How to Write a Business Plan of the Development of a Company?
Question
Task: Describe a business plan development based on the personal reflection?
Answer
Introduction
This article will provide tips on how to write a business plan. In order to start a business, development of business plan is a necessary part to consider the factors and the important actions that needs to be taken in future. Business plan is documented to decide the aims, objectives, goals, strategies of the business, etc. There are some entrepreneurs who have succeeded without a written business plan but it has more failures as compared to the written ones. It is developed on the basis of real data and beliefs. A thorough analysis of all the factors needs to be considered in order to avoid any loss and to meet the goals. A business cannot be established without a prior a plan. The further parts discusses about how to write a business plan.
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Challenges Faced while Developing A Business Plan:
Business plan is made in order to develop a product or a service and once made it needs to be put up for sale. The choice of place was one of the difficult parts to be decided. I was unable to decide on how to position the product so that it can be easily available and visible to the customers. Due to the busy schedule and the craze of online marketing, I decided on the positioning of the product through some known and well established online sites (Pavlou and Dimoka, 2019). While analyzing the best among all the sites, I zeroed on eBay and Amazon. So the product which was the re-sale of old books was put on display at a discounted price and there were no delivery charges in order to attract more customers.
When the business plan and the positioning has been decided, customer’s needs to be updated about the new product. how to write a business plan is directly influenced by the target audience. There are two types of people, one who looks for brand and the other who looks for quality at a minimum price but in my case, the product is book so avid readers will not go into brand rather they would only need to grab the book they want to read. But still there are some factors which need to be considered while launching the product:
Competition: there is no product today which does not have a substitute or having the same qualities as the other one. People have become loyal to the company and to the product so to change their preference is tough. A new entrant in the market cannot meet the type of pricing and advertising being done by an established company in turn facing a tough competition to create a space in the market (Moe and Yang, 2009).
Technology: due to the stiff competition companies are using different technologies in order to cope up with the demands of the customers. This stiff competition leads to many content developers asking how to write a personal reflection? So retailers are looking at eBay and Amazon to sale their products as they have been using the best and upgraded technologies in order to meet the on growing demands of the customers.
Uncertainty: any type of marketing may fail in today’s changing behavior and customer patterns. Today a customer may need to read a book but tomorrow the same customer may look for a movie on the same book in order to save the time. So investment in the form of reselling the old books needs to be given a second thought.
Financing: making and selling a new product requires a lot of investment depending upon its demand which may change at any point of time. So the amount of investment needs to be decided while making a business plan in order to avoid any future loss.
Some common concerns on how to write a business plan:
While writing the personal reflection, I could find that there are a number of reasons leading to difficulties while making a business plan which has been discussed below:
Unrealistic assumptions: preference and trend cannot be considered as static. It changes with the pace of time. So any new product being launched is based upon assumptions which may prove unreal if it is not accepted by the customer.
Inadequate research: a lot of research is required before developing a business plan and in case the plan is developed without an adequate research then the business may suffer a setback. One should know on how to reflect one’s personal thinking. Extensive research and deep knowledge about the market condition and the choice of people throws a challenge while developing the plan (Kanchana, Divya and Beegom, 2013).
Balancing quality with growth: quality and growth cannot go hand in hand in any business. One has to be compromised in order to make profits or to manage the investments. A business plan can state to achieve quality along with growth but in the actual world it is difficulty to be managed.
What are the options available to control the challenges faced while writing a personal reflection plan?
The challenges stated above can be controlled by following the below points while developing the business plan:
Step I: Identifying the various options on how to write a business plan effectively: first and the foremost task are to decide on how to sell the product, whether it is to be sold in the market or through some online channels. The benefits and drawbacks of both forms of selling are to be identified. The pricing, discount and offers needs to be checked. Keeping in mind all the factors the best option can be chosen.
Step II: Measuring the feasibility of each option to the business: the options identified above needs to be analyzed in order to measure its feasibility and to understand its advantages and the profit involved along with the expected results.
Step III: Realizing the targets of the business: an entrepreneur needs to have clarity on targets to be achieved when introducing a new business. Selection of best option depends upon the target to be achieved so in the like manner terms of business, its products, services, market size, etc. should also be realized.
Step IV: Selecting the best option for the business: choosing the best option depends upon the requirements as well as the product details. The initiation of the plan depends upon the different opportunities available in the market. Every detail needs to be taken into account while developing the plan.
Step V: Developing the business plan: at this stage the business plan needs to be developed basis the selected option. All the factors that may affect the business need to be considered while making the plan along with the real situations that may arise while preparing the plan (Delmar and Shane, 2003).
Step VI: how to write a business plan: in order to test the application of the plan, a pilot application would be helpful in getting an insight about the plan. The success and failure may be tested with such an application to understand whether it meets the modern day demand or not.
Step VII: Considering feedback and suggestions: today big businesses are considering feedback and suggestions being given by their customers to make improvements in their products and services. So while applying a business plan factors like feedback, suggestions, expectations of the customers can be used (Abrams and Doerr, 2010).
Step VIII: Reaching out to the best conclusion: after considering and analyzing all the suggestions and feedbacks, the best and fair conclusion can be drawn.
Step IX: Making appropriate changes in the business plan: at this stage the entrepreneur is ready to make any changes which will be appropriate for the business plan. The incorrect assumptions considered initially can be eliminated with the new introduction of the new ones basis the feedback and suggestions received (Al-Najjar, Anderlini and Felli, 2002).
