Learn business plan writing skills. A project of the Global Shapers, Lagos hub of the World Economic Forum.

1. Business Planning &
Writing
By
Bode Pedro

2. “
”
Welcome

3. Brought to you by
 Global Shapers
 Lanre Messan
Infinite Impact Company
 Lola Talabi-Oni
Brent Consulting
 Bode Pedro
Veda Technology
 Sponsors
 Veda Technology
 Brent Consulting
 Infinite Impact Company

4. All About Me
Personal Profile
 Bsc. Computer and Electrical
Engineering, University of
Maryland, BC
 MD, Veda Technology Limited
 2009 Young IT Entrepreneur of the
Year at the Nigerian Telecoms
Award
 2010 Nominee Young IT
Entrepreneur of the Year
 2011 Winner Business Owner of
the Year at the Future Awards
Career Profile
 Entertainment, Technology,
Real Estate and Hospitality
 Managing Director, Veda
Technology
 Chairman, Bainstone Limited
(Bellanaija.com)
 Director, Southern Sun Hotels,
Ikoyi
 Director, Transnational
Technologies Limited

5. Key Topics
 Business Planning
 Elements of an Outstanding Business Plan
 Factors to Business Success
 Questions & Answers

6. Why are we here?
 For Young Upcoming Entrepreneurs
 Starting a new business
 For Current Business Owners
 To have a birds eye view of current business
 Where to improve on within your business
 For Potential Investors
 For Banks and Short Term Investments

7. Appetizer
 Common Misconception: 1 Size Fits All:
 There is not standard Business Plan
 Different Business Plan for Different Readers
 90% of the work is Preparation
 Business Plan is only as good as Ingredients
 Focus should always be on the important parts of the business
 Business Plan should not be a Novel.
 No Fool-Proof Business: Its all about understanding,
calculating and managing risk versus potential

8. Business Planning Content
 Executive Summary
 Company
 Products / Services
 Marketing
 Financials
 Appendix

9. ”
“Executive Summary

10. Who We Are
 Introduce yourself and your company. This should be a
summary of what you talked about in detail in the
company chapter of your plan.
 Recap the main points from that chapter. Think about
who is going to read this. Tell your story, and make
them want to read more.

11. What We Sell
 Talk about the products or services you offer
 Give your readers a recap of the major points you will
make in the Products and Services chapter
 keep it brief. Save the full details for later

12. Who We Sell To
 Talk about your target customers and how you plan to
get your message to them. Remember, this should be
a summary of your main points from the Target Market
chapter.
 Just focus on the most salient details here

13. Financial Summary
 Your projected sales and expenses.
 This should be a summary of what you talked about in
the Financial Plan chapter. Talk about the logic you
used to come up with your sales forecast.
 If you are starting a business, when do you plan to
show a profit?

14. Objectives
 Think of the top three or four goals you want to achieve for
your business.
 Choose goals which you can track and measure.
 For example, number of new customers, total billing, total
commissions, number of sales vs. returns, and so on.
 Find the balancing point between realistic and challenging.
Be specific and measureable, such as "increase sales by 10%
this year." Then pick the timeframe for each goal to measure
your progress — by day, week, month, or year.

15. Critical Success Factors
 Focus on a list of activities, actions, items, resources or
objectives that in your opinion are critical to the
success of the business

16. ”
“Company

17. Company Overview
 talk about how the company was started.
 Think of it as "introducing" your company to someone.
How long have you been in business? What is the main
company address? Are there any other locations? If
this is a new business, will you be starting from a home
office? Who owns the company? Is that ownership
shared? Who else (besides yourself) are members of
your management team?
 You can use the other topics in this section to break
down this information and give the reader more
details. If you do, then this topic should cover only the
main points from those topics.

18. Management Team
 List the members of the management team, starting with yourself.
 Describe what each of you are responsible for doing within the
company. Include summaries of their backgrounds and
experience. Give as much detail as you can to show how you and
your team will handle the needs of running the business.
 If you are just getting started, will you be covering multiple functions
by yourself? What area do you feel the most qualified to handle?
What functions do you feel least qualified? Do you plan to hire
someone else to handle these in the future? When do you plan to
fill those gaps? Will you be hiring a full-time person or an outside
contractor?
 You can also Include your Board of Directors or Advisory Board if
any

19. Vision & Mission Statement
 Your company vision is meant to propagate the expected
achievements, successes or breakthrough of the company within a
period of time (3 to 10 years).
 Your mission statement is meant to be a simple, internal message for
you and your employees:
 What is the core value and purpose of the company?
 What is the vision, which will guide company decisions, now and in
the future?
 Think of it as the rally cry for you and your future investors, partners
and employees; this is the reason why you do what you do, every
day. All other goals should support this mission

20. ”
“Products and Services

21. Products
 explain the products and services you sell to your
customers.
 Describe the main features of each. What need does
the product or service fill for your customers?
 If you sell products or services but not both, you can
rename the present titles to better match your business
offering.

