I hope the article below will be of help to our enterprising youths, especially those that applied for YouWin Programme.

Business Plan is a popular term in the school of business. It is a term every aspiring entrepreneur must not only get used to; it must be learnt and well understood in term of structure, format and its different uses. If you are still among those who think that business plan is just an ordinary document to be prepared in order to fulfil certain requirement(s), it is better you have a re-think if you actually want to make a mark in your business endeavour. One thing I want to ask is that; if business plan is not that important, why do investors request for it before they grant funds to entrepreneurs seeking funds? So, the question is not whether it is important, it is how you can learn how to prepare it in such a manner that will meet your business objectives.

People adopt different approaches when preparing business plan for their business. Three popular approaches people use are:



Cut and Paste

Cut and paste is a lazy man approach that a lot of people use. They simply copy sample business plan or business plan written for another similar business. Those who adopt this approach have a notion that writing of business plan is just a waste of time. On the other hand, it could be that writing of business plan is too technical for them and they are not willing to learn how they can prepare one. The primary objective of this class of people is to use the business plan to access funds. Once the objective is achieved, they may not have anything to do with the business plan again. The problem with cut and paste approach is that, there are no two businesses that can be exactly the same. The fact that you are in the same business with another person does not mean that your business plan has to be the same. You will be faced with different challenges apart from the ones that are industry-specific. For example, your location may be different. This alone may imply that you have to develop a different marketing strategy. When a business plan is based on wrong assumptions, you can predict the result.



Outsourcing

Outsourcing involves employing the services of another person or a professional to prepare a business plan on your behalf. While this approach seems okay, it may not be totally good for you. When another person prepares a business plan for you, it is no longer your plan but the plan of the person that prepares it. I am not against the use of the services of a professional; it makes your work to stand out. A professional will help you ensure that all essential aspects of the business are covered. But instead of totally placing this vital responsibility in the hand of a professional, my advice is that you should collaborate with them. You have the idea and the vision of what you want for your business. So what you need to do is to work with them by providing them detailed information about what you want to achieve. Then, the professional can now use his skills to help you prepare a standard business plan.


Writing Business Plan by yourself

This is the best approach if you can do it. Generally, businesses that succeed are those that wrote their own business plan. Why? Read complete story from the link below:
http://www.businessinfohub.com/2015/03/23/tips-on-how-to-write-a-business-plan/

If you have other useful resources, kindly share with Nairalanders

Pls, i just need already prepared local one to do compare and contrast with the one i prepared myself. I dont want those google one
thank you

Ayoakinkahunsi:
Pls, i just need already prepared local one to do compare and contrast with the one i prepared myself. I dont want those google one
thank you

Whether 'Google'one or locally prepared, business plans follow the same pattern. You just need to understand how it is prepared.

Ayoakinkahunsi:
Pls, i just need already prepared local one to do compare and contrast with the one i prepared myself. I dont want those google one
thank you

This article will give you more insight. http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4533-business-plan-outline.html

Dollarchap:


This article will give you more insight. http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4533-business-plan-outline.html

thank you

Ayoakinkahunsi:

thank you

Did the article meet your needs? You can always visit http://www.businessinfohub.com for related articles. The site aggregates top business articles from other websites. It has been helpful.

Dollarchap:


Did the article meet your needs? You can always visit http://www.businessinfohub.com for related articles. The site aggregates top business articles from other websites. It has been helpful.

yes somehow cos the article really encourage an ignite me to really move into action.i will tell you that as been part of the reason why i need a preapared one b4,you wouldnt believe that i have before i now see it as rubbish. The content or template i followed was misleading. I was not even aware of executive summary, gen company discription, product and services etc
thanks,am grateful i have a brother who is ready to help some here in the forum

Thanks...@op when is the second piece coming online

Dollarchap:


This article will give you more insight. http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4533-business-plan-outline.html

wow, i got a lot especially for a small scale business owner from this link http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5680-simple-business-plan-templates.html

I found out that business plan can be technical and cover upto 50 pages but the link i posted gave 5 simplified business plan for Small Business owners a head start.

Hope other newbie entreprenaur like me, will be helped as well

uvalued:


wow, i got a lot especially for a small scale business owner from this link http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5680-simple-business-plan-templates.html

I found out that business plan can be technical and cover upto 50 pages but the link i posted gave 5 simplified business plan for Small Business owners a head start.

Hope other newbie entreprenaur like me, will be helped as well

You will get great resources from here too: http://www.businessinfohub.com/category/startups/business-plans/

Dollarchap:


You will get great resources from here too: http://www.businessinfohub.com/category/startups/business-plans/

Hi after reading through and thinking, i guess i need a professional to help me write a business plan and advice on its usage. Can you help me with that?

Expecting your response.

Outsourcing

Outsourcing involves employing the services of another person or a professional to prepare a business plan on your behalf. While this approach seems okay, it may not be totally good for you. When another person prepares a business plan for you, it is no longer your plan but the plan of the person that prepares it. I am not against the use of the services of a professional; it makes your work to stand out. A professional will help you ensure that all essential aspects of the business are covered. But instead of totally placing this vital responsibility in the hand of a professional, my advice is that you should collaborate with them. You have the idea and the vision of what you want for your business. So what you need to do is to work with them by providing them detailed information about what you want to achieve. Then, the professional can now use his skills to help you prepare a standard business plan.