There is no single recipe for success when you are starting up in business – but one key

    ingredient for many successful start-up businesses is a well thought through business plan.

A good business plan should help you to:

    1. Clarify and think through the ideas that you will already have about your business.

    2. Identify the key strengths in your business idea, so you can build on these but also

    highlight important aspects that you might have missed or an area where you might

    need more help and advice.

    3. Present your business idea to another person; this will be particularly important if you

    are hoping to obtain finance of any sort for your business. A good plan should help

    someone to quickly understand your business and re-assure them that your ideas are

    well thought through and the business is viable.

    4. Check the progress of your business once it is up and running. If things aren’t going as

    expected, a plan should help you identify and deal with any issues quickly.

The following pages contain our business plan template which we have tried to make brief but

    comprehensive. Completion of the plan itself shouldn’t take too long, but you might find that it

    prompts you to do some more research, perhaps with your potential customers, before you

    launch your business. We have tried to make the plan useful for all types of businesses, but you

    might find some sections do not apply to you, in which case just miss them out. For example if

    you are setting up a consultancy business, the suppliers’ section may not be relevant.

The final pages of the plan provide a framework for an action list – you should complete this as

    you work through your plan. Use your action list to record any ideas you have and capture any

    thoughts about things you have to do either before, or immediately after, you have started

    your business. This will help you make sure that your plan is a practical document that helps to

    get your business off to the best possible start.

Business plan – an outline

Executive summary

    You may find it easier to complete this section last. It should contain a summary of the key

    points of your business plan and why you are confident your business will succeed. Some of the

    areas you might want to think about including are:

    ? What the business is.

    ? Who the key people are and what skills and experience they have.

    ? Why you think it will be successful.

    ? What product or service your business will be selling, and what your Unique Selling

    Point (USP) is.

    ? Some brief detail of the projected financial performance of the business and how it will

    be financed.

My Business

Business Name

Address

What am I doing?

    Use this space to briefly describe your business. (For example, I am starting a new business selling ice creams or I am buying a franchise business selling sandwiches in Dubai Media City.)

What type of business will I set up as?

    (For example, sole proprietorship, limited liability company or partnership)

What is my vision for this business – short and long term?

    At the end of the first year my goals for this business are:

In 5 years’ time my goals for this business are:

My product or service

My product or service is:

    In this section provide a full description of the product or service that your business will be

    supplying.

The Unique Selling Point of my business is:

    This is one of the most critical elements of your business plan. Put down what it is about your

    business that will attract customers away from whoever they buy from at the moment and

    then keep them loyal to your business.

The price of my product or service will be:

    Outline here the prices you will charge and your pricing policy for your product or service and

    how this has been decided upon. How does this compare to your competitors? You should also

    detail whether you will be offering your customers credit terms, and if so what they are.

What I know about my prospective customers

In this section give details of any market research you have done and what you have learned

    from this. (For example, you might have sat outside a shop you are thinking of buying and

    counted that 500 people walk past it every day.)

    I have carried out the following market research:

    What I have learnt from this research is:

The types of customers I anticipate will buy my product or service are:

    In this section add anything you know about the particular type(s) of customers who will be the primary buyers of your product or service. (For example, if you were setting up a day

    nursery, you might put working couples with young children living or working within 5

    kilometres of the Jumeirah area.) Defining your customers like this can really help when you

    begin to think about how you are going to promote or advertise your business to these

    individuals.

    Promoting or advertising my business In this section list down the methods you will use to reach your potential customers and tell them about your business. (For example, you might attend a networking event or do some

    leaflet drops. You might also want to include in this section details of anything special you are

    going to do to launch your business.)

Competitors

In this section list down who your key competitors are going to be and what their

    relative strengths and weaknesses are. You might find it easier to list specific

    competitors – or alternatively think about groups of competitors. (For example, if you

    were setting up a business to sell specialist running shoes, you might think about the

    local sports shop who you will be competing with.)

    Competitor Strengths Weaknesses

Key people

Use this section to list the key people who are going to be involved with the business,

    including yourself. Also detail what particular skills and experience, which are

    relevant to the business, they have and what they will be responsible for.

    Key person Relevant skills and Their responsibility in the

    experience business

Skills gaps in my business

    List down here any key skills that will be required for your business which are not available at

    the current time. (For example, you might want to think about who will do the books, or take

    charge of marketing.) If there are gaps in the skills required to make your business successful detail how you are going to fill these, this might mean attending a training course or employing

    a part-time book-keeper.

Suppliers

In this section list down your key suppliers – if you have any. Who are they and why have you

    chosen them particularly? What credit terms are they prepared to offer you, and what other

    alternative suppliers do you have if a problem develops with the one you have chosen?

    Supplier Why did I choose Credit terms offered Alternative supplier if

    them? necessary

Premises and equipment

Where am I going to work from?

    Detail here the particular premises you will be working from and why you have chosen them. If

    you are buying or renting premises for this business, include details of how much you are

    paying, whether you will need to do any alteration work, and any other relevant details about

    the lease etc.

The equipment I will need:

    List down here any equipment that you already have available, and any you will need to buy.

The set up costs of my business are:

    Use this section to list down the initial costs of getting your business started, include the

    equipment you will need and the basic things you might need to run your business, perhaps a van and a PC. You may well need some additional working capital to enable you to buy stock

    and keep the business running until you begin to get paid. You can use the cash flow forecast,

    which forms part of this plan, to work out how much you might need.

    Item to buy How much?

Total:

I am going to finance these costs by: