The key components of any small business plan

If you are going to start up your own small business, you need to have a great small business plan.Small business plans begin with ideas, so make sure that you look at your idea also.Here are some general guidelines to help you move from just an idea to a fantastic business plan that contains all of the key components of any small business plans.

1.Consider your idea
Every business begins with an idea.If you don't have an idea-you just want to own your own business-you need to come up with one.Or you need to fine tune the idea that you already have.Perhaps you vaguely know that you want to sell tailor made clothes.Well, what is your targeted demographic going to be?Are you going to make the clothes yourself?Are you going to purchase the clothes?Will you focus on larger customers or smaller customers?

You also will want to consider purchasing a franchise.If you do this, then the idea is already taken care of for you.You can also buy an already existing business.There are many of these already existing businesses for sale; if you purchase a business, then all of the work (finding customers, finding employees, and so on), is already taken care of for you.

Whether you come up with your own idea or if you purchase an already existing business, your next step is coming up with a small business plan.

2.Come up with a business plan

Your business plan is how you and other people, such as potential investors, the bank or other lending institution, and more, will evaluate your business.When you go to a lending institution or private investors, they will want to see a detailed business plan that covers every aspect of your business.This means that you need to talk about marketing, you need to talk about projected profits, supplies, shipping, employees, debt, equity, collateral, strategies, and more.Here are some of the key components of a small business plan:

-- marketing plan
-- publicity plan
-- budget
-- purpose
-- financing
-- projected profits
-- overview of your business
-- number of employees
-- business organization
-- supplies
-- shipping and suppliers
-- equity
-- collateral
-- business strategies

There are a number of different software programs available that can help you write a business plan.Make sure that you come up with a viable marketing and advertising campaign.What are your ideas to attract customers?If you are mostly going to be a web-based company, how you will improve your search engine optimization and find customers on the Internet?

Writing up a business plan can help you determine the amount of capital that you will need, both initially and in the long term, in order to succeed.This can help your investors know how much money you are looking at, and it can help you know how much money you need to look for.

3.Find your financing

Finding financing is one of the most intimidating aspects of starting up a business.There are a number of different options for financing, however; you just need to be creative and think about all of your options before you just head to the bank.You will need to invest an amount of your own money in the business.Consider how much of your own personal financing you can also afford to pour into your business.Talk to friends and family about investing in your small business.You can also find an angel investor, though these are becoming more and more scarce these days.Banks are the most common lending institution, but the federal government also provides financing plans for qualified small businesses.These financing options range from low interest rate loans to grants for small businesses and owners.