Business planning

Introduction

So you've got a great business idea, but what do you need to do next? The first and most important stage is to develop a business plan. This will help you to identify potential markets and consumers, the financing requirements of the business and production requirements. If you are looking for finance from a bank or other financial institution, then they will expect a detailed business plan. So what do you need to put in the business plan? In this section we look at different business legal structures and how to develop marketing and financial plans.

Follow the links below to the area you would like to look at in more detail:

• Types of business - in this section we look at the different types of legal business structure. If you are starting up should you be a sole proprietor, a partnership or a corporation? What is the difference between a private and public limited company?
• Marketing planning - once you know what type of business you want to be, how can you research the possible market that may be out there? How do you write a marketing plan?
• Financial planning - no business works without money, so how do you work out the financing requirements for the business? What is meant by break-even? How do you construct a cash flow forecast, a balance sheet and a profit and loss account?

There is a business planning case study that you may like to study when you have looked through each of these sections.