A trend that is growing in popularity is starting an online business. One of the first and most important things to get your business off to the right start is to make an effective and well thought out internet business plan. By creating a good plan, you can focus your efforts and in turn help grow your business and make it successful.

The following are some tips to help you create the best internet business plan for your business. These tips are applicable for both prior to starting your business and after it has been established.

• Learn about your target market. Research is essential to find out what is your target market for your internet business plan for your online business. You need to find out what type and where your customers are for what you want to sell. You can do a thorough keyword search and analysis on the internet to see what keywords work the best so that you can position your business correctly. You can also contact online survey companies to conduct surveys that will give you this information as well. The more you know about your target market, the better and more successful your online business will be.
• Learn about your competition. The more you know about your competitors the better you can position your online business. You can determine your business’ niche by finding a different angle to pursue than your competitors. Additionally, you can offer better pricing or services than those offered by competitors that will be more attractive to consumers which can translate into more sales for you.
• Think about your advertising. Advertising is essential for any business and is an important element of your internet business plan. You can use email marketing tools to create emailing lists where you can send weekly specials or blast about special sales. You can also use networking to your advantage as well as ask for referrals. Business advertising basics such as a professional looking business card and print advertising can also work to drive consumers to your online business.
• Think about the brand for your business. Many companies may offer the same products or services that your online business may offer. In this case, it is important to differentiate yourself from the competition. By creating a brand as a part of your internet business plan, you can do just that. Creating an effective and recognizable brand can include developing a logo, catch phrase and a consistent design and look to all of your marketing and advertising, both online and in print. The more recognizable you make your business, the more it will stand out in the minds of consumers which can give you the edge when they are making a purchasing decision.

After implementing all of the above points consistently in your internet business plan, your business will be on its way to success. By focusing your efforts, you will find that it will be very rewarding to you and your business.

1. The most difficult part about writing a business plan is knowing where to start. If you have lots of thoughts floating around in your head, brain dump all of these onto a piece of paper. Once you’ve done this, it’s much easier to start organising your thoughts into categories i.e. finance, how the business will work, marketing etc.

2. Don’t be tempted to write all of your business plan at once. Work on a section for a little while and then after about 30 minutes, stop. Have a break for a little while and come back to it. Most of the really good business plans I’ve seen have been written in this way and the person writing it doesn’t get stressed by it either.

3. Have a think about whether you really need a business plan. If you need funding, you definitely need to write one. But if you don’t a two or three page summary of what you’re going to do with your business is much better than a 30 or 40 page document that you’ll never look at again. I don’t actually like the term “Business Plan”. I prefer to think of it as “planning the business” which is what you are doing. You’re saying “this is where I am now; this is where I want to get to and this is how I’m going to do it.” Much better that you think about these things rather than writing a book.

4. People mainly struggle with the market research and cash flow sections of a business plan, so leave these until last. The best way to approach a business plan is to do the easy sections first. Your business plan should have the following sections in there:

Section
Executive Summary: A summary of the business plan. Leave this until the plan is written.

A summary of the business: This bit has contact details of the business and your goals for the business (where do you see it in a year’s time?).

Management: This is where you write why you wanted to set up the business, what you hope to get out of it and why you’re the best person to run it.

The business: What is your business and how will it work?

Marketing and market research: Who are your customers, competitors and market trends?
How will you market and promote the business both on the internet and off the internet?

Financial & Funding: This is where you write your pricing strategy, any funds you’re needing and the purpose they’re needed and how you came up with your cashflow forecast.

Cashflow Forecast: The dreaded spreadsheet – more about this later.

Appendices: Anything else that doesn’t fit into the above sections

When you’re putting your plan together, start with the sections you find easiest i.e. description of the business and how it will work, the management of the business, pricing and marketing. Once you’ve done this, you’ve done over half and it’s not too bad to put the rest of it together.

5. The market research section is one of the hardest bits people have to complete. So, I would advise that you break this one down and complete it in the following order:

(a) Go to http://www.yell.com and the Internet. Look for other companies who are running the same type of business as you. Go to their websites, visit them or phone them up. What do you like about them? What don’t you like? How will you be different? What are their prices?

(b) Create a spreadsheet and list your competitors with the good bits and bad bits about them.

(c) Write a summary of your competitors and what you’ve found in your Business Plan.

(d) Now let’s look at your trends. Call into any bank on the high street and ask for a “Business Information Factsheet” about your business. Print this off and ask for a factsheet about your business. This will give you an overview of your industry and is a really good starting point. You can also research your industry by looking at your industry’s trade association – they usually have loads of different facts and figures that help you back your idea up.