22. Competitors
 Every business will have competition for their
customers. Who competes with your company? Do
they compete directly with you (for example, gas
stations, restaurants, and dry cleaners)? Or are you a
storefront competing with an online catalog?
 The more you know about them, the better you can
compete against them. List who your main
competitors are. What they do well? What do you
think your company does better? Why?

23. ”
“Target Market

24. Market Overview
 "who is your customer?"
 what need your product or service fills for your customers.
 how (or where) will your customers find you
 how do they buy from you?
 Do your products appeal to a certain age group?
 Do you sell more to men, or more to women? Why? Based on
shared reasons or traits, you can divide them into groups and
choose the best groups to market your products to.
 You also want to show what's going on with this market (growth,
trends), and how your business fits into the larger industry that
meets this market's needs.

25. Market Needs
 This is where you want to step back and look at your
business through your customers' eyes. What problem
does your business solve for them? What do you offer
them that they can't get anywhere else? Are your
competitors failing them in some key way?
 If you have more than one group of customers you will
be marketing to, do this exercise for each group. You
may find the needs of the groups are very different.
You want your marketing message to match the
solution your product gives to each customer group.

26. Market Trends
 "The only constant is change." This is an old saying, and
not just in business. But having a business is a perfect way
to see change in action. Just when you think you have
your market figured out, it changes. What you think your
customers want or need changes. There's a shift in
direction.
 Change can happen for many different reasons. No
matter the reason, it is important to be able to recognize
when a change can or will affect your business. If you're
just getting started, you might be planning your business
around a current trend.
 Either way, you want to look for, and be aware of, market
trends. Think of trends as a way to get ahead of the
market by knowing where it is going before it gets there.

27. Market Growth
 Where is the market for your business going? Is it moving in a different
direction from where it has been? How can you use your strengths to
take advantage of this growth?
 Confirmed market growth can enhance the implied value of your
business. It is important to find data which supports your market
estimates. Especially if you will be presenting your plan for outside
funding, look to market research firms, trade associations, or credible
journalists, and include their findings here. The Internet is a great
place to search for this type of content.

28. Industry Analysis
 Here you want to talk about your industry, not just your
company. What type of industry is it? What common
traits best describe the industry? How do businesses in
this industry make, buy, sell, and deliver their products
or services? How do customers for this industry make
their buying decisions? For example, is reputation more
important than price?

29. ”
“Strategy and
Implementation

30. Effective Marketing
 Effective marketing is one of the most important — and
often neglected — factors for small-business success. You
can have the best product in the world, but if you can't
find customers or convince them to try it, your venture
won't get far.
 Fortunately, marketing is mostly common sense, not
rocket science. It's about answering basic questions
about your business. Who has a need for what you offer?
How do you stack up against the competition? How
much will you charge? How will you promote your
products? Will you sell directly or through third parties? The
items below will walk you through those details and more.

31. Marketing Plan
 Overview
 how you differentiate your business from your
competitors;
 how you will communicate that difference;
 how you target your message to the right audience. The
point of your marketing plan is to generate qualified
leads. Your sales plan, which comes later, will address
how to close the sales.

32. Pricing
 What does it cost you to create the product or offer
the service? Will your price cover those costs?
 Will you offer free or low-cost pricing as a promotion?
Will you offer discounts to your loyal customers? What
will these promotions or discounts cost you?
 Is pricing part of how you will position your company to
the market? Does your pricing list support that
positioning message?
 How does your pricing relate to your competitors' price
lists, and pricing in the industry in general?

33. Distribution
 How do your reach your customers?
 How do your customers reach you
 Will your products be delivered to a store (or more
than one store) who will sell to your customers? These
are examples of distribution = getting your products to
your customers for sale.
 Do you need partners?
 What type of distribution do you need? What will it
cost?

34. Milestones
 KEY EVENTS
 When will equipment be shipped and how long will it take to be installed
 How soon will you find the right team
 When do you plan to launch this business
 When will the new product you are developing start generating revenue?
 Identify the milestone events that are strategically important for your
business, and make your best guess at when you will achieve them. Be
careful not to get too granular here.

