How to create a business plan in 3, 2, 1…

A very valuable economic and financial planning tool, the business plan is a fundamental step for the purposes of presenting a business idea, or when creating a start up.

To put it simply, this document outlines the company's work plan over a specific period of time, providing a realistic snapshot of the company's conditions and objectives.

Did you know that many freelancers would greatly benefit from making a well-structured business plan? Yes, you too, who wake up every morning, put on slippers and work from home. Have you ever thought about making a business plan?

Probably not. You're probably wondering too how a business plan is made. But don't worry, you've come to the right place. Start from the concept that, usually, this tool is divided into four parts:

• Description of the product or service;
• Reference market;
• Economic and financial aspects;
• General summary of important concepts.

Imagine a thick book containing all the big issues and small details of your business. All things that cannot be neglected in daily management. If as a rule it is a very ambitious and long project, we have discovered a tool that could help you draw up your business plan in a reasonable time. Been to Canvas? It's the right tool for you.

Business Plan model Canvas: why do we like it?

Download it from here: https://canvanizer.com/downloads/business_model_canvas_poster.pdf

Il Business Plan Canvas Template is a template that allows you to test your business idea to see if it works, even before putting it into practice. Entrepreneurs make extensive use of it because of its practical characteristics:

• Focus: no more pages and pages of definitions and descriptions. A structured schema can replace the delays and reduce development time.
• Flexibility: it is easily modified and can be integrated at any time.
• Transparency: its structure is easy to understand even for those who are external to your business and, therefore, do not have the same skills as you would have, for example. It is ideal for a practical demonstration, for example, to investors!

Now that we have a general idea of ​​the tool, we can explode the numbered list above to better understand what questions to ask when drafting the business plan. Easy questions that, however, don't always have an obvious answer. Are you able to fill out this questionnaire for your business?

• Target: who are your customers and what is their thought when they look for your product?
• value proposition: Why should the customer choose your product and not that of a competitor? What are the prominent factors that allow the user to be interested in you?
• Channel: How are value propositions communicated? Simply put: how do you plan to advertise and sell your products?
• Customer relationships: what kind of interaction is there with the customer during the purchase procedure?
• Revenue streams: how do you earn in this activity?
• key activities: what are the activities that have been set in order to maintain the value proposition and therefore stand out from the competitors?
• Key resources: what are the strategic resources that make you compete on the market better than others?
• key partnerships: what are the activities that your company can outsource to focus on key activities?
• cost structure: What are the costs and how do they relate to revenue?

Very good. Now that you have the far from obvious questions in hand, you must be able to answer them completely and convincingly for future investors and, above all, for yourself.

Customer segments (1)

Your clientele must be carefully defined and selected: in fact, you cannot think of selling a product not knowing to whom. After all, not everyone is interested in it. Think: Are you targeting just one market or different customers? How does this clientele think and how does it approach your type of product? Finally, what do you really do for this customer? Are you sure that your business identifies the customer's problem and can solve it with an interesting solution capable of attracting new consumers?

Value Propositions (2)

Now that you've identified your target customer – let's say a Mario any – you need to understand what kind of problems are you trying to solve for him and how are you going to do it. In a nutshell, why should Mario choose your product and not that one – almost identical! – of a competitor? The answer lies precisely in that "almost": if you are convinced that you are one of a kind, you will also know why. And from this reason you can draw all the arguments necessary to distinguish yourself from the rest of the crowd. Assistance service, speed of delivery, product quality, traceability of raw materials… each of these elements is valid, but it is you who must be able to make it an irresistible lever.

Channels (3)

Establish the channels through which you want to reach your customers. Mario is looking for you, yes, but you you have to be found and it's not that obvious. For example, if you have an eCommerce you will probably need to start an AdWords campaign. A blog may instead need a social relaunch or guest posts.

When you have established how to reach Mario, you need to identify the route he will have to take to finalize the purchase of your product. Turn to the AIDA.OR scheme: attention, interest, desire, action, loyalty, repurchase.

Customer Relationships (4)

How can the customer interact with your company? How will Mario contact you should he have any questions about the product you sell? Try to understand if you want to leave a telephone number, an email or a form to fill out. Choose the medium and evaluate which of the aforementioned ones is the most comfortable for the customer and, at the same time, the most sustainable one for your income.

Revenue streams (5)

And here comes the beauty. How does your business make money? If not this is the most important question in the entire business plan! At this point you have to establish the flow of individual revenue linked to the target based on the value proposition. To make it simpler, you need to understand how Mario plans to pay for your products and what your revenue will look like.

Key activities (6)

In this section you must list all the elements that allow your company to stay true to its Value Propositions. Refresher courses, study of new market segments, anything that comes to mind: this is a part dedicated to the internal structure and has little to do with the end customer - established by the previous points.

key resources (7)

In this category you have to list all the strategic tools that make the difference in your corporate structure. Let's think, for example, of product-based companies, which must differentiate themselves with a particular development of the same. Service-based companies must specialize in offering their customers a unique offering.

Key partners (8)

Activities that are useful but not strategic (or key) for your company could be delegated to other companies that have made that aspect of selling a core business. In a nutshell, key partners include all those figures who accompany the production process towards success.

Cost structures (9)

At this point in your business plan you should be able to figure out if your business can really be successful. Now you just have to do some math, lining up the shopping list to define the costs of each individual item, between variable and fixed costs.

Does the business plan really work?

You've arrived here, you probably want to know if your business plan, although it took (relatively) little time, can work. Business Model Canvas is perfect for giving you an easily integrated and understandable structure by everyone, but how do you understand if what is written actually makes practical sense?

To understand if you're going in the right direction, you need to request the qualified opinion of your collaborators or an external agent who can tell you if you've taken the right direction. Take a look at the facsimiles available online and evaluate your business direction, only laterally following the path that others have taken. We said you're one of a kind, right? This is the moment in which you have to prove it to yourself, creating a business plan that speaks clearly and, above all, that speaks only of you.