Step X: Finalizing the business plan: after all the above points have been considered along with the required changes basis the feedback and suggestions, the personal reflection on the plan has to be finalized. The plan can be written with detailed information about the things and details that need to be considered and followed in the business plan.
Lesson Learnt on how to write a business plan:
One of the obvious lessons learnt by me while developing the business plan is that we may have a number of business ideas but the actual test lies in its development which involves a lot of research and factors to be considered (Wadhwa et al., 2009). One should be in a position to critically analyze the personal reflection written by him/her. The below points needs to be considered while developing a successful business idea:
Foreign perspective: before writing a personal reflection about the plan, one should express the idea of such plan with a third person. We may deem something profitable from our point of view but the other may not. So a person with no interest or a person who has an expertise in the same field of business can help you in working out the plan with an unbiased intention.
Documented Planning: the plan has to be in a written form and it should include a personal reflection covering all the factors and aspects that may lead to the success of the business. Aims, objectives, financing, etc. should be clear and specific. A plan which is verbally made cannot incorporate all the factors, feedback or suggestions, some or the other point will get skipped during implementation. When everything is documented then you are in a better position to identity the next plan of action and to write a piece of article titled, ‘How to write a personal reflection about a business plan’ (Honig and Karlsson, 2004).
Time management: while developing the plan, every action should have a fixed time that is the completion time for each and every activity needs to be decided and fixed.
Budget: budget plays an important role in deciding the type of business plan being implemented. If you have sufficient budget then the plan can involve some risks but if you have a tight budget then the option of taking risks cannot be thought of.
Competition/Trend/Pricing: some factors that influence how to write a business plan. You need to know the competition that you will and you may face in the business along with the pricing strategies being considered by the competitors and accordingly plan out to deal with them. The changing trends needs to be analyzed so that the changes can be made in the plan accordingly (Beaver and Prince, 2004).
Feedback and suggestions: these needs to be listened and incorporated without being egoistic. Some people may not like your plan and will provide you some suggestions or options that can be replaced with the present one, do not simply reject it rather think about it (Pavlou and Dimoka, 2019).
Target Audience: the personal reflection plan needs to be made targeting a specific group of people. Their taste and preferences is to be analyzed in order to render the type of product they are looking for.
Regular improvement: there should be a scope for amending the business plan as and when required to meet the goals and objectives. The most appropriate plan among all is to be adopted.
Unforeseen Contingencies: these events are those which could not be seen while making the plan. A personal reflective plan needs to have a backup plan in case of occurrence of such events for e.g. if there is a requirement of funds then there should be scope of investing the required funds or there is a change in the trend then there should be a scope to incorporate the changes (Al-Najjar, Anderlini and Felli, 2002).
Realistic Assumptions: assumptions needs be based on some real facts as they have been tested with time. Generalized and unreasonable assumptions may lead to lose in the business. Though the plan is a personal reflection but planning should always be practical.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that business plan is built to decide how a product is to be brought into the market and the steps that a company needs to achieve in order to successfully operate in the market. The present study has dealt with different stages, issues, challenges and the solution to meet the challenges being faced at the time of developing the present work on how to write a business plan. The reflective business plan cannot be based on some unreal assumptions rather it needs to consider real situations being faced by other entrepreneurs. I have experienced that a plan can only be accomplished when all the factors has been taken into consideration. A backup plan in case of unforeseen events should be kept in order to avoid any loss and factors affecting the business should be identified beforehand. Keeping in mind all the factors and assumptions, the business plan can be implemented. how to write a personal reflection or business plan effectively can be understood when you are determined to achieve success and growth.
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Reference List
Abrams S and Doerr J. (2010). Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies (Successful Business Plan Secrets and Strategies) Planning Shop.
Al-Najjar, N., Anderlini, L and Felli, L.(2002). Unforeseen Contingencies. LSE STICERD Research Paper No. TE431. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1160983
Beaver, G. and Prince, C. (2004). Management, strategy and policy in the UK small business sector: a critical review. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development. how to write a personal reflection. 11(1), pp.34-49.
Delmar, F. and Shane, S. (2003). Does business planning facilitate the development of new ventures?. Strategic Management Journal, 24(12), pp.1165-1185.
Honig, B. and Karlsson, T. (2004). Institutional forces and the written business plan. Journal of Management, 30(1), pp.29-48.
Kanchana R.S., Divya J.V. and Beegom A.A. (2013). Challenges faced by new entrepreneurs. International Journal of Current Research and Academic Review, 1(3), pp.71-78
Moe, W. and Yang, S. (2009). Inertial Disruption: The Impact of a New Competitive Entrant on Online Consumer Search. Journal of Marketing, 73(1), pp.109-121.
Pavlou, P. and Dimoka, A. (2019). Institutional Feedback Technologies in Online Marketplaces: An Investigation of Feedback Text Comments, Trust, and Price Premiums. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2380738 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2380738
Wadhwa, V., Aggarwal, R., Holly, K. and Salkever, A. (2009). Making of A Successful Entrepreneur: Anatomy of an Entrepreneur. [ebook] Kauffman Foundation. how to write a personal reflection.
Available at: https://www.academia.edu/2841417/Making_of_A_Successful_Entrepreneur_Anatomy_of_an_Entrepreneur_Part_II [Accessed 20 Dec. 2019].