Five Qualities of a Good Business Plan
March 22, 2020
Businesses, no matter how big or small they are, need a logically presented, clear business plan. It helps to draw investors in, ensures that you attract the right talent and keeps you focused on your goals. Modern business plans drafted by professionals like Viva Consulting have undergone a huge makeover. They’re no longer the weighty, tedious, formal chronicles of old, replete with legalese and financials. In simple terms, it’s a document that describes the nature of your business, provides a project feasibility study and explains how you plan to make your business work. Don’t confuse it with a laundry list or a to-do list. It’s important to keep it short and simple in these times of shrinking attention spans. The essential elements that a good business plan should contain for Dubai and the UAE markets can be summarized in five main ideas.
Can Be Customized
It’s easy to grab an off-the-shelf template and run with it. But unless it’s tailored to your particular business, it’s largely ineffective. Remember that business plans can be reviewed over time. So, if you’re currently planning a start-up or a home-based enterprise, or you’re establishing a large corporation, expanding your existing operations, seeking a loan, etc. ensure that your plan reflects these aspects.
Clear Plans
Good business plans are couched in clear, unambiguous terms. Remember that this is not a business pitch you’re making. It’s wise to keep plans as short as possible, with an executive summary, overview of the project/company, information about products/services, financial and marketing plans, actual and projected costs. You can add information about the team and their roles. Modern business plans incorporate information about key operations, competitor analysis, customer-acquisition costs, prototypes and burn rates. This can be segregated into smaller sections. Pick the format that works for the target audience: audio-visual, hard/soft copy, lean plan, one-page, etc.
Qualitative Research
A quality business plan grows organically from the amount of time and effort spent. Make sure you allocate maximum time to research, evaluation, financial data and analysis of your particular industry/market. It may also incorporate several different short, mid and long-term projections. Your plan should provide details about these. Ensure its tailored to sync with the target audience, with slightly different versions for each.
Organizational Structure
This gives your audience a glimpse into the Who’s Who of your set-up. Provide details of ownership, board of directors, hiring requirements and roles.
Information About the Company
Give detailed information about your product/service. Technical information that may be difficult to understand or confidential data can be either simplified or kept on a need-to-know basis. Current status of the product/service, development costs, sourcing, storage, patents are important details that should be offered in a good business plan.