Flare 2017 Business Plan Guidance Notes

flare 2017 Business Plan Guidance Notes

This document is intended is to be used for guidance purposes when completing the flare business plan. Please note the following:

You must write your plan in Arial font, no smaller than font size 11

Your business plan must be no longer than five pages. You are entitled to provide two additional pages of appendices, plus a contents page and front cover which will not be included in the page count.

The Enterprise Team are happy to work with you to provide help and support around completing your plan

Front cover information

Please provide the following information on your front cover. Make sure that you include details forEVERY member of the team:

(Business Start-up or Business Idea)

OWNER/S (individual or team):

Business Name:

Student Number:

Street Address:

City:

County:

Postcode:

Telephone:

Email:

Website:

Contents

Executive Summary using Business Canvas Model

Products/Services; People and Operations

Marketing Research and Planning

Finance and Risk

Profit and Loss

Section One – Executive Summary

DELETE THIS TEXT BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR PLAN

This is an overview of your business or idea; it should be written after you have completed the rest of the plan and should be two pages or less. Use it to summarise the highlights from each section. You should outline the aims and objectives of the business and explain how it will work in an interesting way, leaving the reader keen to learn more.

Make sure to include:

Business name, legal structure (sole trader, ltd company etc) & date of when you started or intend to start trading

The nature of your business and the product (goods or services) including your USP (Unique Selling Point) – why your customers would buy from you rather than competitors

The Market – details of your target market- who will your customers be? Also information about any market trends i.e. growth patterns, market gaps

The objectives for your business within the first/or next three years (for example target sales, when/if you hope to employ staff, or an overview of the skills of the people you already employ)

Brief financial information – provide an overview of your projections and how much funding you may need to start up, including the nature of finance if known, and what it will be used for.

Try to avoid jargon and hype; make it exciting yet professional and concise.

Products/Services; People and Operations

Products/Services

This section should describe your product/service and why people will purchase it from you. It should include information on your costing and pricing too.

For each product/service you should:

Describe its most important features. What is distinctive and unique about it- what is your unique selling point? (USP)

Describe its benefits; what will the product/service do for the customer?

Include how products are made/services are provided, including any Intellectual property rights and insurances needed

Include any potential future developments of the product/service

Include your costs, what does it cost to produce your product or service?

Explain your pricing strategy and how it fits with your competitor analysis and market research Are your prices lower, higher, the same? Why? If your price is lower, remember you still need to make a profit

Think about the difference between features and benefits and describe them. For example, if you're selling boots, a feature could be that they're waterproof - with the benefit being that they keep your feet dry

People and Operations

This section should describe the skills and experience you and your staff or business partners (if appropriate) have and their roles within the business. You also need to outline how the business will operate from day to day: its location, equipment, people, processes etc.

People

List the people that will be/are involved in the business; outline each of their roles and provide a brief description of the skills, experience and qualifications that they have that will help the business be successful

Include whether you are planning on taking on staff or using sub-contractors and when you will do this.

Operations

Include details such as where you will/already operate from- home or commercial premises and explain why you chose that option

What legal structure will/does your start-up have? e.g. sole trader, ltd company, partnership

How you will distribute your product to clients (if relevant) Explain why your chosen sales channel/s is most effective e.g. online, face-to-face, via a retail outlet

If applicable, give information on manufacturers/suppliers/wholesalers and why you chose them.

Marketing Research and Planning

Market Research

Market and competitor research is key to proving the viability of your idea/business. It is important you provide as much evidence as possible

Geographically where is your market?

Who are your customers? Describe who you intend to/already sell to.

How many potential customers are there in your target market (market size) and what will be/is your share of this market?

If applicable define all the different market segments?

Is the market static, declining, growing or seasonal? Why?

Detail any market research obtained from reference books/internet which provides information on trends for your industry/service.

Include information on any primary research (i.e. questionnaires, focus groups) that you have carried out to support the viability of your business idea in your chosen area and explain the results.

From the findings of your research define the need for your product or service/gap in the market

Competitor Research

Who are your main competitors and where are they based?

What are their strengths and weaknesses and market shares? Explain why your potential customers would buy your product/service over theirs

Marketing Plan

What marketing activities will/do you use? e.g. website, leaflets, business directories/magazine, social media, PR? Why is this the appropriate method/s for your target market?

Explain how the above reflects your brand appropriately.

What budget have you set for marketing?

Include details on timescales in which you intend to/already carry out each activity and which are priority; provide details of costs too.

How will you monitor the success and efficiency of your marketing strategy and activities?

What will you put in place that will help you ensure customer retention?

Finance and Risk

Financial Requirement

Include your costs, what does it cost to produce your product or service?

What is your profit margin? (the difference between the sale price and cost of sale)

Explain your sales forecast figures shown in your profit and loss account

If you need to raise finance then state (even if it’s a rough estimate) what funding you need and how it will be used: i.e. £800 – office computer; £1000 – website; £500 advertising.

Will you be investing any of your own money? If so state roughly how much.

If applicable, what type of finance will you be applying for/have obtained e.g. overdraft, loan, grant.

If you are applying for loan funding explain how you will be able to repay the loan.

What is your personal survival budget? i.e. the minimum amount you need to earn each year to cover personal expenditure.

Key Risk Areas

You need to show that you have considered any risks or hurdles that your business may face and how you may be able to overcome them so they become less of a threat.

Describe what you consider to be the key risks to your start-up/idea i.e. premises, customers paying on time, suppliers, economic climate etc.

Think of the three biggest hurdles you think you could face

If your product/service is new and needs development then you need to consider the design and whether it may be easy for competitors to copy your idea. What will the stages of development for the product/service be? Could there be any difficulties in design/ development?

Describe the contingency plans that you have in place to manage the risks so they become less of a threat. If you have included your three big hurdles, then state how you may overcome them e.g. what will you do if you don’t achieve your projected sales figures? How might you protect your idea? How could you raise further finance if you fall short?

Profit & Loss Forecast

This forecast is a statement of how you expect the business to perform over a given period, taking into account the profit that you would expect to achieve and the costs of providing your product or service.

As with your cash flow forecast, if you are VAT registered, all sales and costs records should be entered excluding VAT. If you are not VAT registered then you will need to include VAT in your costs where it is charged.

Use the template provided on the next page for profit & loss forecast