35. SWOT Analysis
 Strengths
 Start your SWOT analysis by describing the strongest aspects of your
business. What do you do best? What unique or enviable resources do
you have that give you a competitive advantage? Have you
invented a better mousetrap? Do you have a great location in a high-
traffic area? Do all the kids in town wear your T-shirts because your
branding is so hip? Do you make the best pizza in all of Brooklyn
 Remember, strengths aren't always tangible things like equipment or
seed money. Less concrete assets are often just as valuable, things like
existing customer relationships, a reputation for quality and timeliness,
or a strong knowledge of the market.

36. SWOT Analysis
 Weaknesses
 Describe your company's shortcomings as clearly and honestly as you
can. Don't be embarrassed about this. Every business has weak points,
and acknowledging yours is not a sign of weakness itself but a signal
that you are committed to improvement
 Weaknesses, like strengths, should be internal factors that are under
your control. (External market factors will come next in opportunities
and threats.) Also, it sounds counterintuitive, but you may find that
your weaknesses are closely related to your strengths. (BARCELONA)

37. SWOT Analysis
 Opportunities
 Now shift your focus outward from your company to the market and
customer base that you serve.
 What opportunities do you see just waiting for the right company to
come along?.
 Be sure to think about the timing for each opportunity.
 Opportunities are mostly External Factors

38. SWOT Analysis
 Threats
 Identifying the major outside threats to your business.
 What challenges do you face?
 What potential threats are keeping you up at night?
 Be sincere, confident and open in discussing these threats

39. Sales Plan
You create a marketing plan to reach new customers. Your sales plan is
the process to close the deals that your marketing plan opens. You want
your sales plan to explain:
 The steps you follow to close a sale.
 How you reward your salespeople; do they receive a commission for
each sale?
 How you process and track the order once it's received.
 How you keep in contact with your customers throughout the sales
process. Do you store customer information by hand, or on a
computer?
 What is the final step in your sales plan?

40. Sales Forecast
 Prepare Sales Forecast
 Put into words how you decided on the numbers in your sales
forecast.
 What information helped you come up with your numbers?
 Did you start with customers in your target group to estimate your sales?
 Did you use a % to show a rise in sales over time?
 What % did you choose, and why? Will there be higher (or lower) sales at
different times of the year?

41. Others
 Strategic Alliances
 Partners
 Service Providers and Consultants

42. ”
“Operations
Software and Technology
Personnel Plan
Office and Equipment

43. ”
“Financials
Sales Forecast
Cash Flow Assumptions
Budget
Profit and Loss Statement
Loan Portfolio

44. Cash Flow Assumptions
 Chart
 Explain how you came up with the plan's assumptions
on credit sales, payment delays, and other cash flow
details.

45. Budget
 What will it cost to operate your business?
 Remember that any direct costs of sales are entered in the Sales
Forecast table, not here. Those are costs that are directly involved in
creating or delivering your products or services — for example, the
wood to build furniture or the ingredients for recipes at a restaurant.
Direct costs generally go up or down in direct correlation with the
amount you sell. That's why they are included in the sales forecast.
 Include startup expenses — things like up-front lease costs, furniture,
equipment purchases, and so on. You can add them as one-time or
short-term expenses in the early months of your plan. Just be sure they
are included in your budget.

46. Profit and Loss Statement
 The profit and loss statement (also known as the "income statement") is
the most common of the standard financial reports that bankers and
investors will expect to see in your business plan. It shows your revenues,
your expenses, and the difference between the two — that is, your net
profit or "bottom line." Is your company going to make more money
that it spends?

47. Assumptions and Sensitivity
Analysis
 Key variables and assumptions
 Risk Analysis

48. Appendix
 Mini Library of Information
 It holds the entire plan’s supporting documents in a
clear, well-organized fashion.
 The appendix consists of an array of documentation
that ranges from receipts and bank statements to
contracts and inventories. It should be used on an as-
needed basis and include only essential information.
 Financials, Inventory, Loans, Contracts
 Details should be discretionary based on reader

49. Appendix
 Sales Forecast
 Personnel Plan
 Budget
 Profit and Loss Statement

50. 10 Elements of a Good Business
Plan
1. Understanding the Reader
2. Clear and Concise Identification of an Opportunity
3. Very good knowledge of the Market or Customer
4. Understanding Consumer Behaviour
5. Understanding Finance and Money Management
6. Description of Leadership & Management Team
7. Understanding Operational Priorities
8. Well Written Cash Flow Statement: Cash is King
9. Understanding Risk and Assumptions
10. Personal and Professional Investment in the Business

51. 6 Points to Business Success
 Great Products / Services
 Great team
 Reputation
 Market Knowledge
 Financial Planning
 Evolution

52. Questions, Comments
 Business Planning
 What Investors are Interested in
 My Experiences

53. ”
“Thank You