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Key takeaways
- A business plan can help you balance short-term performance with long-term planning.
- Having a detailed business plan is essential if you want to apply for lending from a bank.
- ANZ offers easy-to-use tools and templates to assist you in creating or updating your business plan.
- Talking to a trusted accountant can also help you get started.
When you’re running a small business, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and lose sight of your long-term goals.
That’s where a business plan comes in. A business plan gives your business structure and helps you stay on track as you grow. It’s a tool for identifying and managing risks, and for reviewing what’s working and what’s not. But most of all it’s a way of making sure you know where you’re going – and what you need to do to get there.
What is a business plan?
Put simply, a business plan is a document that contains the who, what, how and why of your business.
When you’re creating your own business plan, you’ll consider everything from business ownership structure to brand purpose, financial forecasts, business operations, risk management and marketing strategy.
While that might sound intimidating, the goal isn’t perfection – it's a way of getting the important information down in one place and giving yourself an opportunity to think strategically about your business.
If you’re not sure where to begin, a good place to start is talking to a trusted accountant. They’ll be able to give you a sense of where your business is at and what a realistic growth plan might look like.
Helpful ANZ resources:
- Which business structure is right for you?
- Developing a business risk management plan
- Six reasons your business needs an accountant
Why every business needs a plan
Your business plan should sit at the centre of your business operations. Whether you’re starting, running or growing your business, a business plan is a way of measuring your progress – are you reaching your targets or do you need to make adjustments to your approach?
From a financial standpoint, a business plan can help you forecast revenue, manage expenses and cash flow, and plan for profitability.
Business plans also help you show credibility. Lenders and investors will typically ask to see a business plan that includes details of your financial performance and market positioning before approving loan applications.
Business plans are also handy when navigating the inevitable challenges that come with running your own business.
By establishing your company’s priorities, you’ll be well set up to respond to complex decisions or unexpected circumstances that come your way. And by actively thinking about risk from an early stage, you’ll be better prepared to manage difficult situations.
Helpful ANZ resources:
How to make your own business plan
Every business is different and there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all business plan. If you’re looking for some advice on how to take the first step, here are a few resources to help you put together a plan that works for you.
- Talk to an accountant to help you better understand your financial position.
- Check out the templates, calculators and checklists on our small business tools page.
- Explore the business planning advice and templates at business.gov.au.
It’s also important to remember that a business plan is a living document – you should make time to revisit your plan at least once a year to make sure that it still reflects the performance and priorities of your business.
What to include in your business plan
While your own business plan should reflect the unique parts of your business, there are some common features that you may want to consider including:
Business summary
Provide a short description and history of your business, setting out where you’ve come from, what you do, why you’re different, what you’ve achieved so far and where you plan to go next.
Objectives
Set down your aims as a business over the coming years. Include four-to-six clear and achievable outcomes, whether it’s more income, better margins, new management structures or facilities, product development, more employees or anything else that makes sense for your business. Jot down the steps you’ll need to take to make these a reality.
It’s important to make sure that your business plan is both professional and grounded. Being unable to meet overly ambitious targets will damage your credibility with lenders and investors and could leave you unprepared if your income is unable to keep up with your overheads.
Market analysis
What market do you operate in, who are you selling to, and who is your competition? Create customer profiles, provide your analysis of market trends and set out your competitive advantages (and disadvantages).
Helpful ANZ resources:
- Tips to define your competitive advantage
- Tips on using market research to make decisions for your small business
Sales and pricing
How do sales work for your company? Are they frequent and small or occasional and large? Describe your pricing rationale and analyse the cost effectiveness of different sales channels. Where do you think you can find savings in the future?
Helpful ANZ resources:
Financial performance
The big question – how is your business actually going? Include profit and loss data from the past few years and note any positive or negative trends. Translate these into clearly reasoned forecasts of future performance, making sure to include any financing you plan on taking out and how this will affect your bottom line.
Helpful ANZ resources:
- Small business cash flow management and forecasting
- Small business profit and loss forecasts and templates
Operations
How does your business work? Describe your management structure, along with average employee salaries, productivity levels and retention rates, and compare them to industry averages. Explain where your business operates, what equipment and recruiting you need and how your digital infrastructure works. Are there risks involved and how are you managing them?
Marketing strategy
How are you positioning your business in the marketplace? What channels are you using, how much are you spending and how many new customers do you expect to bring in?
Helpful ANZ resources:
Start planning for your business future
Ready to begin or update your business plan? Get started with our simple Business Plan Template.
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