The success of a future project directly depends on the approach to its implementation. The starting point for starting financial activities is clear development planning.
Many budding entrepreneurs do not attach importance to this. Due to the lack of special knowledge in the field of market economics, inexperienced businessmen doom themselves to extra costs to develop their activities.
A business plan is a document that details the development strategy. It defines the main goals and describes step by step ways to achieve them in the shortest possible time.
There is no specific strictly established form for drawing up a business plan. Each company or entrepreneur may have it compiled differently. It depends on the goals and scope of future activity. Most financiers, when writing it, recommend adhering to the following generally accepted points:
- Front page;
- Summary;
- Brief information about the business;
- Description of goods and services produced;
- Market and competitor analysis;
- Basic marketing strategy;
- Production plan;
- Financial plan;
- Analysis and risk assessment with insurance programs;
- Applications.
Rules for writing a resume
A brief summary of the business plan should display the main points and key points as clearly as possible, which must be supported by convincing arguments and figures. If this condition is not met, then the capital investor will not waste his time on you. After all, you are the one interested in receiving his investment. In order for an investor to pay due attention to your resume, it must be extremely convincing and interesting, so that he is confident that he can get a decent profit from investing money in your project.
In addition, it is important to remember that drawing up a summary for a business plan should not develop into rewriting its sections in every detail. It should be clear and concise, briefly reflecting the main points of the business plan. Otherwise, the investor will simply get tired of reading it.
The optimal length of a resume does not exceed several pages. All information that is displayed in the work is divided into separate paragraphs, the content of which corresponds to the sections of the project’s business plan. Structured text is more readable than continuous text. In addition, an important condition is to adhere to the same font and text size in the resume and business plan.
Example resume
Theoretical guidelines are useful because they provide a general idea and give direction to the work. However, a practical example is much clearer. Consider a summary for a hair salon business plan:
“Project of the family hairdressing salon “Quick Scissors”
IP Ivanova Maria Andreevna, INN..., address, telephone. Taxation - simplified tax system "Income".
Description of the project - a family hairdressing salon with quick service (up to 20 minutes) and a fixed cost of services (200 rubles). Work without prior appointment. The market for hairdressing services is crowded, however, none of the competing organizations offers clients such conditions.
The goal is to create a convenient service for visitors to the shopping center and make a profit from popular services, regardless of the season.
Location - first floor of a shopping center, 20 sq.m (for rent). A prime location attracts more visitors, as does the lack of an appointment. The terms of service provide an incentive to get a haircut “here and now.”
Team - 5 hairdressers. This quantity ensures uninterrupted operation seven days a week from 10:00 to 22:00 (coincides with the work of the shopping center).
Potential clients are visitors to the shopping center, regardless of gender and age.
Starting investment - 200 thousand rubles:
- rent of premises (3 months);
- purchase of equipment;
- sign making;
- online cash register rental.
Expected revenue for the first month is 120 thousand rubles (20 clients daily). Profit - 40 thousand rubles.
The full payback of the project is 6 months.”
What you should pay attention to?
The summary should include only those aspects of the project that, in your opinion, the investor should definitely pay attention to. These should definitely be the strengths of the project that will convince the investor of the opportunity to make a profit on the investment.
The summary should contain the following points: the name of the project, information about the initiator, information about the location of the project, as well as what legal form was chosen for its implementation.
Features of industry project resumes
As noted earlier, drawing up a business plan does not require adherence to any particular form. This is due to the specifics of individual industries.
The business plan summary will also differ depending on the key points of a particular field of activity. When compiling, it is imperative to focus the reader’s attention on this. If you do not take into account such features, the experienced eye of a professional will see this, and then you can forget about getting a business loan.
Let's look at a few examples:
- Service sector. Here it is important to add an analysis of the location of the enterprise. Features of the area, the number of expected customers, the area's need for services sold.
An example of a business plan summary written for a hotel complex works well for explanation. It is necessary to indicate the location, which determines the number of potential customers (located near a highway or coastal area), seasonality (areas by the sea - this is the summer period, for a country hotel - all year round). Certain types of activities require mandatory registration with Rospotrebnadzor authorities and compliance with the terms of the concluded Agreement.
