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Showing posts with label business plan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business plan. Show all posts

How to Write a Business Plan



Many potential start-up businesses are daunted by the prospect of writing a business plan. But it is not a difficult process - and a good business plan focuses the mind as well as helping to secure finance and support.
The business plan will clarify your business idea and define your long-term objectives. It provides a blueprint for running the business and a series of benchmarks to check your progress against. It is also vital for convincing your bank - and possibly key customers and suppliers - to support you.

1.       Executive summary
  • The executive summary outlines your business proposal. Although it is the last section to be written, it goes on the first page of the business plan. It will be read by people unfamiliar with your business, so avoid jargon.
  • The executive summary highlights the most important points and should sum up your product or service and its advantages, opportunity in the market, management team, track record to date, financial projections, funding requirements and expected returns.
2.       The business
  • Explain the background to your business idea, including the length of time you have been developing the business idea in its present form, work carried out to date, any related experience you have, the proposed ownership structure of the business.
  • Explain what your product or service is. Make it clear how it will stand out as different from other products or services, your customers will gain through buying your product or service, the business can be developed to meet customers' changing needs in the future
3.       Markets and competitors
  • Focus on the segments of the market you plan to target - for example, local customers or a particular age group.

Sales Forecasting Method



Properly forecasting sales helps you plan and prepare for the months and years ahead, allowing you to control costs and focus on successful growth strategies. A good sales forecasting methodology also helps your business run more efficiently. The most practical method for forecasting sales is to base your projections on historical sales results and your past experience. The right sales forecast method for your business is the one that is closest to your actual sales results within a reasonable margin of error.


Step 1
Gather your company's past income statements. Go back several years. Sales data from your income statements over the last five to 10 years has more predictive power than just using last year's sales to forecast this year's sales.

Step 2
Calculate the sales growth rate from year to year. Divide the current sales by the prior year's sales. For example, if your sales this year were $487,000 and last year's sales were $412,000, the sales growth rate is 18 percent ($487,000 divided by $412,000). Repeat the process for all other years in the series of sales data. You should have five year's worth of sales growth rates if you go back five years.

Step 3
Compare the sales growth rates year to year. Plot the sales growth rates using a spreadsheet for visual representation. Ideally, your sales growth rate should increase over time.

Step 4
Analyze various factors that impact sales to gain a better understanding of why sales grew or slowed from year to year. Determine the cause and effect relationship of variables, such as customer demand, worker productivity, advertising and promotion. For example, hiring an additional salesperson has an impact on sales. Demographic trends, such as an influx of consumers with high household income, can also have an affect on sales. Greater advertising and promotion affects sales, as well.

Step 5
Identify external factors that affect sales. External factors include the general economic environment or macroeconomic trends, such as unemployment, interest rates, consumer sentiment and inflation. Other macroeconomic trends include the level of competition. A greater number of competitors can potentially depress your company's sales, which you must forecast into your sales projections.

Ingin Memiliki dan Membuka Restoran Baru?



Anda bermimpi memiliki dan membuka restoran sendiri? Bukan hal teramat sulit untuk dapat merealisasikannya. Beberapa langkah berikut dapat anda jadikan panduan untuk memulainya:

