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Best Home Business Opportunity Craft Home Business Success Stories |
Free Home Based Business Plan GuideThis free home based business plan guide can be used for many different types of businesses, not just craftsEven if you're just creating an action plan for yourself, it's a great way to map out what you want to do, how you intend going about it, and what results you can expect. It's not just a good exercise to do, we'd go so far as to say that it's absolutely necessary - you wouldn't be able to find your way in an area you don't know if you didn't have a map or clear directions... the same applies to your business. Free Home Based Business Plan Guide - INTRODUCTION Use this part of your action plan or home based business plan to introduce your business, and to put forward your ideas, research and facts. Cover Sheet Keep it basic and simple, with your business contact details, logo if you have one, and the preparation date. If you have a mission statement include it here too, and try to summarize the purpose of your action plan. Table of Contents Lay out the content of your business plan in a way that's easy to find, with titles, headings, and sub headings. Make it easy for a reader to find the info they'd be looking for. Summary This is where it gets meatier! However, bear in mind that it's often easier to write this section of your plan at the end, once the rest of it is complete. This should be an overview of your business, to summarize the key issues. Begin with a short paragraph about who, what and where you are, what your main objectives are, and how you plan to achieve them - in other words, how and why will your business be successful? What is unique about it, and who is your target market? Highlight issues such as the benefits of your product or service, your financial plan (such as how much you need to get started, and how much you intend to earn in what period of time), who your competitors are and how you plan to be better than them, an overview of your marketing plan, and so on. You could also include interesting facts and figures about your industry, and industry trends and how they will affect you. This is really the heart of your home based business plan, so spend some time on it. It must speak to you and/or whoever you intend for it to be read by, and it's the part of your plan where you need to get your message across loudly and clearly. The reason it's often easier to write this section at the very end, is that once you've done your research for the other sections, you'll have all your facts and figures available. This sections needs to cover all the details of your business. Description - Stick to the facts here, listing such things as the history of your business, any previous successful projects, assets and inventory, and your goals and objectives. Include the time frame in which you intend to reach your goals, and proof that they can be achieved - break them down into short term (under one year) and long term (over one year). Describe the legal structure you intend to use and why, and where your business will be located and the reasons for choosing that location (in terms of the benefits to your operation). Merchandising This effectively outlines your sales - the items and services you will sell and provide - and it's also where you need to project your estimated sales and plan your inventory accordingly. Describe each product or service, including their strengths, weaknesses and marketability, and make a comparison with your competitors, specifically clarifying what you can offer that your competitors can't or don't. Outline your pricing structure, the cost of providing your product or service, any specific technology you will use that will give you an advantage, and the skills needed to provide your product or service. Also describe future products and services you plan to provide. Then you have to prove the feasibility of your product or service - is there a need in the market for it? Can you fulfill it? Take a look at this section to understand this a little better. Lastly, list all your suppliers, what you purchase from them, why you chose them, their price lists, buying terms, discount policies, delivery, and so on. Operating This is where you describe how the business will function - how you'll manage your accounting (what systems you use), the type of bank accounts you'll open, how you'll manage your inventory, and any legal considerations such as permits. Your operations schedule outlines dates related to objectives, such as when something is expected to begin and be completed by, and the steps taken to meet those objectives. Give an overview of your production process, how you intend to produce and deliver your product or service, your quality control procedures, and any security measures you may need to put in place. Organization Here, you're going to explain who does what. It may only be a home based business with you doing everything to begin with, but bear in mind that as your business grows you will need help, so factor that in. This section needs to cover all the details of your marketing plan - who your target market is, who your competitors are, how you will open new markets, and a summary of how you will combine all of this to achieve your goals. Description Create a detailed description of your target markets, the trends in the marketplace, and how these two parts are going to affect the profitability of your business. It's about determining the need in the market for your product or service, and how you intend to fulfill that. Analyze the trends for your product over the last few years, and what the predicted trend will be in the years to come, including the demographics of your target market such as age and income. Convince yourself and your reader that you've found a niche to which you're able to market your product or service with great results. Who are your customers? Where do they live, work and shop? What are their needs? How will they find out about your product? Competition It's very important to know who your competition is - describe them, then show how you plan to beat them. Analyze them to find out what they're doing and how they're doing it, which of their techniques are successful and which not, what are they doing that gives them a competitive advantage, and what are they not doing that could give you a competitive advantage. Create a list of strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and yourself, showing how you come out on top (be sure to be able to prove everything you say). Selling Describe how you intend to get customers to buy your product or service, your planned advertising and promotional activities, how you will measure the success of your advertising and promotions, and what your budget will be. Also outline your customer service policies, payment terms, and detail how your product or service will be made available to your customers (ie: wholesale, retail, etc). Talk about your packaging too, and how it caters to the tastes of your target market. If you've already done some marketing, describe the methods you've used, which were the most effective, and what they cost. Discuss your pricing structure - what it costs you to produce your product and how that relates to how you price your goods. What is the lowest you can sell at to cover your costs and still make a small profit, and what is the maximum your target market is willing to pay based on the market trends. Approach Use this as a summary of your marketing plan, to describe how you ultimately plan to satisfy the needs of your target market by combining your research, analysis and strategies. Make sure that your marketing approach focuses on the needs of your target market, not on your product, and that it focuses on profitability, not the volume of sales.
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