4.1 Business studies Business plan Investing in a business takes time and money and involves many risks. To reduce the number of variables that may determine its , the key is in effective planning, in particular with such a resource as a . failure business plan What is a business plan? A business plan is a document an enterprise’s objectives, strategies and projected actions in order to survive and develop within a specified ; it summarises the marketing, operational and financial objectives of the business and contains the detailed plans and budgets showing how these objectives are to be realised. It both helps to determine whether the prospective investment has any chance of success, and it provides useful data to any potential investors. outlining time frame Structure of a business plan Normally it is 15 to 20 pages long and, depending on its main purpose (to plan an expansion, to ask for loans, potential investors, etc.), it usually contains these sections: a. and ; b. (or ), to provide a general overview of the plan; c. , to specify legal establishment, history, principal owners, start-up plans, major achievements, etc.; d. , to give a description of the product, the market it serves and its competitive advantage; e. , which includes a definition of the market in terms of size, demographics, structure, growth prospects, trends, sales potential and target market; f. , to determine direct and indirect competitors’ strengths and weaknesses and identify possible successful strategies; g. , to outline the business positioning strategy, and the pricing, promotional and distribution strategies; h. , to describe how the business works in terms of logistics (business location and accessibility, facilities, equipment, inventory, and supply requirements) and human resources (business structure, management and staff requirements); i. , to state how much capital is needed and to provide details about: , and ; j. , to include any other document or sample of products that may be relevant to the readers, for example: contracts with suppliers, letters of intent, legal documents, patents, etc. to lure Title contents page Executive summary Statement of Purpose Company description Business concept Market analysis Competitive analysis Marketing plan Operations and management plan Financial plan income statement cash flow statement balance sheet Appendices and exhibits