Guide to W riting a Business Plan - Access Bank

Introduction
When starting a company, a business plan can help you to set the desired targets, put your plans
for raising funds in good perspective, collate all your ideas and plans, and verify that your idea for
a business is realistic and achievable.
Formulating a business plan is one of the most important tasks when starting up a new business
and reviewed regularly, will enable the monitoring of the business to quickly spot problem areas,
measure performance and ultimately, achieve the set goals.
The guide will help you understand:
1. What a business plan should include
2. How you should go about writing one
3. What you will achieve by doing so
It includes hints and tips as well as other information for businesses in both start-up and growth
phases.
Benefits
The business plan will help you:
• Collate your ideas, research and all other analysis in a structured format
• Decide whether or when your business will be commercially viable
• Plan the strategy to be adopted for your business and predict the point where you will break
even
• Set targets and objectives, including sales and financial targets, so you can monitor your
business performance regularly.
• Clarify your business purpose, vision, mission and core objectives
• Using the well defined SWOT analysis to predict future scenarios and pitfalls and address them
in a timely manner
How to approach the plan
Your business plan may be a proposal intended for use to attract financing for your business. In
this case, it is imperative that you understand the core values and objectives of the intended
investor(s) and put them into consideration when drawing up the plan.
Please note that the scenarios depicted in the plan need to be realistic and yet convince intended
financiers that the business can thrive, and ultimately be successful. You must consider what
evidence is available to back up all your claims.
Importantly, you should have a distinctive plan which should be easy to read, comprehensive yet
concise and very factual.
You must also identify what you want to communicate externally about you and your business.
State the assumptions you have made in reaching your conclusions, clearly stating some
important facts such as the market research which determined your sales, your choice of location

and other assumptions on which the plan is based, the investor will have a clear picture of your
plan and this will aid an informed decision concerning investment.
Be honest, clear, articulate and believable. Also importantly, pay attention to details.
Format & Content of a Business Plan
Most business plans will differ, but there are basic steps/content headers which will help ensure
that your plan captures all the important aspects of the proposed business. This will also provide
insight which may be required for a financier to make a decision.
1. Executive Summary
2. Table of Contents
3. Aims and Objectives; Vision and Mission
4. Business Description
5. Legal Structure
6. Management processes
7. Market Trend Analysis
8. Marketing Strategy
9. Marketing Plan
10. Sales strategy, targets and objectives
11. Operational Requirements
12. Financial Requirements and Forecasts
13. Training Requirements
14. Business Risks
15. PEST and SWOT Analysis
16. Appendices
1. Executive Summary
This is the introduction to the Business Plan.
It should be a brief summary of the total picture and the first thing that will be read. It must thus
be concise, provoke interest and as mentioned earlier, stand out from most business.
You must be able to state clearly:
• What makes your business idea, product, service or marketing plan unique or original
• What gives you an edge over identified competition
• What experience you and your team have in the intended line of business that will show
that you are capable of making it succeed.
• How you have demonstrated that your business will be viable, remain a going concern, and
be profitable.
• How and when the financier/lender will get their money back
• How the investor(s) will earn an attractive return if/when you eventually sell the business or
buy back their shares.

2. Tables of Contents
This should list the main sections and page numbers in the plan and should lead the reader
through the contents. The plan should be easy to navigate and should contain the required
information to generate a reaction and response from the reader(s).
3. Aims and Objectives; Vision and Mission
Most people start up a business with the aim of having a degree of independence and/or
creating the opportunity to generate a reasonable income.
However, you should know what your motivating factor is. The following questions, if answered
satisfactorily, will give you a better insight which will then be translated to the plan.
• Why are you going into business
• What do you plan to achieve?
• Will income from the business be your sole or additional income?
• Are your ownership plans for the business short, medium or long term i.e. are you starting
the business as an investment, to sell as soon as you can?
The answers to these questions, amongst others, will shape your business by helping you
highlight the aims and objectives, business development and strategy.
They will also help define and articulate the vision and mission of your business, and determine
how you will go about achieving these goals as your business commences.
4. Business Description
Be very specific about the type of business you are starting.
Begin by defining the specifics of the business, bearing in mind that the intended target
segment will determine or be determined by this. For instance, if you have chosen to open a
clothing store, do you want to sell clothing that are couture, casual, business, or specifically for
children? Do you want to sell clothes for men only, women only or both genders?
How will your products and services differ from those offered by competition? Why would
customers choose to buy from you? How will you give your business the edge necessary for it
to be, and remain successful?
You should describe your business like you are writing a mission statement which should
clearly summarise the purpose of your business, and be perfectly understood by all parties;
you, your staff and potential investors.
5. Legal Structure
What is the proposed legal structure of your business?
Will it be a sole proprietorship, partnership or limited liability company? The chosen structure
will affect your tax and other management processes, thus impacting on your cash flow.
Investors may also be concerned about the legal status of the business and the impact on
liability, and you need to be sure that you have chosen the most appropriate legal structure in
line with your business objectives.