- Public catering. A public catering establishment is registered with the approval of the local Administration and Rospotrebnadzor. It is also necessary to obtain the consent of the local population if the commercial premises are located close to the residential area.
Since this field of activity requires licensing and specialized specialists, the availability of permission and documents on personnel training is indicated in the resume. It is recommended to reflect information about the supplier (availability of certified documents, awards and incentives, good reputation with clients).
This shows that the company cares about the quality of service that will leave the consumer satisfied. Consequently, the flow of customers will only increase.
- Manufacturing sector. The technological component in this area plays a primary role. Here, productivity comes first, which depends on technical equipment and the use of new technology for solving problems.
As an example of a summary of a business plan for a manufacturing enterprise, consider the purchase of modern packaging equipment at a factory. The introduction of such technology will increase the speed of production. This should be noted because when considering a project, lenders will pay attention to the technological advantage over competitors and other proposals.
An important aspect is the experience of management and the professional preparedness of employees. Qualified personnel with experience will always be a priority. The only advantage will be the organization of cooperation with scientific institutions for the introduction and development of new technologies.
- Trade. In such activities, supply and demand play a huge role. It is important to describe the quality of the products offered, analysis of consumer demand, and efficiency of service.
A consumer rights specialist is needed to work with clients. Availability of permission to trade licensed goods (cigarettes, alcohol, pharmaceuticals).
It is advisable to indicate the availability of additional services and customer service in the form of a website or product delivery. Organizing supplies with well-known brands and the demand for the goods sold among the population will only increase the chances of approval of the plan.
- Services of increased responsibility. When providing services with increased liability, you need to pay attention to the availability of liability insurance for the performer.
For example, if the client’s material property is damaged as a result of construction work, the client’s insurance program will cover compensation for such damage. For such cases, liability insurance should be included in the business plan summary.
The essence of the project
The essence of the project is the most important component of the resume. Not only the investor’s first reaction, but also the possibility of further cooperation depends on how well it is reflected. .
In order to most fully reveal the essence of the project, it is necessary to determine the main goals, as well as ways to achieve them. An example can be given: the goal of the project is to annually sell 1000 tons of organic fertilizers. Ways to achieve this are to carry out activities to organize the production of these fertilizers and establish relationships with Moscow partners regarding wholesale supplies. In addition to a description of the goal and options for achieving it, it is necessary to attach to the summary an agreement of intent to cooperate with these partners.
It is also necessary to build a table that will reflect the main stages of the project, as well as the timing of their implementation. This table is a calendar plan for the implementation of the project.
conclusions
The essence of the business plan is to digitize the project and create a starting development strategy. The business plan summary contains the main elements of the project and is aimed primarily at briefly presenting the idea to people analyzing the plan. The main role of a resume is to advertise the future project and set emphasis. When preparing this part, it is necessary to take into account the size requirements, the absence of calculation errors and the logical chain.
You can order a detailed turnkey business plan from us and you will not have to draw up a resume yourself or buy a fully prepared business plan with all the calculations.
Financing
The summary of the draft business plan should describe in detail at what stages and in what amounts you need financing. It is better to immediately link this issue to the calendar plan so that the investor can easily navigate. In addition, you must indicate what the ratio between your personal internal resources and borrowed funds will be. If it is necessary to obtain credit loans at different stages of the project, you must immediately indicate their volume, interest rate and future repayment schedule.
In addition, the section of the business plan summary, which contains information about the financial component of the project, should display information that will arouse the greatest interest among the investor, and also determine the effectiveness and attractiveness of the project from an economic point of view. These are indicators of the period required for the full payback of the project, the rate of internal return, the time required to repay the loan funds, as well as the net cost of the project.
Checking the quality of resumes
After writing your resume, you should check its quality. It must meet the following criteria
- The size does not exceed two pages. Please remember that analyzing this information should not take more than one minute.
- Only items that may be of interest to the investor are included. Make sure that the resume does not include items related to operational issues, such as the name of the necessary equipment, the required qualifications of personnel, etc.
- There are no spelling, punctuation, or stylistic errors in the text. The presence of such errors calls into question your professionalism and reliability.
If you want to start a business in the field of opening a cafe, coffee shop or pizzeria, a standard business plan will help you a lot. You can choose a specific option that suits you best.
What else should you write about in your business plan summary?
