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many entrepreneurs are not aware of the

importance of business planning some

believe that a business plan is

something that is hardly put together

when the company needs a bank loan or is

seeking outside equity capital actually

planning is one of the most critical

business functions success is very

difficult to achieve without proper

planning the business plan document you

create can actually save your business

money in a number of ways first it can

help you reduce expenses

you might start your budgeting process

by building a spreadsheet showing how

much you spent in each major category

last year and then have a column next to

that for your forecast expenditures for

the upcoming year there are bound to be

categories where you can cut costs if

you think creatively changing vendors is

one example of how costs can be cut we

all get in a rut of just paying bills as

they come in without considering whether

we are paying more than we need to

categories such as shipping cost

insurance travel and entertainment and

Bank service charges are all areas where

researching alternative vendors can lead

to substantial savings but you have to

make the effort to seek out these

savings a rigorous planning process can

also help you uncover exciting new

revenue opportunities for the coming

year having a planned meeting with your

management team where you brainstorm

ideas for new products or services you

could offer many times we overlook or

underestimate a significant asset our

company possesses the skill sets and

experience of our managers and employees

encourage your employees all of them

from the janitor on up to contribute

ideas that might save the company money

or increase revenues and be sure to

reward the employees whose suggestions

you use the planning process also forces

you to take critical look on how your

company shapes up versus its competition

and how the competitive landscape is

changing

do you know how your products or

services are price versus your major

competitors you should do you know how

your products and services are perceived

by customers versus your competitors

products or services you won't know

unless you take the time to ask them the

planning process also forces you to

critically examine your business

strategies and determine what worked

what didn't work and what could be

improved in the coming year this could

be an eye-opening even sobering

experience continued business success

requires an attitude of constantly

striving to do everything more

efficiently to improve every aspect of

your product or service offering to keep

ahead of your competitors when it comes

to writing a successful business plan

one of the first things that people look

is your executive summary if you are

pitching your business plan to venture

capitalists a bank or potential

investors you want to make sure that

your executive summary captures their

attention and gives them motivation to

read on beyond the first page if your

executive summary is not well written

how can you expect investors to be

motivated to read the rest of your

business plan we are going to show you

how to write an executive summary for

your business plan the first step in how

to write an executive summary for a

business plan is to understand what the

purpose of your executive summary is the

purpose of your executive summary is to

quickly and briefly summarize the

details sections of the business plan

the potential investor is about to read

the next step in how to write an

executive summary for a business plan is

to quickly summarize the goods and

services that your new business venture

will provide clients to be clear and

concise because if you cannot quickly

write it in a few sentences or less how

do you expect investors to have enough

confidence to loan you money

the next step in how to write an

executive summary for a business plan is

to lay out your prospective customer

base banks and investors not only want

you to know exactly what your business

is that you need to be just as concise

when identifying who will be your

customers if you cannot identify who is

going to buy your product or services

how can you expect banks and investors

to loan you money to sell to somebody

you don't even know exists or can

properly identify the next step is to

concisely lay out a list all your

business's management personnel be sure

to include the previous experience of

each top level executive and a brief

summary of what they have to offer the

new business venture the next step for a

business plan is to summarize the

company's objective in this segment you

should include your projections for

sales for the first three years of your

business and lay out all projected and

anticipated business and personal costs

give solid reasoning for how you plan to

meet your business goals the final step

is to state your mission write your

mission statement clearly so that it

helps potential banks and investors

visualize your goals and objectives for

your proposed business venture your

executive summary is essentially the

cover letter to your business plan its

goal is to get the reader to check out

your business plan and hopefully to set

up a meeting

think of your executive summary as the

halfway point between your elevator

pitch and your business plan you have

about two pages to communicate your

value proposition and get you to the

next stop on your startup journey

when writing a business plan your

detailed company description should

follow the executive summary while you

touched on the basics in the summary

this section should go into further

details of your products or services and

your company structure how to write a

company description for your business

plan the company description of your

business plan should include company

name the official name of your business

as registered in the state where you do

business type of business structure sole

proprietorship LLC partnership or

corporation ownership management team

names of the key people behind the

company location where is the company

headquarter company history when was the

business started what inspired you to

start the business and what does your

company fulfill mission statement a

clear statement that represents the

purpose of your company products

services and target market a brief

overview of what you plan to sell and to

whom objectives an outline of what you

want to accomplish in the immediate

future based on the data in the rest of

the business plan as well future growth

goals and vision statement a statement

about how you envision the future of the

company do not assume that anyone who

will be reading your business plan knows

anything about your business you will

need to include a number of specific

pieces of information that will help the

