More and more startups are appearing in USA today. Creating a startup is a business plan that inspires many business creators.
However, before starting, it is advisable to write a structured and complete business plan.
This approach gives the opportunity to establish your startup’s growth strategy by considering, for example, the start-up budget, market segments, recurring expenses, market data, but also the future earnings of your startup.
In addition, your startup’s business plan can be used as support in the context of a request for funding from an investor.
- What to include in the business plan a startup?
- What is the preferred structure?
- How to calculate the turnover of your startup?
- What are the accounting ratios to include in this document?
- How to establish the break-even point of a startup?
Also, if you want to put the odds on your side, follow our business plan adapted to the economic model of a startup.
BUILDING A BUSINESS PLAN FOR A STARTUP
WHY MAKE A BUSINESS PLAN FOR A STARTUP?
The realization of a business plan before the creation of a startup makes it possible to:
– study the latest data that characterizes the startup market
– analyze the dynamics of the startup sector
– synthesize the success factors of a startup
– identify your future customers, without forgetting their desires
– decide on a good value proposition for your startup
– study competing startups as well as their strengths and weaknesses
– find competitive advantages for this new project
– describe, via the Business Model Canvas, the business model of your startup
– set up a strategy in detail (to become profitable)
– study the risks and events that can threaten your startup
– show a banker that this new business will be solid and profitable
The experts of our team have taken care to write a good business plan for a startup, which makes it possible to fulfill the points above.
WHAT PLAN TO ADOPT FOR THE BUSINESS PLAN OF A STARTUP?
A business plan presents a large set of elements, tables and analyses.
However, it is essential to structure them all well in order to have a document that will be rigorous, complete and pleasant to read.
This is what we have done in our business plan for a startup, which is divided into 5 parts that will follow each other naturally.
The first part reveals the “Market Opportunity” to us. In this part, our experts will report with figures and data that characterize the startup market. In order to obtain recent data, they are updated several times a year.
This part of the business plan also makes it possible to present the notable innovations (for example the eco-responsible commitment, the use of management software or the digitization of services).
In conclusion, we present the variables that allow a startup to exceed its break-even point.
Then, the second part corresponds to the “Presentation of the Company” . It gives the opportunity to present your startup (What is the sector of activity? What are the services provided by the startup? What are the products and services that you plan to launch in the coming years? etc.).
This part also discusses the value proposition of your startup. Finally, there is the presentation of the project leader (the person in charge of this project).
Then comes the part which is “Market Research” and which will give the opportunity to present the customer segments of your startup.
It also presents the various competitors through a competitive analysis. This part includes in particular a SWOT matrix, which is the tool to list the strengths and weaknesses of your startup, while revealing the opportunities and threats of the competitive environment.
The “Strategy” part will then give us the opportunity to present a development plan containing specific actions that will allow your startup to become profitable.
It details, among other things, a marketing plan that will result in revenue growth.
Finally, this business plan presents a section dealing with “Finances” which serves as a support for presenting a three-year financial strategy for your startup.
HOW TO WRITE THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF A STARTUP?
In order to successfully write the Executive Summary (also called “executive summary”) of your startup, certain points must be respected.
First, the executive summary should be of reasonable length. Do not go further than 2 pages. Indeed, it serves as an introduction to the business plan of your startup.
Also, it must be punchy, so it must understand that your startup is indeed a serious project.
Do not make grammatical mistakes and indicate the strengths of your business project (for example: maintains a good relationship with its financial partners based on trust and transparency, masters the workings of financial management in order to ensure treasury able to follow its growth, equips itself with the best business management software to optimize management processes or concentrates its efforts on digitalization (by deploying a maximum of channels giving access to its product)).
Your Executive Summary must follow a certain structure. You can use the one from our Business Plan Consultant, mentioned above.
HOW TO SUCCEED IN MARKET RESEARCH FOR A STARTUP?
The market study of your startup allows you to understand the elements that surround your project, such as the strength of demand, recent changes and certain information on the competition.
Every business idea should start with market research.
How to succeed? A large number of elements must be synthesized.
Below, the information found in the “Market Study” part of the Business Plan Consultant :
– recent figures and data related to the startup market
– recent trends observed in the sector startups
– your startup’s customer segments
– competitive analysis
– competitive advantages
– SWOT analysis of a startup
THE ESSENTIAL POINTS OF A BUSINESS PLAN FOR A STARTUP
WHAT IS THE BUSINESS MODEL OF A STARTUP?
The business model of your startup will depend on the type of product and service you sell, the industry in which you operate, your cost structure, etc.
Startups have more complicated business models to understand, so they need to be explained in detail. In the case of a business plan for a co working space, everyone knows what a co working space is and how this type of business works. In a restaurant business plan, there is no need to describe the business model. It’s different for a startup that will have a very specific business model.
Generally, in a business plan, one synthesizes the economic model of his future company via a Business Model Canvas.
This tool gives the opportunity to quickly understand the details of your project, in particular the pricing model, the cost structure, the key partners, etc.
