Any good places to look for advice or any experts here?

Who is going to read it and why?

You need to define the audience really as a business plan could be anything from a sheet of A4 to a 50,000 page document…

Lemonysam 😀

Gotta go to work, work all day….

Borrow money.
Buy stuff.
Sell stuff to suckers for more money.
Repay borrowed money.
Spend rest on coke and hookers.
Repeat.

You’re welcome 😀

Define Scope (PID)
Map Process Current
Map Process Future
Agree Deliverable s
Source Funding
Seek Dependencies
Agree Timeline
Agree Key Milestones
Initiate
Execute
Track
Control
Success track

Search for business model canvas on YouTube. One pager, totally superb starting point.

Last time I had a look at this, the Princes Trust had some advice, and a template. Not sure how good it was, but might be a starting point??

Lots of zig-zaggy graphs, trending upwards, with an arrow on the end pointing skyward.

i was going to ask the same this evening, will watch with interest… that said i have looked at the princes trust this morning and it seems quite comprehensive/complicated to me.

As per cdaimers go for the canvas approach. Write it once and revisit it every week for the foreseeable future. The world never stops and neither should your plan.

Every week?!

I haven’t revisited mine for 20 years. And even then it was mostly nonsense.

Business Model Canvas & Value Proposition Design are VERY good.

Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0470876417

I may have a pdf of it if you can manage with an ebook.

that would be awesome Geoffj

I’ve always found businessballs very helpful – http://www.businessballs.com/freebusinessplansandmarketingtemplates.htm

Whats the business?

Might be able to help

RD – check your mail.

Can I suggest you google Steve blank who has some excellent resources available around agile business modelling and business model canvas. I am currently using the agile process to build a diversified business and using the techniques Steve blank talks about, in 3 months and speaking to over 25 customers, the business plan looks very differant now. Only use the traditional ways, only if you need to get finance or a bank account.

I would also recommend method kit as well. The templates they have as canvases are very useful.

According to the bloke who runs BrewDog they are a waste of time?

Can I offer an alternative viewpoint? Just start! Do whatever you want to do on a small scale and build from there. You’ll soon find out if your business has a future or not and then you can get stuck into the meaty stuff of making things ‘proper’.

Video version 😀
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO5sxLapAts[/video]

who are you writing it for? For yourself, to gain funding or for the bank?

Also don’t get fixated by a business plan. I’ve been fortunate to build up (and am running) some successful businesses and being flexible to change (threats and opportunities) is more important to me than a business plan. Also there is always an element of luck in any successful business…

Was talking to a project manager at the local Chamber of Commerce last week, who told me that I would need a business plan to try access an EU grant and then in the next sentence admitted that it would essentially be guesswork. His best bit of advice was to keep it short and to the point and not sweat it.

Here you go, the perfect business plan template:

http://avsport.org/microcomm/admin/busplan.pdf

YES Bencooper!

And it’s a fantastic book as well.

I once wrote a comprehensive business plan for a brewery startup (about 5 years ago as part of a course I was doing) and realised that I’d need 6 figures to produce in volume and start from nothing. I also had someone I trust read through it and critique and there was still stuff I’d missed. So I’d agree with dogthomson and say try it first and see what interest you get, then if you need funding, write your business plan. The main things investors want to see are that you have a handle on the numbers, a handle on the market, and are not a complete f**kwit.

Start small, don’t throw loads of money at it straight away. Work from your spare bedroom/garage if you can to keep the overheads down. Start up whilst still in your old job if you can. Then it’s just about working hard and presenting a professional image with a smile on your face.
Business plans with projected incomes are laughable bull…t designed to keep bank managers and others that don’t run their own business happy.
Good Luck !