reader to understand exactly how you

have set up the business a good business

description will make your work a lot

easier as you travel the road to

starting your business when you write a

formal plan with the hope of qualifying

for a business loan or attracting

investors you need to let them know that

you know what you're doing

but aside from all of the paperwork and

jumping through the hoops others set up

for you I believe that the most

important reason to write an in-depth

business description is to understand

who your potential customers are your

business description primarily must meet

the expectations that your customers

have when they walk through your doors

get inside their heads what do they want

if they're looking for something

specific you can bet there is something

else related to it that they want as

well

understand them offer them what they

want and then break it down what will

take to provide it the description of

your business should leave the reader

with a clear understanding of exactly

what you have set up and how you not

only serve the others in the past

however also how you plan to continue

expand or change your business in the

future

it is therefore important that you use

clear language and details that will

paint a picture in the mind of the

reader while also inspiring that person

to want to know more about your business

because of the interests that they have

developed during the reading SWOT

analysis has gained tremendous

popularity among business owners and top

managers information obtained through

this analysis type helps make smart

decisions and choose appropriate

strategies so what is SWAT SWAT is an

abbreviation for strengths weaknesses

opportunities and threats as you can see

the SWOT consists of four factors which

clearly has its own identity and purpose

SWOT is commonly classified as an

external and internal factors for the

external factors it consists of the

opportunities and threats whereas the

internal factors are strengths and

weaknesses where is what being applied

SWAT or SWOT analysis as it may

sometimes being called can be performed

in a variety of application or situation

it can be used as a situation analysis

as an input to a strategic planning

process at corporate of company level

they can also apply to evaluate the

situations in terms of its capabilities

we use SWOT as in situation analysis

tool when do we perform SWOT analysis in

common practice one analysis is

performed during the strategic planning

or business budget session normally done

at the end of every financial year

however to perform a SWOT should not be

limited to a yearly affair you may

prefer mass Wan analysis where it is

needed to help you identify causes of a

non-conformance and you needed a new

solution or strategy who would perform a

SWOT analysis in most cases leaders of

an organization perform a SWOT analysis

however it should not be limited to this

group of people

fact anyone who has an interest and

trained can perform a SWOT analysis for

the situation they are in

I have many situations where heads of

department performed SWOT analysis for

their own operation it's used because

they want to develop solutions based on

facts why do you need to perform a SWOT

analysis as it can be seen by now data

gathering is an essential part of SWOT

analysis

hence the information collected is

likely to be more factual any solution

derived from SWOT will be more realistic

and reliable how to perform a SWOT

analysis as data collection is one of

the key activities in SWOT analysis it

should allow enough time to bring back

the data one to three months before SWOT

analysis session is conducted once the

data is collected it should be grouped

into four factors this can be done

individually or in a team in summary

with some basic understanding of SWOT

analysis the solution derived from it

can be value-added to the organization

again I want to repeat first write

strengths what is going to be helpful

and what do you have going for you

second-rate weaknesses what are some

potential problems or flaws in your

business or plan third right

opportunities what are some favorable

conditions and trends that may help you

succeed and fourth right all threats

what are negatives that might have an

impact on your company if you are

writing a business plan for your

business then you will require business

management skills to ensure the success

of the business venture there are many

business management skills required to

successfully run a business and some of

them include proper planning

organization troubleshooting and

coordination these core skills are

necessary to make the business a

profitable and successful venture

planning this is the most important

business management skill all businesses

ventures have goals and targets and the

only way to achieve them is through

proper planning a part of planning

involves predicting the consequences of

taking a particular step or measure

planning involves careful analysis of

information and data and this analysis

helps the person to make effective

decisions also problems can be handled

efficiently as planning involves

troubleshooting and SWOT and now

communication different situations

demand different communication skills

hence whether it's negotiation or

dealing with a tardy employer effective

communication skills are necessary

organizing a business cannot flourish if

it is not organized when a business is

organized optimal use of skills a course

hence it is imperative that a person

managing a business has good

organizational and coordination skills

this will also help keep the workforce

focused on the business goals and allow

them to work in a harmonious manner

financial management a business venture

cannot be successful without proper

financial management proper management

of finances ensures that raw materials

can be procured inventory is not too

high an allocation of funds to use

different business needs is undertaken

good methods of financial management can

make all the difference between a

business venture being successful and

unsuccessful inventory a business should

only store inventory that is necessary

if too much inventory is there it will

block the funds which could have been

put to better use when there is

inventory other expenses increase like

storage security and transportation all

these added expenses have an effect on

the overall profitability of the

business ethics without proper ethics it

is not possible to run a successful

business in order to survive on a long

term basis the business should have

ethical practices in place this involves

the way business is conducted how the

company handles environmental and other

sensitive issues corporate social

responsibility and how the business

handles its workforce all these factors

