Well-crafted business plan! A key to success for startups!!

"A good plan is a success half-done whereas a bad plan is a possible failure in progress."

• Companies with business plans experiences  higher growth rates
• A formal business plan increases your chances of success by 16%.
• Business plan provides you a better chance of raising capital for your startup company

Does a business strategy make startup success assured? Not at all. But great planning often makes the difference between success and failure. Anyone can have a great idea. But turning an idea into a viable business is a different ballgame.

For a startup company the business plan is the blueprint for its formation, its operation, and its success. A business plan reveals the company's strengths and weaknesses. It uncovers ways to capitalize on the strengths and minimize the weaknesses, reveals every fact of the business that can be developed, and points to the best method for that development.

Why it is important

Many business plans are fantasies. That's because many aspiring entrepreneurs see a business plan as simply a tool--filled with strategies and projections and hyperbole--that will convince lenders or investors the business makes sense.

That's a huge mistake.

First and foremost, your business plan should convince you that your idea makes sense, because your time, your money, and your effort are on the line.

So a solid business plan should flesh out strategic plans, develop marketing and sales plans, create the foundation for smooth operations, &convince a lender or investor to jump on board.

With the well-prepared business plan you will enter the business world prepared, ready to run your business and ready to compete. It will improve your chances of success, and diminish your risks of failure.

 According to Harvard Business Review “the real key to succeeding in business is being flexible and responsive to opportunities.

A typical business plan must consist of the following elements:

Executive summary:- A snapshot of the company's purpose and goals. It includes a description of products and services.

Company description:- Description of what you do, what makes your business unique.

Market analysis:- Research on your industry, purchasing habits, buying cycles, market and competitors.

Competitive Advantage:- It describes a detailed analysis of both your current competition and potential competitors.

Organization and management:- Your business and management structure, it describes skills, experiences, of management team.

Product & services:- The products or services you’re offering.

Marketing and sales- How you’ll market your business and your sales strategy like advertising, public relations, promotional literature, etc.

Funding request:- It is a projection about how much the money you’ll need for the next 3 to 5 years.

Financial Analysis:- Financial projections and estimates. It includes supply information like balance sheets, cash flow statements, etc.

Appendix:- it includes résumés and permits.

Whom it can convince?

Firstly, your business plan should convince you that the idea you have for a business is not just a dream but it can be a viable reality.

1. Potential sources of financing 

If you need seed money for startup and operating capital to get off the ground from a bank or friends and relatives, your business plan can help you make a great case.  Lending naturally involves risk and a great business plan can assist lenders to understand the quantity of risk, eventually increasing your chances for approval.

2.  To attract potential partners and investors.

In case of other investors--including angel investors or venture capitalists--generally require a business plan in order to evaluate your business& convince them for investment.

3. Skilled employees. 

When you need to attract talent, you need something to show prospective employees since you're still in the startup phase, so your business plan can help prospective employees understand your goals--and, more important, their place in helping you achieve those goals.

4. Potential joint ventures. 

As a new company, you will likely be an unknown quantity in your market. A joint venture with an established company could have a significant effect in getting your business off the ground.

Summary

Launching a startup company is exciting. It’s easy to get so caught up in the moment that you rush into things. If you want to achieve success, you need to take a step back and plan things out.

Going through the process of writing a formal business plan will increase your chances of securing an investment and also improve your potential growth rate.An accurate,well-organized,&easy-to-read, business plan conveys professionalism and credibility.

Never forget that the goal of your business plan is to convince you that your idea makes sense. Because ultimately, it's your time, your money, and your effort on the line.

About Prakash Bhosale:- 

Prof. Prakash Bhosale is the entrepreneurship consultant for startups. He is a serial IT, Media entrepreneur  & leading business consultant He has Over 15 years of experience in education, corporate, IT, e-Marketing, Consulting domain. He is a columnist on business & entrepreneurship with newspaper, magazines, portals, published over  1100 articles. He is the writer of the 4 books on business, entrepreneurship, business ideas. He also guides   PhD fellows, business plans, DPR preparation.

Phone: 08355979232, 09867806399

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Risk Management ! A key to success for startups !!

"Sense and manage problems in their smallest state, before they become bigger and turned out to be lethal."