HOW TO PRESENT THE MARKET SEGMENTS OF A STARTUP?
Market segmentation involves separating a set of customers into segments of individuals who share common characteristics.
For you, it will be necessary to separate the profiles that can use your services or buy your products.
What is the interest of the segments? This exercise allows you to structure the presentation of your customers in your business plan. Then, it will allow you to reach your customers with more force (by dividing the offer and different messages from your startup according to the segments for example).
Possible market segments that your startup can address are sellers and individuals (if I create a marketplace), companies that need computer equipment or people who want to shop online (if I create a e-commerce store).
In the Business Plan Consultants , you will find a study of the market segments adapted to this type of activity.
HOW TO ESTABLISH THE COMPETITIVE STUDY OF A STARTUP?
You will not be alone in the startup sector. There are also competing startups that will face you.
Your business plan should outline a study of these competitors. It will be necessary to detail their major characteristics, as well as their strengths and drawbacks.
Specifically identify their weak points (for example: an unoriginal product or service, solutions that do not meet the needs of the target market, no long-term strategy, a product or service that lacks visibility or a team with very limited).
Why? Because these elements very likely lead to frustration among the customers of these startups. Take advantage of these flaws by building competitive advantages for your startup.
A competitive advantage is anything that will help your startup beat competing companies.
Below are some examples of potential competitive advantages for a startup:
– surrounds itself with a multidisciplinary and competent team that shares the same vision
– offers a unique service or product that stands out from what already exists
– associates with a leader who has already piloted successful startups
– forges strategic partnerships with companies that offer complementary products or services
– does not hesitate to establish itself in foreign markets as soon as the opportunity arises
– s is seriously committed to social and environmental issues
– etc.
Download our financial projections for startup in order to obtain a competitive study already written as well as the list of competitive advantages complete, modifiable and adapted to your startup.
HOW TO WRITE THE SWOT MATRIX OF A STARTUP?
The SWOT remains a tool that is of great help in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a business project, just like your startup.
Also, this analysis is useful for us to understand the opportunities as well as the surrounding threats.
A properly written SWOT matrix for your startup should be concise and relevant. It is a perilous exercise for new entrepreneurs who sometimes establish scattered SWOTs, which lack relevance and are difficult to understand.
However, just like the Business Model Canvas, the SWOT has the advantage of being a synthetic tool presenting many elements concerning your startup at a quick glance.
In order to have a complete, drafted and editable SWOT matrix.
HOW TO BUILD A STARTUP’S MARKETING STRATEGY?
In the business plan of your startup, it will be necessary to present a sustainable plan in order to guarantee the development of your company.
The marketing strategy brings together all the initiatives you will take so that more and more customers are likely to use your services or buy your products.
For example, we can cite the creation of a showcase site for your startup. Then help your customers find your content through a referencing called SEO. For this, you will need to publish articles with certain keywords so that your startup is clearly visible on Google results and thus reaches a wider clientele.
You must also maintain a certain presence on social networks (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) by publishing content highlighting your offers.
Also, boost your visibility with selected audiences through Google Ads and Facebook Ads campaigns. It is an effective way to attract new customers.
It is also necessary to constantly question your first users and thus improve your project according to their feedback. Develop a space for comments and reviews, and don’t forget to interact with your users.
At the same time, you can set up various partnerships with organizations that will help you promote your business. Surround yourself with companies or associations that will support your growth in a sustainable way.
You can make an impression through your storytelling, that is to say, to differentiate yourself in relation to your story. Another effective strategy is also to commit yourself, for example supporting a cause for each sale made and making your commitments known to your customers.
There are a significant number of marketing techniques and resources to put in place. Find them in this business plan for a startup.
THE FINANCIAL TABLES AND RATIOS OF THE BUSINESS PLAN FOR A STARTUP
A well-executed business plan will include a detailed financial analysis.
Among other things, it will be necessary to study the future income of your startup.
It will be essential that these projections are relevant. The financial forecast for a startup presents a system with several checks that allows our entrepreneurs to obtain realistic forecasts. In this document, the prices of the products, services and services of his startup are notably variable (in order to be able to test several scenarios).
In addition, it will be necessary to build a starting budget for your startup. This budget includes all the initial costs but also the associated amount.
Profitability analysis is also a major part of your startup’s business plan. It helps to know the revenue your project needs to have to break even. This analysis also gives information about the future benefits that you can potentially obtain with your startup.
It is also necessary to identify the different expenses of your startup.
For example, there is the cost of office supplies (reams of paper, ink, pens, envelopes, etc.), travel expenses (if your startup has to travel to provide services to its customers), the salary of collaborators who work for the startup or the monthly payments (if a bank loan finances your startup).
Finally, the level of performance of the financial strategy of your project can also be studied thanks to the table of intermediate management balances, the analysis of the BFR as well as the financial ratios.
As you can imagine, all these elements are present in our financial projections for startup.
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