The changing landscape in the business sector in the Philippines makes it more challenging for any entrepreneur-to-be to plan or establish a business. Yes, you may already have a long list of ideas of what you want and what you wish to achieve from it. The question is – are you equipped with the right business planning tools?
Outlining all information you have concerning the business you are aiming to put also requires skills. Have you checked your potential competitors? Do you really have a potential and long-term market for it? Are you prepared to keep up the growing and changing needs of the consumers? All these and more should be taken into account whether you are trying to build the next empire or just dabbling on some small capital business ideas.
A Quick Guideline on Outlining Plan for the Best Business in the Philippines
Write down an Executive Summary
Do not get overwhelmed by the term itself. An executive summary is basically a ‘snapshot’ of the plan you are about to produce. It includes both the company profile and goals it wishes to achieve on a short-term, mid-term, and long-term basis. As this is just a summary, a good 300-500-word descriptions should suffice.
Start writing your company description
This part only requires basic information about your company, what you produce or offer to the client, and what sets it apart from other similar businesses. You may also include the rationale behind the name of the business itself. This part should also include a description of your target market.
Perform market analysis and put it in black and white
The market analysis starts by writing down an overview on the sector to which your business belongs. The analysis should also include the estimated sales within the entire sector, the major trends as well as the key players.
The target market should also be evaluated based on the demographics, location, current needs of the clients, and their potential needs in the future. There should also be a section where you get to analyze your competitors, whether direct or indirect. After such analysis, you will have e to draw a conclusion on your own competitive advantage over the rest of the key players.
Product line and the type of services you are to offer the clients should be stipulated, too.
This should be written as detailed as possible. You would want to visualize what you will be selling soon. You should also be able to determine right away the unique selling point of each product. This part should answer the questions:
- What products does your company offer?
- What services do you cover?
- What benefits do your products offer your clients?
- What is the lifecycle of the products?
- Are you planning on expanding your product line? If so, how soon?
Ponder on the strategies you wish to employ and write them down, too
Strategies are a must in maintaining a competitive advantage over other similar businesses. You will have to define the strategies you will be implementing and how you plan to execute them. Part of this business plan section is to lay out the strategies on how you plan to develop your client base. Important pointers also include the budgets, dates, tracking tools, etc.
Stipulate the management and organizational structure you desire for your business
This part may be one of the most tedious, but definitely one of the most important as it is directly linked with your future operations. You will have to summarize the management structure of your business, the workforce, and the legal structure. Take the time to also write down briefly the key roles of each person involved in the management and operation.
Summarize how you wish you operate the business
Operational plans may be too broad for a subject, but you can narrow it down by identifying the location of the business, the equipment you need, the facilities the business may require and all other essential operating details. You will have to write the technical procedures that are required in the production process.
Specify how you are aiming to market and sell the products
Your pricing plan, promotional activities, and the advertisements – they all fall under the sales and marketing strategies. Itemize all details with a corresponding explanation on how you are going to execute them. If you could speak to an expert on sales, then you can seek for viable advice. Write this while trying to recall how your potential competitors perform theirs.
Start crunching the numbers and write down your financial projections
Final projection is the heart of your business as you would not able to get anywhere without both funding and projection. Firstly, you need to identify the way on how you can obtain your capital outlay. Will you be loaning it? Do you have it ready? Do you have any backups?
Secondly you will need to write down your assumptions and projections on the cash flow, target sales, balance sheet, break-even point, and all your business ratios. This information is critical to ensuring that your business capital will not go up in smoke once the operation begins. If something looks odd on the plan, review then revises until you come up with projections that are feasible.
Planning is crucial in making any endeavour or venture work. You will need to understand all the fundamentals and also be able to think ahead. Outlining a business plan is particularly helpful for the forward-thinking future entrepreneurs.
Jack is a self-made entrepreneur, who actually started out in the Military, then worked for the Government for a few years, until he finally made that bold step and started out his own online and offline businesses. He’s never looked back ever since, and hasn’t been happier…
