There are two types of business plans: for the investor and for the founders of the business themselves. The first aims to attract investment in the project, the second is more likely to understand how to build a business. Let's take a look at how business plans of both types are made for a store.
Instructions
Step 1
Let's start by drawing up a business plan "for yourself". It does not have to be large and very detailed, but it should cover all the important points of creating and promoting your store. You can build something like the following list of questions for drawing up a store business plan:
1. The form of the store's existence (a regular store or an online store? A supermarket or a boutique?).
2. Target audience and assortment.
3. Location (an inexpensive supermarket is in a residential area, a boutique is in the center).
4. Sales area (size, rental costs).
5. Equipment (what is needed, suppliers, prices).
6. Staff (how many people to hire and how much they pay).
7. Expenses for registering a store, necessary licenses (for example, for the sale of alcohol).
8. Advertising.
Step 2
Such a business plan, first of all, will help you better understand how you want to see and how you are able to make your store, and how much money is needed for this. For each question, you need to do a little research on the Internet and go shopping for competitors. If you are looking for a place for a lingerie boutique in the center, you should check if there are any similar boutiques nearby, and if there is, what kind of lingerie is there and what prices. In order to select competent personnel and not spend extra money on salaries, it is worth asking how much a good seller "costs" in the labor market and, accordingly, offer the same salary or slightly higher if you can afford it.
Step 3
A business plan for investors is a slightly different document. In it, you must give primary information about your store and show that your store is a promising, developing project in which you can and should safely invest. This does not mean at all that a business plan should look like a dissertation; rather, on the contrary, it should be rather short and understandable. But the list of the main points that need to be touched in it will be special.
Step 4
Business is about people. An investor, thinking about the prospects of your store, will first of all look at you and your team members - can you really make such a project profitable? Therefore, your business plan should start with CVs of you and those who set up the store with you. Biographies should highlight your accomplishments, demonstrate your dedication and ambition, and be concise.
Step 5
What is your store and what will be special about it? It is important for an investor to know what assortment you will have, what is the target audience, how you chose the retail space. Here you need a market assessment, some marketing research. If you cannot assess the market in terms of prospects, customers, market share, etc., then you do not fully understand the market situation.
Step 6
The most important point of the plan is the financial forecast. When will you pay off? How much profit do you expect to generate? What is your turnover in two years? The answers to these questions should be as clear as possible and not contain vague wording. These are questions worth spending any amount of time researching, but giving an accurate (and honest!) Answer. Provide a monthly forecast for the first year and then a quarterly breakdown for 3–5 years. Investors are interested in when their investment will pay off, and they need to show it.
Step 7
Briefly imagine the operating costs of opening a store - roughly what was listed in some points of the business plan "for yourself": how much money will be needed to register a store, licenses, equipment, personnel, advertising.
Step 8
It is also important how you can present your business plan. Make a beautiful presentation, try to interest the investor, make it pleasant for him to look at your business plan. Much also depends on the impression you make. The investor must be sure that he is facing a real entrepreneur - energetic, active and creative thinking, who can open a profitable store.
