or services; and who your competitors are.

“Walk away from this for a couple of days and mull over what you’ve written. Don’t talk to professionals at this stage, but rather people you know who might buy your product or service,” he says.

If you’re idea is completely new – ie an invention – make sure to be careful who you disclose it to. However, Crawley points to how 80pc of ideas are variations on something that has already been done.

Putting a structure on your plans

“The next step is to put this into a structure. Figure out who is going to finance your business and talk to them, even anonymously, to see what questions they want answered. This will prescribe your plan.”

Executive summary

Once you’re armed with this information, he suggests starting with your executive summary, which he calls your ‘elevator speech’ – in other words something you would use to describe your idea while talking to someone for five floors in an elevator. It covers what your product or service is, what regulations it meets, how it’s priced and how it compares to competition.

After this, the headings he suggests are:

• Sales and marketing strategy;
• Operational strategy (how are you sourcing materials or services);
• Financial assessment; and
• Risk assessment.

“The risk assessment should overlay the whole thing. It deals with what happens if your assumption about your idea is wrong and what you would do to mitigate against that risk.”

Keep to a basic format

“Depending on the industry you’re in you might add appendices like a medical report. All business plans should follow a basic format. The world of business plans for the past 10 years has been like The Emperor’s New Clothes – lots of pages and intellectual information but no real business there. A business plan needs to be something the uninitiated can produce intuitively,” Crawley says.