Market Data is very important. Is there a demand for your product or service? What does your product or service do that is unique and can it fill a void in the market? Your Business Plan should have the full amount of funding you will need to run the company, and the money should be broken down within a budget and divided up into funding needed for each milestone, executive salaries, employee and staff salaries and unexpected expenses.
The Business Plan is very important and basically serves as a road map of how your business is expected to grow. You need to start your plan by starting out with your vision. What is your expectation of this business? What does your product or service do and what void will it serve in the market place?
Your milestones need to be stated clearly and in the finest detail. Milestones are very important because they indicate the step by step achievements that you seek to complete for your company to be established and then to start business. You need to set reasonable time periods for each milestone to be completed. The first milestone should always be acquiring the key components in getting your company established. These components should include real estate, where the company headquarters are to be located, construction, renovation, and or the purchase or rental of the building which will house the company offices and production line. This should be covered in the first milestone. If you are manufacturing a product, you should also add the purchase of a manufacturing center and equipment in the first milestone. The first milestone should always be about getting the basics which the company needs to function. In some cases, a company may already be operating on a small-scale and is seeking funding to expand. In this case you need to state what equipment you already have, how you are functioning, what your market is and what revenues you have generated thus far.
The second milestone should indicate your marketing plan. What markets are you planning to attack? How will you market? Will your executives or representatives attend trade shows and seminars for your company? How much funding will you need for your marketing campaign? Furthermore, your marketing campaign should be broken down into different steps. How much marketing will you be doing on the traditional media, such as in TV, radio and print advertising? With the internet; will you have a company website that will feature your product or service? How will you market your website for the highest amount of traffic possible?
The other milestones should cover what you plan to market first. You need to provide a realistic step by step plan on when you plan to open for business and what you will produce first. Then you will need to clearly state what you plan to market next. For example, one particular company deals with beekeepers and wants to improve the beekeeping industry in its geographic area. The company right now is somewhat functioning without investment, but with an investment, the company could also be accelerating its business and market other products.