(e) Finally, let’s look at your customers – write down:

i) Who they are.

ii) Where they are.

iii) What they like / dislike.

iv) Why they would buy your product or service.

v) How they will find out about you.

vi) When they will buy your product or service.

You may also want to produce a questionnaire and give this to your customers to find out their views.

For the market research section, you are trying to answer the question of “Is there a demand for your product or service?” by giving the reader facts, figures and trends to prove this. You will need to show you have been thorough as this is the area that most business plans fall down on.

6. The other area that people usually struggle with is the cashflow section. For this section it is worth you getting hold of a business plan template, which you can get for free at your local Business Link or bank. Have a look at the cashflow section.

Start with your costs – have a look at the list on the left hand side of the cashflow. Go through each item one by one and see if it applies to you. If it does, when will you have to pay for it? Let’s take an example of a phone. You will probably be making some phone calls in your business. Let’s say you will be spending £20 on this every month – plot £20 in the columns for month 1, 2, 3, 4 etc all the way to the end.

Let’s say the next item is premises and you will paying the rent of £90 every three months – plot £90 in months 1, 4, 7, and 10. Do the same for all the other items in your cashflow.
Once you’ve completed your costs, you now need to look at your sales. Work out how many customers you will have a month and on average how much they will pay. Will they pay immediately or will you send them an invoice and give them 30 days to pay? Remember your sales will vary according to the time of year so take this into account too.

Now you just need to add everything up and your cashflow will be complete.

7. I would definitely recommend that you go on a business start-up course to help you write your plan. Most Business Links (www.businesslink.gov.uk) will run one in your area and many of the local colleges do now too. They will be able to walk you through the process of writing a plan.

8. Don’t get hung up on making your plan so perfect that it never gets finished. If you think “Am I doing too much?” the chances are that you probably are doing too much, so you need to stop and evaluate what you’ve done and whether you’ve answered all of your questions.

9. You might want to think about using a professional to write your business plan for you. We’ve worked with many business owners to complete their plan and all of them have been successful as we know what lenders are looking for. We usually work with people who don’t have the time to complete it themselves, so if you’d like to work with us, please feel free to get in touch – [email protected] or call 0845 644 9371.

10. Finally if you have written your business plan and would like us to review it for you for free, please feel free to send it over. We won’t send your plan out to anyone else and we are happy to sign a confidentiality agreement if you would like us to.

Most people find creating a business plan one of the hardest things to do when setting up a business but it doesn’t need to be. Like everyone else it’s not one of my favourite things, so I decided to look of ways at making it easier. Having written and reviewed many plans over the years I discovered that if you have the right formula then the planning process becomes much easier.

This article is dedicated to explaining the right formula and giving the 3 key steps for easy success in writing business plans.

1. Find a template

Don’t try and do it all yourself. There are now loads of templates on line so that you at least have a starting point. It can be as basic as a word template or you may move up to a sophisticated on line tools. Whatever your preference this resource will enable you to at least start with the end in mind

2. Get an industry specific sample template

It is now easy to find sector specific templates and ones which have a sample filled in. Imagine if you have a photography business and you have a business plan template with a sample business plan of a photography business. I guess this would speed up the process of doing your business plan. It certainly has with mine. Make sure the template has the following elements

Executive Summary: Overview summary of the strategic objective of the business. Typically looking at 1-5 years and should be no more than 2 pages as it should be an overview of the rest of the document and give a clear picture of your business.

Company Description: Legal establishment, history, start-up plans, etc.

Product or Service Analysis: Describe in some detail the different services or products you have and how these will specifically benefit the end user – the customer.

Market Analysis: This should include market stats, segmentation of market based on your products/services, who are your target customers and how are you going to market to them.

Strategy: Make sure it’s Specific.Measurable.Achievable.Realistic.Timed/trackable. What is the strategy and how are you going to achieve it, using what methods.

E- Strategy: These days whether you are an eBusiness or not then I would suggest you need to have some king of strategy. Even it is a s basic as just discussing your website, development costs, content and target audience

Management Team: Who are your key management team members and exactly what are their responsibilities. How will they be measured.

Financials: Probably self explanatory but you need to cover projected budgets and sales, cash flow, profit and loss and balance sheets. Again there are really low cost and in some cases free software which can help you set all this up. Even better they will also track the information and help you build manage your invoicing procedure

Now hopefully you know more about your business than anyone else so filling in these sections shouldn’t prove difficult. Make them information simple, clear and action based. However never be afraid to delegate, it doesn’t have to cost much, find someone who is a better writer than you, give them the template and the information and let them loose. (of course make sure it is someone you implicitly trust )

3. Review – the idiot test

Once you have completed the document get it reviewed by someone who doesn’t understand the business, if they can understand it then you have written a clear, concise business plan that will work.