How does one begin writing a business plan

Preparing a business plan is an intense process, at the end of which you should have a finished document to put on the table. It is also an interactive process; we work closely with clients over a period of month or two. During this time our team maintains continuous and concentrated contact with the client, learning their business from inside and out, brain-storming together and more, before we deliver a completed, detailed plan. Essentially, every business plan is a unique, one-off piece, tailored to the client’s specific needs.

During the first meeting:

we mainly listen to you, and ask questions for our clarification. This meeting is usually attended by one of our project managers and company founders, and is aimed at pinpointing and recognizing the client’s needs, matching expectations regarding the process, and defining a timeline for the delivery of the business plan.

The second meeting:

the one we like to refer to as the “hard one” – usually takes place after we have received and analyzed initial data received from the client, and conducted a survey of the relevant market. In this meeting our aim is to present our preliminary findings. At this stage our comprehension of the business plan you need is much clearer than before, and at times clearer than your own….

is when we begin to consolidate a business strategy, identify your ventures ongoing advantages, its differentiation from competitors, and begin to define your business model. Essentially we try to help you coin the exact message that you wish to communicate in your plan.

In our fourth meeting:

we begin to consider numbers or in other words, “show me the money!” During this meeting we begin to consolidate the key assumptions upon which your financial model will be based.

continues the consolidation process of the key assumptions included in your business’ financial model, and we begin to touch on other issues and elements such as; pricing policies, market size, perceived product value, organizational structure (including general and administrative expenses), marketing budgets, sales and promotion strategies , financing channels , tax rates and much more.

we present the first draft of the profit/ loss statement and cash flow forecasts.

The remaining meetings (7-10) are geared towards summarizing and clarifying details.

Of course each writing process is uniquely tailored to the client and differs both in terms of content and the number of meetings required. The nature of the project will largely depend on the type of client and business, which is why writing business plans, is such an exciting and varied thing to do…