A Business Plan can be used for more than one purpose.
Internally, it can be used to communicate your strategic objectives to the team and help the business deliver on its strategy and vision. It can be used as a guide to ensure you don’t over-spend or overextend yourself with borrowing, to document growth ambitions for the business and set associated KPIs.
Externally, it can be used to obtain additional funding or attract a new investor – providing lenders and investors with enough information to evaluate risk and make an informed decision.
Regardless of its purpose, a good business plan will outline your goals for the future and map out a clear path to achieving them. It will detail your product or service, your competition, the start-up and operational costs and information about the market you’ll be trading in.
While our following checklist is based on a business plan used for seeking finance, the overall structure remains true regardless and the detail can be adapted to suit your business needs.
Use this checklist to ensure you meet all the requirements for a robust business plan and give yourself the best chance at raising the capital you need.
For tailored advice from a Business Advisory expert, please contact us.
How to use this checklist
Below are the sections to include in your business plan. Each are labelled to reflect the relevant area and provide an explanation of that section, tips to completing it and key inclusions.