Structure of a Business Plan

1. Executive Summary
2. Product description and distinctive value
3. Market potential
4. Competition
5. Business model and financial plan
6. Management team and organization 
7. State development and implementation plan
8. Strategic Alliances
9. Marketing and Sales Strategy
10.Principales risks and exit strategies

1. Executive Summary

The purpose of an executive summary is to capture the interest of potential investors, it should contain a brief summary of the most important aspects of the business plan.

The main elements to include are:

- The business idea: its exclusivity on existing products / services.
- Target audience: main features and fits the profile of Internet users.
- Value of the product / service to this target audience.
- Market size and expected growth.
- Competitive Environment.
- Current stage of product development, specifying the additional development needs to be done.
- Investment required.
- Key milestones during the operation of the business
- Objectives medium to long term.

2. Product description and distinctive value

This chapter should contain a detailed explanation of the basic concept and characteristics of the product or service to offer.

Product Overview

- Basic Features
- Technological support
- Origin of business idea

Distinctive value for consumers:

- Target to be targeted and needs met.
- Specification of unique and distinctive value of the new product or service to be launched from the perspective of the customer, explaining the difference with the current supply of products from other market competitors.

3. Market potential

Market

- Description of the market.
- Size of market (sales volume, profitability, etc.).
- Degree of consolidation.
- Key success factors in this market.
- Barriers to entry and exit.
- Evolution and Growth.
- Rhythm of historical and future growth.
- Trends.

Target

- Customer segmentation based on criteria bjectives.
- Size of market for each customer segment.
- Major growth factors in each segment.
- Percentage of number of customers to capture on the market volume.
- Sales volume by segment.
- Expected profitability of each market segment.
- More attractive market segment.
- Key factors in consumers’ purchases.

4. Competition

Barriers to entry

- Competitors exist.
- Comparison of these based on the following parameters: sales volume, prices, growth, market share, positioning, product lines, customer segmentation, distribution channels, customer service.
- Strategies of competitors: target audience, marketing strategies.
- Description of your strengths and weaknesses.
- Competitive advantage over competitors.
- Potential reaction of your competitors with the launch of new business.

5. Business model and financial plan

Not only must the distinctive value of the product is capable of generating a sufficient base of customers, but must explain how they extract value. Details of all income lines. Where appropriate specify what has been proven.

Financial Plan

Fundamental requirements of financial planning are:

- Income statement: specifying the items of Income-stay and costs with its underlying assumptions (It is very important to justify the assumptions of revenue growth and cost incurred, a good indicator is the comparison and justification of these same parameters in accordance with market growth.
- Projections of cash flow, specifying when it will reach breakeven (after generating positive cash flow).
- Balance.
- Forecasts of 3 to 5 years, at least one year after the breakeven.
- Assessment of the company.
- Funding needs.

The Financial Plan should be detailed for the first two years (monthly or quarterly) and annually thereafter. All figures must be based on reasonable assumptions: only the major must be reasonable in the Business Plan.

6. Management team and organization

Management Team

This section is the second in which investors are usually set after the executive summary, they want to know if the team is Capable of conducting the business: “I invest in people, not ideas.”

A strong management team must have a common vision and complementary skills.

This chapter should contain:

- Members of the management team profile: education, experience, success in the workplace.
- Experience or skills of the management team necessary to carry out the project: what skills / experiences have team members that make possible the implementation and management of new business. How does it fit your profile with changing business needs.
- Capacities that are missing: detailing how they intend to cover and by whom.
- Mission / objectives pursued by the management team when setting up your business: what is their true motivation.

What investors are looking

- Has the team worked together before? - Do you have significant work experience prior? Founders Are aware of their weaknesses and will be able to do them in front?
- Are the founders clear their future roles? Are they clear the% of capital?
- Are they full time in the future project?
- Are all members a common goal, or are there discrepancies?

Organigram

- Description of the main functions, people, responsibilities … You need to assign what are the responsibilities of each team member and what is the system of delegation that is established.
- The organizational design must allow for the flexibility of the organization, adaptable to new circumstances and high growth.

7. State development and implementation plan

State of development of product / service

All investors will want to minimize their risk, therefore we must give a detailed explanation of the progress of the business idea.

Technological development: stage at which it falls (developed, under development …). If there is a prototype developed should be submitted, or if you could test the product before a consumer pilot must present the results.

Implementation Plan

A plan is needed for all activities necessary to launch the company as well as to identify the actual funding needs.

- Schedule of Implementation: Main activities and responsibilities.
- Major milestones: time to reach them, and interconnections with other activities.
- Major interconnections between the various working groups (marketing, operations …)

8. Strategic Alliances

Many, with whom, degree of development of these relations, conditions, etc..

9. Marketing and Sales Strategy

This paragraph should basically contain two sections: the positioning / product differentiation and marketing strategy to follow to achieve the objectives of traffic and billing set.

Positioning

- Type of position: description of the distinctive features of the product against the competition: perception clientee distinctive or unique.
- Differentiation: as expected to maintain that position over time.

Marketing strategy

This section should specify what will be the strategy to continue to attract many visitors wanted and what will be its cost.

In the marketing strategy should detail:

- Main types used for communication between online and offline.
- Interlocultores or service providers that seek to work: advertising companies, companies selling banners.
- Cost of user acquisition and retention.

If this is a new business, it must detail how it intends to conduct the launch campaign, detailing the means they use. Once explained it is necessary to describe the programs set to continue the customer acquisition and retention of existing ones. It is very important in the Internet market have acquisition and loyalty programs that allow very strong with growth expected to continue

Goal metrics

This section should provide a summary of the ambitions of the business as the main operating and sales volumes in the future.

- Objectives of traffic in the short to medium term.
- Unique Visitors (reach on the market that implies).
- Registered Users.
- Page views.

10. Key risks and exit strategies

Risks

We could distinguish two types of risks: market themselves and the intrinsics of the project itself.

Basic risks affecting the market:

- Growth lower than expected.
- Uncertainty own the high tech sector, which can lead to significant discontinuities in short periods of time.
- Cost more than expected.
- Risks of the business itself.
- Entry unexpected competitor.
- Lack of fit between the product and needs to cover the target.

In assessing the risks that may affect the business, it must include concrete measures to address those risks and an alternative valuation of the company to differ if some of the key parameters of the model, such as user growth rate etc..

Contingency Strategies

In any business plan is necessary to include a chapter including any possible contingency strategies in case the business does not meet the objectives are.

Some of the most common contingency strategies include:

- Alliance with any major global leaders in the Internet environment or a consortium of them.
- Total or partial sale of the company to a company’s most powerful industry that can drive the growth of the company.
- Sale or exploitation of the technology and patents.
- Sale of the customer base.