BUSINESS ESSENTIALS gatacm “Inia BUSINESS PLAN A business plan is a formal written document containing business goals, the methods on how these goals can be attained, and the time frame within which these goals need to be achieved.Executive summary Your business plan should start with a one-page summary. Investors don’t have time to go through all the business plans they get every day. They screen out by reading the summaries. So, your job is to write a really good executive summary that's worth grabbing investors’ attention. The executive summary should include a brief of your business, its mission, products and services, industry and business potential and it should end with future plans of the business.The Business This is where you describe your business in detail. Here you should give the reader a clear idea about products/services you offer, the target customers, and where your business plans to go. Industry Analysis Here you should use quantitative data to show your market size, customer demographic, growth prospective, and market trends. Discuss your industry and competitor nature. Your goal should be to make your investor understand the industry attractiveness and the market- product fit of your business.Competitor Analysis. In this section, you need to discuss your direct and indirect competitors. You should analyze the competitive landscape of the industry. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, their market share, future plans, and how you can differentiate from them.Leadership Team The most important factor for a business’ success is the team. The leadership sets the vision of the business and ensures the daily operation is aligned with that vision. It's essential for every business to have good leadership in order to survive and succeed. In this section, give a brief about your leadership team and make the reader understand why this is a winning combination for your business to succeed.Operation Plan This segment should cover your operation and organization structure. Every business is operated through different tasks that should be defined here. The operation plan helps the reader understand the key works a business does to keep going and the persons responsible for those operations.Marketing Plan Describe how your marketing plan will attract the customers and the communication strategies you will take for attaining and retaining them. Give a detailed sales plan to make the reader understand how you are planning to sell your product and service.Financial Plan The financial plan segment is a crucial part as it communicates the financial health of the business. Include your income statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet to give the reader a clear idea about your financial performance. Also, add pro forma financial statements to make the reader understand where your business is going in the future from a financial perspective. Major Milestones Providing major milestones the business has achieved so far gives the reader an idea regarding the successes of the business which helps the business to build credibility.