• Reduce revenue leakage which supports an increase in revenue
• Improve stakeholder confidence and trust
• Increase the probability of achieving goals

Your business operates in highly uncertain environments. This uncertainty brings a high level of risk to your company. Risk management is the identification, evaluation and mitigation of potential risks that can have adverse effects on a business. Early recognition and mitigation of risk is a critical factor for success in startups businesses, as the cushion for absorbing failure is relatively low.

As per the survey, just 44% of small businesses stick around for four years or more. One main reason so many go away is Poor risk management.

While it is essential to concentrate on the positive aspects of your business, but it is foolish to overlook potential future risks that might damage your company in the blink of an eye.

 The Uncertainty factor

The risks can emerge from uncertainty about different parts of the business, such as

1- There is no guarantee that customers will like your products or services enough to purchase them.

2- Entrepreneurs frequently borrow money to finance their venture in its earliest stages; there is a chance that they will not make sufficient profits to be able to pay these loans back.

3- As a business grows, the founders will have to delegate responsibility for certain tasks to employees whom they do not know well. The employees bring uncertainty and risk related to their skills and performance.

4- Entrepreneurs do not know the correct price for their product at the beginning; they may have to raise prices or change their business model, running the risk of alienating customers.

5- Whenever a business ventures into a new market or launches a new product line, there is risk involved with the logistics and geography.

So it is necessary to secure your company against such risks in order to ensure future success.

Assessing and Managing Risks

1-Financial Risk

Running out of cash is often the endpoint in the life of any business. Knowing where your cash is coming is important.

You also need to ask yourself some important questions like what you would do if

1-The cost of your raw materials or suppliers could rise suddenly.

2- Your biggest client went away or your most popular product stopped selling overnight

3-A slowing economy could reduce the demand for your firm’s product or service

While you can't anticipate all future risks, it is best to be prepared against the ones you can predict. One way to minimize your financial risk and give yourself a long runway is to take funding when it is available and keeping it in reserve.

2-Market Risks

Market risks refer to finding answers of questions such as, Is there a market for the product? How do you get customers? What about the competition?

The simplest way for entrepreneurs to mitigate market risk is to avoid perfection. When your product becomes good enough to make some customers reasonably happy, get it into the market where it can start generating cash flow and feedback.

3-Technology & Operational Risks

Technology and operational risks broadly cover everything having to do with execution, Can your team finalize the product design on a limited R&D budget? Will your product work as intended? Can you find reliable vendors? Can you manufacture it? Can you optimize the logistics of product distribution?do you have a backup plan?

When it comes to execution, there’s no substitute for experience. It’s all about careful planning and watchful management by people who know what they’re doing.

4-People Risks

As your business grows and you delegate responsibility to employees, part of the success of your venture will rest in their hands. The right combination of experience, contacts, and temperament among the founding team can vastly increase a venture’s odds of success.

If you discover that a member of your team isn’t going to work out, you need to fix it quickly before the situation gets worse.

5-Legal & Regulatory Risks

No startup can succeed without legal advice. The list of possible problems with legal or regulatory roots is almost endless, hiring an accountant who will take care of your financial liabilities and protect your assets will prove to be a boon in the future. Similarly, getting an attorney to review your contracts and give you legal advice on day-to-day affairs is just as important.

Summary

When you’re starting a company you already know you’ll have a fixed amount of investment upfront, so you know what the total cost of failure would be.For entrepreneurs, anticipating risks and preparing for them can make the difference between failure and success. The key is to quantify risks and come up with some contingency measures

Having a proper risk management strategy prepare the business as much as possible for all factors, known and unknown, that can hinder its success in any way.

Address: Unit No.450, Mastermind One - IT Park, Royal Palms, Aarey Colony, Goregaon(E), Mumbai, Maharashtra 400065

Phone: 08355979232, 09867806399

About Prakash Bhosale:- 

Prof. Prakash Bhosale is the entrepreneurship consultant for startups. He is a serial IT, Media entrepreneur  & leading business consultant He has Over 15 years of experience in education, corporate, IT, e-Marketing, Consulting domain. He is a columnist on business & entrepreneurship with newspaper, magazines, portals, published over  1100 articles. He is the writer of the 4 books on business, entrepreneurship, business ideas. He also guides   PhD fellows, business plans, DPR preparation.

Follow us on Facebook  (Click Here)

Whatsapp Me:- 8355979232