The resume should make it clear to the investor that you know what to do in a critical situation if one arises. Therefore, it is very important to indicate all possible risks that the project may encounter during the implementation phase. But one description is not enough. This section will be meaningless and will negatively affect the investor’s assessment of your resume if it does not provide a qualitative and quantitative assessment of possible problems, and also does not indicate all possible options for preventing or solving them.
Of course, this list is not a complete reflection of all those points that can be described in the summary of a business plan. Since its writing is partly individual, the summary, like the business plan itself, can be supplemented with various sections depending on the specifics of the project direction. But the main points that must be present in any summary of a business plan aimed at obtaining investments or obtaining a loan are listed above.
The content of a resume in a business plan is not always mandatory. For example, a resume is not particularly important if a business plan is being drawn up for work within an organization. But, in fact, writing it will not be superfluous. After all, even for the company’s internal work, it is important to have a general idea of where the organization is heading and what goals it is pursuing.
Tips for writing
The resume text should be concise and informative. Eliminate artistic means of expression, synonyms, and repetitions. The content should work to quickly convey information to the investor.
First, develop a standard resume version that is not targeted at a specific investor, then edit the content for a specific “reader.” For example, the bank will be interested in financial indicators, and they should focus on them: talk about the cost, trade margin, expected revenue and payback. When applying for government support, indicate that you are creating new jobs, will pay a certain amount of taxes to the budget, or will solve an acute social, economic, or environmental problem. A private investor may be more interested in competitive advantages, technological process innovations, or even social problems that the entrepreneur will solve. Don’t be lazy to customize your resume for a specific investor.
If foreigners are expected among potential project participants, translate the business plan into a foreign language. If you don’t know it, order a translation from professionals.
The resume, and even more so the business plan itself, may contain confidential information. For example, a going concern will report gross income or revenue. It is not desirable for this data to be freely available. Indicate on the title page “Contains confidential information” or “Strictly for internal use in...” (hereinafter may be the name of the organization or bank).
Control the volume. Try to cover information on 1-2 pages of printed text.
Do not use images or graphics. It is better to move them into the text of the plan or application. They will take up too much space on your resume and will also distract attention from key data.
When is a resume written? Despite the fact that the summary is located at the beginning of the business plan, it is written as the last one , when work on other sections has been completed. This is necessary to reflect the calculation results and payback periods.
A resume is a “squeeze”, a summary of the entire business plan
Product description in a business plan: subtleties of drafting
It is important to fully present the result to the investor - provide a sample of the product, a layout, a drawing. For a service, please include a positive review of its usefulness. If you are not confident and have complete knowledge, lenders will not want to invest money in the project.
Describe in detail the production process and other developments. The conditions for the release of a product will clearly show what changes must occur in the company in order for the production of a product or service to be mastered.
After analyzing the data, creditors (investors) will conclude that it is advisable to inject capital into the planned enterprise.
Business plan section - product description
If the brief description is of interest to the lender, he will move on to the next paragraph containing information about the product or service that will be produced if the BP is sold. The description is compiled according to the general structure:
- name and full characteristics of the product;
- purpose and scope of the product;
- beneficial effect of using goods and services;
- competitive advantages;
- copyright, if any;
- guarantees, certificate of conformity, licensing and patent acquisition;
- production technologies.
When describing competitive advantages, indicate product features. Take into account the satisfaction of market demand - price and consumer properties.
When composing the product description section, you need to provide a clear concept of how you will sell it. Research customer needs to identify your unique offering. Support all ideas with numbers.
Introductory part of the resume
The content of the summary, as already mentioned, should include a brief overview of all other sections of the plan. Because of this, it makes direct sense to start it with an introduction, where you should place basic information about the organization or enterprise that should implement the project. This part of the resume contains the following points:
- Date of foundation of the enterprise;
- Its location;
- The main directions of its activities;
- What goals does the company's management set for itself?
- Description of the customer base to which the company's products are targeted.
After this, you can move on to the main part of the section.
Introduction
It is believed that this section should take one or two, maximum three or four pages, so it needs to briefly convey the essence of your message. There is no need to describe in detail what and how you plan to do - all this has a place in the business plan.
A resume is an important part of a business plan.
A summary is a short summary of necessary and useful information, which contains general data, conclusions and financial indicators for assessing the profitability and general level of understanding of the project.