Menentukan Konsep
  • Jenis restoran apa yang akan dibuka merupakan langkah pertama yang harus anda putuskan. Konsep fine dining, casual dining, fast casual atau quick service restaurant, adalah beberapa pilihan yang dapat diambil. Untuk bahan referensi, silahkan lihat artikel An Overview of Different Restaurant Types,
  • Perkembangan dan trend industri makanan ke depan juga patut menjadi perhatian. Silahkan lihat artikel 2015 Food Trends
Memilih Lokasi
  • Pemilihan lokasi akan menentukan berkembang dan tidaknya restoran anda. Apakah lokasi yang dipilih berada di daerah yang sibuk, padat dengan lalu lintas kendaraan dan pejalan kaki, area parkir yang luas? Ataukah sebaliknya? Lokasi yang tepat harus menjadi pertimbangan sebelum anda menjalankan dan menandatangani kontrak sewa tempat.
Memilih Nama
  • Pilihlah nama yang tepat, mengandung makna dan gambaran tema dan lokasi. Atau nama yang khas, unik, dan mudah diingat orang. Bisa juga menjadi cerminan makanan yang disajikan atau kita sebagai pemiliknya.
Membuat Business Plan
  • Penulisan perencanaan bisnis yang baik akan memperjelas ide bisnis dan tujuan jangka panjang anda. Menampilkan cetak biru untuk menjalankan sekaligus parameter kemajuan bisnis anda. Pada gilirannya akan meyakinkan bank, investor, supplier dan pelanggan untuk mendukung bisnis anda. Silahkan lihat artikel How to Write a Business Plan.
Mencari Pembiayaan

  • Hal ini yang seringnya menghentikan langkah sebagian besar orang melanjutkan rencana membuka restoran sendiri. Sebetulnya tidak sulit dan sangatlah mungkin. Penulisan business plan yang baik dan kesiapan presentasi yang professional yang anda tunjukkan kepada calon investor, bank dan lembaga pembiayaan lainnya, akan direspons dengan

Marketing Plan : Competitive Analysis and Strategy



Competition
  • What products and companies will compete with you?
 List your major competitors with names and addresses:

  • Do they compete across the board with your entire business, or just for select products, customers, or only in certain locations?
  • Are there any important indirect competitors? (For instance, personal chefs compete with restaurants, even though they are different businesses entirely.)
  • How do your products or services compare with your competitions?
Below is a Competitive Analysis table
  • Use the table to compare your company with the two most important competitors to your business.
  • In the first column of the table, there are some standard competitive factors; of course you may need to customize the list of factors for your unique business.

In the column labeled My Business
  • Evaluate how your business compares to your competitor’s to your prospective customer.
  • Then consider whether each of these factors are strengths or weaknesses to your business. It may be difficult to evaluate your own business weaknesses but it’s better to be honest than misguided.
  • Another option is to consider asking someone outside of your business to help you with the evaluation. The Small Business Administration can help you connect with a business professional to act as your mentor. That person can add invaluable insight into the business planning process. A neutral observer can help you evaluate your business without the emotional attachment you bring to the picture.
  • Next, use the table to analyze each of your competitors. Briefly sum up how they compare to your business. 
  • Finally, think of how your customer will view these factors – how important is each of the criteria to the customer with 1 being critical and 5 being unimportant.

Ways to Control Overhead Costs



Corporate overhead, if unchecked, can eat up your profits and potentially create a net loss before you realize it. Without a breakdown of your costs into production and overhead categories, you might not realize how much you’re actually spending to run your company. Detailed financial reporting and budget variance analyses will help you keep your overhead to a manageable level.

The costs you have to run your business and sell your product make up corporate overhead. These are expenses you have even when you aren’t making your product. They include expenses such as rent, marketing, phones, insurance, administrative staff, office equipment, interest and supplies. Like corporate overhead, departmental overhead includes expenses you have when you’re not producing your product, but they apply directly to one department. For example, machinery maintenance is an example of departmental overhead.

The first step in determining your corporate overhead is to identify it. If you don’t record every expense you have on a budget sheet or other financial report, do so. Start by creating production and corporate overhead reports. Production expenses are costs that apply directly to making your product, such as materials and labor. Next, break down your corporate overhead by function, such as marketing, human resources, information technology, office administration and sales.

Give each of your managers the list of overhead their department generates. Ask them to look for ways to reduce their spending without sacrificing productivity, efficiency and quality. Your department managers might be the most knowledgeable about how to do this. If you don’t already do it, have your department heads submit an annual budget request each year. Labor is often one of the largest costs of any business; have department heads compare outsourcing versus in-house staff for various projects and positions to determine if they can find cost-savings opportunities.


our role is not over until you realize the desired business results