Nowadays, many persons are now beginning to consider starting up their own business either small, medium or big scale business. And in our post on factors to consider before starting up that business idea, certain factors such as the market strategy and analysis happens to be part of the factors we looked into. In this post we would understand better how writing a business plan would help that idea and also how to go about writing not just any kind of business plan, but a winning business plan.
The first mistake or misconception that we would clear here is that, a business plan is not just for entrepreneurs that lack capital to fund their ideas, and seek investors to invest in the business idea. Entrepreneurs/individuals that have the necessary capital to fund their business idea still need a detailed and well written business plan in order to help them understand the business they are about going into, to also guide their start up and set goals based on the market research and other market related demographics. Creating a business plan goes a long way to expose what the market holds for entrepreneurs.
Virtually every person tends to get ideas that will thrive when transformed into a business, but due to lack of knowledge on what that idea is all about and structured information on how to go about making it a reality, we end up abandoning the idea. You might just remember an idea you once had years back but got blown away because you had no knowledge on how to make it a reality, this article will guide you on how to convert your present and future ideas into a reality using a well structured business plan.
With this article we will be bringing to our doorpost the components of a winning business plan. So just grab your jotting materials and let’s get down to business.

Ø Executive Summary:
The first thing that appears on your business plan is the executive summary and like the name goes, “Summary” we are to summaries the business idea and concept. Here you are to explain what the business idea is all about being brief and straight to the point. In a situation whereby you are writing the business plan for investors to invest in, clearly state in this same category what you want the investor(s) to do. But if the business plan is for personal use, you can only summaries the business idea in this category.
Ø Business Description
Here you are to explain the business providing every vital and necessary information that can be of advantage. Also, you explain the industry in which your business idea falls into, stating its present state and the future possibilities in the industry that can be of advantage to your idea. Making available correct statics will be of better clearance to you and your investor(s). Also, it’s advisable you clearly state certain products that are within the market that can be of advantage to the immerse growth of your business idea.

See Also: Before Starting That Business: Factors to consider
Ø Market Strategy
This is a part of the business plan where the real work and sweat starts, although you do not have to be scared but all it would cost is an effective look into the market in which your business idea falls into, doing this will make this part of the business plan easy to create. This part of the business plan explains your strategy with which you plan on using to enter the market and gain ground. Before coming up with any strategy it’s necessary you run an in-depth market analysis. From an unbiased market analysis, a workable strategy is created. What is market analysis? Market analysis gives a comprehensive outline to the component of your niche market. It explains the market force, also making one familiar with every aspect of the market. In other words, market analysis helps us to know how favorable the market which our idea falls into is. The market analysis also explains the market size and historical growth, likewise stating if there are seasonal or cycling purchasing trend that can affect the business. Also, the needs of customers are made known when creating an analysis.
In summary, the market strategy is the pattern which you plan on taking to gain ground in the market and is formed after studying the market in which the business falls into as a result of a healthy market analysis.
Ø Competitive Analysis
Who are your competitors? How long have they been in the business? How many percent of the market have they conquered? What are your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses? How can you use their weakness as leverage? How can you get better to compete with their strength? The essence of the questions is not make your competitors look big and make you quit your idea, but in order to see them as a challenge that can be overcome. YES! They can be overcome. These questions will be of effect when creating a competitive analysis. But what if there is less or no competition within your niche market? Wonderful! When you find out that there is less or no competition, making plans on running a monopoly kind of market would be necessary but if your market won’t allow monopoly, setting up a system that will give new competitors a tough time to meet up won’t be a bad ideaJ. You can begin to make plans on conquering a larger percentage of the market.
Ø Design & Development Plan
In this part of the business plan, steps that need to be taken when trying to achieve your goals needs to be noted. In order words, every step that needs to be taking right from the business inception to achieving the business goals have to be stated clearly. This will keep the business focused and running
Ø Operations & Management Plan
The question that when answered gives an insight to what this part of the business plan is all about is, how do I planning on running the daily activities of the business? Go through this question over and over again until you grasp “your means to a way”. Due to lack of a good management plan, businesses go down within a very short time in the market and this explains why this part of the business plan shouldn’t be underrated or neglected.
Ø Financial factor
Yes! Money factor or do you know any business that started without money? I’m sure you’d be like Imposi-Never . Even non-profit organizations require money to start up. In this part of the business plan, you are to state clearly the cost of starting up the business. A mistake many persons make when creating a budget for their business is to use guess work instead of actual figures and in most cases they end up running out of capital to keep the business running. Research should be made when trying to create a budget for the business in order to avoid casualties in the future. Even Jesus said, “no one starts a building without first sitting down and calculating the cost”, this is also applicable to starting up a business. In summary, this part of the business plan should outline the cost of starting up, the cost of maintenance and management, the cost of goods and services and the gross margin.

Things to know about writing a business plan

· A business plan can either be written for personal use or to get a loan from investors.
· Every information on the business plan shouldn’t be based on guess work, but factual.
Hope this guide will lead you to writing a business plan that will convert your “ordinary” ideas into “extra-ordinary” success. Feel free to ask questions using the comment box.