Do you need licences before you can start your business? You should exhibit knowledge of the
licenses you need to apply for and the steps you have taken to do so. Licenses are required for
the hospitality businesses, childcare businesses and importation businesses, to mention a few.
6. Management Processes
How will your business be managed?
Organization is important as this will make the running of your business easier to manage.
Even for a sole proprietor, it is important to understand your key skills, responsibilities and
management processes at this stage. You will need to consider the following fundamental
areas:
• Marketing and sales
• Finance.
• Recruitment and HR
• Product development
• Administration
You will also need to develop a plan to monitor and track performance (against set objectives
and targets), and to co-ordinate the roles of all staff whose functions will impact on this.
7. Market Trend Analysis
What is your target market and where is it located?
If well forecasted, and in order to earn enough revenue, your business must be able to capture
a healthy share of the target market. You will need to have a thorough understanding of your
market to do this, including its size and the share you can realistically achieve. These will be
influenced by:
• The total size of the market
• The current and forecasted market trend
You also need to research the market situation in relation to your potential customers and your
competitors and explain your conclusion.
8. Marketing Strategy
How many customers do you hope will buy from you, and during which period?
Once you have developed a clear understanding of your market, it’s easier to define your
overall marketing strategy. Break this down into objectives and targets relating to volume,
market segments and share you hope to achieve. Also include the timelines for achievement.
For example:
• Who is your target segment?
• Why have you chosen this segment?
• What products and/or services will you offer to them?
• What is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and how does this differentiate you from
competition?

• What is the projected volume, value or share of these markets?
• What are the target dates for achieving these targets?
• Will your target segment change? If yes, which will be your next in six months or a year
for instance?
9. Marketing Plan
How will you carry out your marketing?
Once you have a clear marketing strategy, you need to be clear about how you are going to
make it happen and clearly understand the four ‘P’s (product, price, promotion and place).
A detailed marketing plan should explain how you will go about achieving each of your
marketing targets and objectives (as defined in your marketing strategy above).
Such a plan will include some or all of the following:
• The marketing methods you will use for each segment of your target market.
• The specific action you are going to take to reach each segment.
• Timelines for each marketing activity.
• Your marketing budget
• How you will handle positive or negative response to your marketing.
10. Sales Strategy, Targets & Objectives
What are your sales targets and how will you achieve them?
Set out your forecasts in terms of:
• Sales of different product types by volume and count.
• Sales from different target segments or location
• Sales from different distribution channels.
11. Operational Requirements
What do you need to start? In other words, how will you set your operational plans in
motion?
Details about your operational requirements will be essential when preparing your financial
forecasts, while other information will be needed for basic operational planning.
Estimate the expected costs by outlining your plans for the following aspects of your
business:
1. Premises
2. Equipment
3. Staffing
4. Licensing & other approvals
5. Insurance
6. Suppliers & distributors
7. Compliance & other regulatory issues

12. Financial Requirements and Forecasts
How much money do you need and for what purpose? Your business plan should include a
breakdown of your financial requirements, the sources of finance you have available to you
and any additional finance you may require. This should include:
• The cost of starting your business
• Your personal budget.
• Details about your personal financing for the business
• Details of additional financing
• A break-even analysis
• A detailed cash flow forecast
• A profit-and-loss forecast to help you estimate when your business will start to make
a profit.
• A balance sheet forecast to provide you with a snapshot of the trading position of
your business.
13. Training Requirements
Draw up a plan for required training, including details of the following:
1. Relevant training courses you have attended
2. Training needs that you or your employees have or anticipate
This will help you identify any skills gaps, and make plans to address them. It will also
assist in budgeting for training costs in your cash flow forecast.
14. Business Risks
You have to consider all the risks and plot the mitigating factors. What could go wrong?
Project what the worst case scenario is, and what will you do in that situation.
Your plan should include an honest assessment of all the risks involved in your business,
as well as how you will minimise them. This is important because you need to have
considered all possible outcomes, put plans in place to mitigate them and be prepared to
deal with any outcome.
The table will help you itemize all risks and the measure to be taken to avoid them.
Risks
Mitigants
15. PEST & SWOT Analysis
PEST is an acronym for political, economic, social and technological, and provides a
framework for reviewing your business in the light of external factors that may affect it in the

future. By being aware of trends and impending advances in the outside world, your
business can gain a competitive edge. You may also be able to identify fresh opportunities
or forthcoming dangers to be aware of the marketplace.
Also, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) process helps you
focus on the internal factors – strengths and weaknesses, and the external factors –
opportunities and threats that impact on your business.
A SWOT grid, as shown below will help you focus on your business strategy and anticipate
the issues you may encounter.
Strengths
Weakness
Opportunities
Threats
16. Appendices
The first page of the appendix should list all the documents it contains so they can be found
easily by anyone reading the plan. The documents and their location in the appendix should
also be referenced in the main body of the business plan.
The appendix should include all the documents that support the plan as a whole, or specific
headers, for example:
• Your CV and those of your business partners and/ or key employees
• Certificates for relevant training courses.
• Copies of a lease for any business premises you will be renting.
• Market research data.
• Financial information, etc