HOW TO WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN | FREE TEMPLATE SAMPLE

Welcome To Martins Library

The Business Plan – Starting Up a Business – or – Upgrade an Existing one

WE ARE PROFESSIONALS IN WRITING

A business plan will help you turn an idea into a business. It needs you to think through all the parts of your business to plan how everything will work. It will take a few weeks to write if you’re going to do it properly. Some parts will be easier to complete than others.

Martins Library Business Plan & Feasibility Study

The best business plans aren’t long and complex; they explain only the most important information – what you want to achieve, how you will get there and the things you need to do along the way.

It’s best to tackle a business plan in small chunks. Martins Library Business Plan Pack can help. This is the Business Plan divided into sections to help you develop your business idea. You can use the information in the Guide to help you complete the sections. Some of the sections of The Business Plan have tables to record the financial parts of your business. The tables are also available in MS Word and MS Excel format and the sums in these are automatic.

Martins Library Enterprise Programme

Martins Library has helped many young people to complete their business plans and start their own businesses. If you are aged 18–30 and unemployed or working fewer than 16 hours per week, then we might be able to help you. We have offices in Nigeria with a team of Enterprise Programme & Expert staff.

To take part, you need to be interested in self employment and have a business idea that you would like help to test and explore. The programme can then help you to see if your business idea will work and whether self employment is right for you. If through this process you find out it is, the programme can offer mentoring support and, if you really need it, financial support to start your business. However, if self employment turns out not to be the right option, the programme can offer support to secure other goals in employment, education, training or voluntary work.

SAMPLE TEMPLATE FOR STANDARD BUSINESS PLAN FROM MARTINS LIBRARY

Getting started

Whose plan is this?

Business and owner details:

Business name:

Owner(s) name:

Business address and postcode:

Business telephone number:

Business email address:

Home address and postcode (if different from above):

Home telephone number (if different from above):

Home email address (if different from above):

Section one

Executive summary

1.1 Business summary:

1.2 Business aims:

1.3 Financial summary:

Elevator Pitch

1.4 Your business name:

1.5 Strapline:

1.6 Elevator pitch:

Section two

Owner’s background

2.1 Why do you want to run your own business?

2.2 Previous work experience:

2.3 Qualifications and education:

2.4 Training Details of future training courses you want to complete:

2.5 Hobbies and interests:

2.7 Additional information:

Section three

Products and services

3.1 What are you going to sell?

 both

3.2 Describe the basic product/service you are going to sell:

3.3 Describe the different types of product/service you are going to be selling:

3.4 If you are not going to sell all your products/services at the start of your business, explain why not and when you will start selling them:

3.5 Additional information:

Section four

The market

4.1 Are your customers:

 both

4.2 Describe your typical customer:

4.3 Where are your customers based?

4.4 What prompts your customers to buy your product/service?

4.5 What factors help your customers choose which business to buy from?

4.6 Have you sold products/services to customers already? If you answered “yes”, give details:

4.7 Have you got customers waiting to buy your product/service? If you answered “yes”, give details:

4.8 Additional information.

Section five

Market research

5.1 Key findings from desk research:

5.2 Key findings from field research – customer questionnaires:

5.3 Key findings from field research – test trading:

5.4 Additional information:

Section six

Marketing strategy

Section eight

Operations and logistics

8.1 Production:     

8.2 Delivery to customers:

8.3 Payment methods and terms:

8.4 Suppliers:

8.5 Premises:

8.6 Equipment

8.7 Transport:

8.8 Legal requirements:

8.9 Insurance requirements:

8.10 Management and staff:

8.11 Additional information:

Section nine

Costs and pricing strategy