Note:
Although this point is at the beginning, it is more logical to write it at the end, after there is already a general understanding of the strategy, exact numbers and data.
There is no need to present information vaguely, without specifics and numbers - there is a high probability that your idea will simply be ignored, because it will not stand out from thousands of similar proposals.
What you need to write a good resume
The purpose of writing a resume is to attract the interest of investors, so you need to present the information in a favorable light. A description that has a chance of success shows:
- brevity, content;
- emphasis on uniqueness and expected benefits from the implementation of the business plan;
- forecast of financial performance, economic efficiency;
- visual calculations.
If you intend to cooperate with foreign investors, please attach an abstract in English.
The first section of the document is the last. If you write a short description before writing the main part of the BP, you will encounter certain difficulties:
- the abstract will be superficial, the information will be presented vaguely;
- Without fully mastering the necessary calculations, you will try to artificially adjust the BP to the goals and forecasts set out in the first section.
The main task
Any aspiring entrepreneur needs support and cash injections. It is with the aim of attracting an investor/bank that a summary of the business plan is drawn up. They don't say it out loud, but most sponsors don't even read the basic business plan. But the resume is studied very carefully and scrupulously.
The summary should contain all the basic information and conclusions about your project. A properly written resume should fit on one or two pages and contain the following information:
- Project name;
- the essence of the idea;
- financing;
- profitability.
The executive summary in a business plan is an example that shows your ingenuity and business acumen. Everything should be short, concise and strictly factual.
Project name
This section of the resume should contain all the basic information about the submitted project:
- Who is the author of the idea?
- In what organizational and legal form will the project be implemented?
- Where is the project located (shop, factory, salon, etc.)?
Your main task is to interest the reader from the first sentence. Therefore, at the very beginning of the business plan summary, give an example of future profits. Let's say you are sure that in two years your idea will begin to pay for itself at least 3-4 times. So, start your resume with this: “in 2020, the enterprise will be able to reach the level of income... (indicate specific amounts).” Once a potential sponsor/banker is interested in your proposal, he will read the resume to the very end.
The essence of the idea
When describing the project idea, be sure to indicate what kind of enterprise you are talking about: business expansion or organization from scratch. If you already have some achievements, be sure to mention them. For example: “Over the three years of the enterprise’s existence, we have managed to sell more than (indicate specific numbers here) soft toys. In 2020, the company plans to enter the global market and enter into a supply contract with (specify country).” An investor/bank employee, reading the summary in the business plan, will see an example of your hard work and ability to make money.
If you don’t have great achievements yet, limit yourself to general phrases and focus on describing examples and ways to achieve your goals. For example, you intend to produce environmentally friendly fertilizer for vegetables, which you will supply to partners from a neighboring region. When describing the essence of the project, do not forget to attach a copy of the agreement indicating the intentions of your partners.
The main stages of the project and the timing of their implementation can be presented in the form of a table. The calendar plan is visually perceived much easier.
Financing
The “financing” section can be combined with the schedule table. Show how much cash injections will be required to implement a specific stage of the project. Be sure to note how much of your own money you have invested (are ready to invest) in the implementation of your idea.
If the applicant is an individual, you will need to present income certificates and property documents (apartment, car, dacha). A potential investor should know what assets you have.
Sometimes one specific stage can drag on for quite a long time. This means there is no point in taking out a large loan at once. With this option, in the summary of the business plan you will need to indicate how much money will be needed at a particular stage, what interest you are expecting and in what parts you are going to repay the loan.
Attach to your resume documents that will indicate registration with the necessary authorities, as well as a license allowing you to conduct a certain type of activity. Without official papers, no investor will contact you.
Profitability
The payback period of the project is the main and most interesting part of your “talmud” to any potential sponsor. Here you need to describe in more detail all potential earnings and expenses. The investor needs to know how long you will repay the borrowed funds and at what stage he will receive his profit.
Don’t forget to mention possible risks in the “profitability” section. If a potential sponsor sees that you look at things realistically and can navigate in force majeure circumstances, the chances of approving a loan/credit will increase significantly.
Of course, if a business plan is created for internal work, then a resume is not needed at all. However, by writing a sample business plan summary, you will have a clearer understanding of your goals.