play a big role in ensuring the success

of a business hence business management

skills are the new mantra but have been

around for eons are you absolutely

certain of your company's success

keeping in consideration the basic

volatility and uncertainties of the

financial market it is unlikely for any

entrepreneur to be able to totally

ensure his/her company against sudden

and potentially damaging financial

losses this is where corporate planning

comes into the picture a stable company

is one which can ride all over all

possible upturns and more

importantly the down swings in the

business environment

it is ideal hence to hire the services

of professional planners who will be

well placed to ensure the survival of

your company under all circumstances

there are certain basic strategies that

are recommended by most advisors while

forming the steps for a company survival

the strategies are these strategies are

typically dynamic and flexible adaptable

to changes according to the prevalent

business and economic scenario a company

might face a sudden crisis due to an

unforeseen economic meltdown or adverse

factors hitting a particular industry a

finance plan for companies should take

into all account such factors and help

the business to safely tide over such

situations the basic suggestions for

company financial advisors make for the

survival of your business can be

described as follows number 1

diversification of assets as the old

saying goes it is never wise to put all

your eggs in one basket as the company

entrepreneur you should ensure that

overall portfolio of your company is

adequately diversified into different

sectors this would make sure that sudden

adversities in one business sector would

never force your company to go out of

business
number 2 revving up the total cash

reserves if your company is actually

facing liquidity problems it is likely

that your planners would have advised

you to sell off excess inventory

equipments additional inventory should

also be procured only up to the minimum

necessary levels this would help your

company to cut back and access expense

the money saved in this way could be

used to clear up unpaid bills and other

devta items number 3 quality of products

when the economic conditions are not

favorable company financial planners

deem it necessary that your business

produces a superior quality product

compared to rival businesses the higher

quality of your product and/or service

would help to maintain the viability of

your companies in the eyes of the

customers the higher quality of your

product and/or service would help to

maintain in the viability of your

company in the eyes of the customers and

help the former to survive business

crisis number 4 employment of part-time

workers corporate financial planning

strategies

state that is not advisable to hire a

large number of full-time tournament

employers if your company is facing a

potential survival problem instead more

part-time workers who work as

freelancers should be hired these

workers unlike the permanent workers

need not to be paid health care benefits

and several other business amenities

hence a significant amount of the

company funds can be saved number five

using employee opinions and cheaper

materials the suggestions of the planner

should be suitably complemented with all

useful ideas that the existing employees

of the company can come up with saving

money on the normally used expensive raw

materials and switching over to cheaper

good quality ingredients also remains an

option hence is certainly not impossible

for a company to tide over problematic

business situations company financial

planners if hired can help you adopt the

correct strategies to ensure the

survival of your company indeed

efficient planning schemes should always

be in place to support a company in all

types of economic environments in order

to get your business off the ground as

well as keeping it there you need the

cash to do so getting this cash can

however being often a difficult process

and will be made more difficult if you

have other commitments already such as

mortgage car and a family to support the

traditional route of gaining business

funding has always revolved around

visiting your bank for a bank loan

however this route isn't always the best

to approach when you are looking for a

start-up business funding as banks are

known to not like providing new small

businesses with money as your business

will have no financial history and you

will more likely have no assets in offer

to secure the loan at and right funding

requirements in your business plan when

starting a new business venture it is

important that you get the startup

funding from somewhere that can provide

you with what you need and that you will

be also able to have a good working

relationship with one thing that you can

do in order to get the startup funding

that you need is to take a look at your

personal finances your inventory to find

out if you would be able to fund your

business yourself this concept is highly

unlikely but some people actually manage

this

you should look at the money bring

brought in a part-time job a life

insurance policy and family and friends

as well as many money that you have in

your disposal from the credit card by

using personal finances you in effect

become your own boss which gives you

control over your money if like many of

you can't afford to use personal

finances

you have the option of borrowing money

or getting help from an investor you may

want to borrow finance to cover aspects

such as day-to-day expenses the main way

that this is done is through a loan

however as previously mentioned many

banks are reluctant to give over loan

into a new business venture the best way

in recent times for a business to gain

the finance that is needed is through

the use of equity funding equity funding

is shared capital which is invested in

your business and return for you handing

over a share of your business whatever

business funding you are hoping to use

within your business there are certain

questions that you need to ask yourself

such as how much funding you need and

for what how much control you're hoping

to retain and the skills the business

needs how long you need the funds for

also remember that if you're hoping to

get business startup funding from a bank

or investor you need to address some

core points within your business plan

such as what are your funding needs are

your plans for the business realistic is

your venture appropriate for the

external investment whatever business

funding you decide on you need to ensure

that within your business plan you have

stated how much funding you are hoping

to gain as well as what you want this

funding for if you found this video

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