Structure of the plan of businesses

3 January 2009 - 16:02

A structure or usual format in the development of a plan of businesses, is made up of the following stages:

• Summary of the business.
• Study of market.
• Technical study.
• Study of the investment.
• Study of the income and debits.
• Financial study.

We see next each of these stages, as well as the elements conform that it:

1. Summary of the business

In this stage, well-known also like the executive summary, we must indicate the initial datas of the business, as well as a summary of the plan of businesses (of the other stages conform that it), reason why this stage must be developed after the elaboration of the others, but be put at the beginning of the plan.

In this stage, besides the initial datas of the business, we must show in a single reading what it deals with the project, reason why its development does not have to include more than two pages, in him we must indicate:

• the main data of the business: the name of the project or company, its location, the type of company, etc.
• the service or or description that we will offer.
• the idea of the necessity or opportunity of the business: which are the main reasons that justify the proposal of the business, why we have chosen east business, for example, due to some unsatisfied necessity, to some competitive advantage which we have and we want to be useful, etc.
• our service or or or the innovating characteristics differentials: what we are going to offer that he is innovating, novel and that is going to allow to us to differentiate to us from our competitors.
• our competitive advantages: in what aspects of the business we will have advantages before our competitors, and which will be the factors that will with time allow to the viability of the business and its support.
• the objectives of the business: which are the objectives that we will look for once beginning the business.
• the strategies of the project: which are the main strategies that we will use to secure the objectives.
• the required investment: how much it is what we will need investment, how much we will use of equity capital and how much it will be the requirement of external financing.
• the return on the total investment: to how much it will promote the yield of the business.
• the summary of the result of the financial evaluation (indicating TIR GO and).
• the environmental impact of the project.
• the conclusions at which we will have arrived once culminated the accomplishment from the plan of businesses.

2. Study of market

In this stage of study or investigation of market, we will investigate, analyze and indicate all that to the market: which will be our objective market, which will be our future demand, who will be our competitors, who will be our suppliers, and which will be the marketing strategies that we will use:

a. Definition of the market profile

For it we must previously segment the market, that is to say, segment or divide the total market that exists for our product, and select to the market or the resulting markets of this segmentation, which they are most attractive to penetrate, according to our capacity, our knowledge and our experience.

And, once we have selected our objective market, we happened to define the profile of the consumer conforms that, that is to say, analyzed and indicated it its main characteristics, for example, we indicated where it locates, which is its rank of age, which are their tastes, which its preferences, which are his habits of consumption, which are their behaviors of purchase, which are their attitudes, etc.

b. Analysis and prognosis of the demand

It consists of analyzing and determining the prognosis of our demand (or prognosis of sales) for a period of certain time (the time of projection that we want to have for our plan of business, usually of 1 to 3 years).

Once foretold the demand, we happened to elaborate the budget or projection of sales, that is obtained multiplying the prognosis of sales by the price that we will put to him to our products.

The budget of sales will be the budget bases to start off will be constructed the others.

c. Analysis of the competition

It consists of analyzing and studying our competitors; in the first place we compiled all the information that is excellent envelope they, soon we analyzed it, and soon we indicated, for example, as are leaders or main competitors, where they are located, which are their markets, which are their strategies, which are his prices, which it is his capacity, which are their advertizing means, which are their points of sale, which are his strengths and which their weaknesses.

d. Analysis of the commercialization

In this point we designed, we developed and we indicated to all the strategies of marketing or commercial strategies that we will apply to once start up the business, considering the characteristics of the consumer that conforms our objective market, and to the analysis of the competition that we have realized previously.

We indicate which will be our strategies as far as the design of the product, to the prices that we will use, to the distribution and the promotion of products.

e. Analysis of the market supplier

In this point we analyzed and we determined who will be our future suppliers and, later, we analyzed and we indicated his main characteristics, for example, where they are located, which are their levels of supplying or of production, which are their lines of credit, its prices, its guarantees, their facilities of payment, etc.

3. Technical study

In this third stage we designed and we defined all the processes that will conform the business, including the process of purchases, the process of transport, the one of storage, the one of production, distribution, of sales, etc. We indicated to the phases or stages that conform each process, the ordered personnel, the disposition of the productive area, the technical location of the machines, dispositions, etc.

Also, in this stage we defined which will be the organization of the company, indicating the areas of the company, the personnel will require each area, which will be their functions, which will be their obligations, which its responsibilities, who will be its superiors hierarchically, and who will be their subordinates.

4. Study of the investment

In this stage we make a listing of the assets and the capital of work that we are going to require (on the basis of the study of the market and to the technical study that we have realized previously) before initiating operations, with its respective considered costs:

We see next a list of the main elements that can constitute the assets and the capital of work:

a. Assets

We can divide them to the assets in intangible fixed and active assets:

• Fixed or tangible assets: land and constructions, infrastructure (local), machineries and equipment, tools, furniture, other tangible ones (for example, extinguishers).
• Intangible assets: legal expenses of beginning, expenses (constitution, license, permissions), selection and qualification of personnel, publicity, other intangible ones.

b. Capital of work

The capital of work is the money that we will need to put into operation the business during the first productive cycle, that is the passed time since the operations of the business begin until the money in sufficient amounts like continuing is obtained operating normally.

For a better analysis the Capital of Work, we can divide this one it or classify in attainable, available and indispensable:

• Attainable: conformed by everything what it can be stored, for example, raw materials or consumptions (when one is a producing company), finished products in process, products (when one is a marketing company: company dedicated to the purchase and sale of products), packages.
• Available: one talks about the required money to pay diverse services after they have been used, for example, payment of basic services (light, water, telephone), administrative list, municipal list of sale, remunerations, maintenance, tributes.
• Indispensable: payments that are realized in advance; they are denominated indispensable, because one spends or invests, and soon demands the right to use; they are indispensable, for example, the advance to suppliers, contract advance, rent of the premises, publicity, insurances.

5. Study of income and debits

In this stage we developed to the projections of the income and debits that the business will obtain, once put in march (Projected Flow of Box and Account of Results Projected).

For it we were based on the prognosis of sales (which we have realized in the stage of market study) and in the prognosis of debits (which we have realized in the stage of study of the investment).

In the case of making use of external financing, we will make the first projection of the payment of the debt, and soon we will include in the projections of income and debits.

The income of the business basically are conformed by the sales, whereas the debits include:

• Desembolsables debits: direct costs, indirect costs, financial expenses of administration, expenses of sales, expenses.
• Nondesembolsables debits: depreciation, amortization of intangible.

6. Financial study

And, finally, in this stage of the financial study, we evaluated the feasibility and the yield of the project, considering the studies of the investment and the study of the income and debits that we have realized previously.

For the evaluation of the project, besides measuring the yield of the project with respect to the investment and the period of recovery of this one, the usual thing is to make use of the financial indicators of yield of the Net Present Value and the Rate Internal of Return (TIR GO and).

Labels: Creation of businesses, Tools of business, Step by step, Plan of businesses

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Related contents:

1. Plan of businesses (Part 4): The technical study
2. Plan of businesses (Part 3): The market study
3. Plan of businesses (Part 7): The study of the income and debits
4. Plan of businesses (part 8): The evaluation of the project
5. How to formulate a plan of businesses