A business plan, explicit or implicit, is the blueprint of your business. So it is different for each business. Below are some general questions to answer. In my experience working with start-ups and existing businesses, I find the best place to start is to graphically represent the business as a business model. It is far easier for everyone to understand the business when viewed as a graphic, and to build on. I like to use an adapted version of Gassman, Frankenberger, and Csik (2014) “magic triangle” framework (below) as it provides a simple, easy to understand graphic of the information needed to create a business plan and model with the focus on the view from your customer’s perspective of the value you provide. Each corner of the triangle and the centre can be developed with more information as your research develops. The details can easily transfer into a business plan and an interesting pitch deck for those presentations to potential investors. Simply fill in the four circles. Who is your target market, what value are you providing your target market, how will you provide it, at what cost, price, and mark-up (pricing model)? Now build onto your initial answers for each circle providing much more detail as you progress. Detail comes from your knowledge of your business and experience. It also comes from thorough research and analysis. For example:
These are some of the questions to answer. Once answered add the information you accumulate to the different triangle circles. Show you know your business, market, and finances. Now you can easily transfer the information from the graphic into a old format business plan with headings such as described by SmartAsset Top 10 Components of a Business Plan - SmartAsset In the current business environment, the best way to deal with customers who can’t afford your service is to be creative with your pricing model and come up with a solution that they can afford or at least a win-win situation. Here is an example. Netflix offers a subscription you can get out of at any time. The monthly subscription is easier for everyone to pay rather than a lump sum. They also offer different levels of subscription so subscribers can make a selection based on what they can afford and feel the service is worth to them without going down the illegal download route. A win-win situation. Another example is Microsoft Office. A few years back many Microsoft users could no longer afford to purchase software as a once-off payment. The high costs encouraged piracy or adoption of open source options causing significant losses for Microsoft. A win-win situation today is Microsoft offering their up to date software on an affordable subscription basis.
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