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9 Steps to Start a small Business

Here is an overview of how to write a business plan step by step

How to write a business plan

The best way to become more confident about your future business is to make a business plan. The questions in this business plan template make sure that you cover all the aspects of a startup and do not forget anything.

When you have made your business plan and have showed it to partners, families, investors or banks you can put it aside . Put it aside it because the business plan is a snap shot of the present time and your business is always on the move. It is dynamic. If you store the business plan steps in you mind you can always update it. Use the business plan steps as the road map to guide you in your business  journey

Now you must learn to follow the 5 principles of the successful entrepreneurs.

Business plan steps

But first the business plan: The startup business plan issues are structured under the following 9 headlines:

Step 1. Personal Resources for a startup

Running a newly established company is a very personal thing, since its owner is typically the only one present in the company. Therefore, it is important to emphasize to yourself and others alike, that you do possess the capacity and resources necessary to run a business.

Learn more about Start-ups and what the business plan says about Personal Resources.

Step 2. Describe Your Product or Service

The product or service you offer is the lifeblood of your startup. Thus, it is important to analyze its various aspects. Special attention should be placed on what customers demand from the product or service.

Dive deeper and read what the business plan says about Product or Service.

Step 3. Description of the Market

Before you are able to carry out any sort of sales or marketing action, you need to identify the market you wish to enter. A good marketing result requires thorough market knowledge and customer insight.

Get ahead by reading more about Start-ups and what the business plan reveals about Market Description.

Step 4. Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing are your tools to approach potential customers in order to raise an interest in your product or service. Whether to run local newspaper advertisements, direct mails, work out an online and social media solution, or attend international trade fairs, it’s entirely dependent on what you will sell and which type of customers you wish to focus on.

Get the edge you need by reading what the business plan says about Sales and Marketing.

Step 5. Organizing Your Startup

You must be able to describe the every-day activities of your company and also take into account the cost of managing and running your business.

Find out about Start-ups and what the business plan says about Organizing your Business.

Step 6. Developing Your Business

It is hard to think 3 or 4 years into the future, especially before your small business is even up and running. However, it would be an advantage at this early stage to envision the outlines of an even bigger and more interesting company than the one you started out with.

Consider reading more about Start-ups and what the business plan says about Business Development.

Step 7. Budgets - Estimate Your Costs and Income

Budgets are all of the above topics described in monetary terms. The more specific the plans, the easier it becomes to work out budgets. Budgets will also contribute to the concretizing of the plans and it is ok to go back and change plans if the budgets prove them to be unrealistic.

Read about Start-ups and what the business plan says about Budgets.

Step 8. Financing - Where to Find the Money

Financing merely asks: “How do I raise the funds I will need to start my own business?”

Find the answers by reading about Start-ups and what the business plan says about Financing.

Step 9. What is Your Business Concept

A good idea is only a good business idea if you are able to make enough money from it for you to live independently. In most cases, once you have your idea, it will need adjusting and further development before it can become a commercial concept. You must develop the best business model for your business

Go further by reading about Start-ups and what the business plan says about Business Concept.

Business roadmap template

It is a dynamic process to start a business and the road is bumpy but there is a direction to follow. The signposts indicates important "towns of reflection" All the startup signposts interact with each other all the time. Writing a business plan is not a linier task. When you write about signpost 8 Financing the former steps might already be obsolete.

Your new business must be dynamic but you do not have to re-write the business plan every day. Write the business plan one time and then learn to act cleverly on the changes that are constantly re-shaping the different steps in the business plan.

Luck favors the one who is well prepared.
- Søren Hougaard, Danish professor in Entrepreneurship