To get your business organised you need a Business Plan. You will need a Business Plan if you want to borrow money from the bank or raise capital any other way. A Business Plan is a statement of exactly what you are trying to do, hat resources you need to use, and how you are going to organise them. You also need think about two important things, the first being asking yourself the objective of the business and the second being to asses if you have or you can acquire all the skills necessary to run the business successfully.

Borrowing Money

When considering the Business Plan in its role of persuading the bank manager to help you finance the business, it is easier to understand the reasons for having to put in all the items that go to make up a Business Plan if you look at it from the bank manager's point of view. If you were asked to lend someone £10,000 to put into their business, what would you want to know before taking the risk and parting with your money? They would want to know the person was honest and capable of running the company. They would want to know his or her objective. Also, they would want to know that there was a market for your product. Lastly, they would want to know if the business would be a success or at least viable.

The format

There are several Business Plan forms available for free. It must be your Business Plan; but you should consider talking to a business counsellor about it because he or she will know the pitfalls.

Financial forecasts

When you have dealt with the objectives, the skills, the market and the product, your Business Plan will need to include a profit and loss budget and a cash flow forecast. Remember that these are not isolated sheets of figure, but a financial expression of the business you have described and must reflect everything you have said. It will also need modifying as you Business Plan will be continually revised and restructured as you develop your ideas, solve problems and make decisions.