Elements of a business plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Elements of a business plan - Essay Example Elements of a business plan Starting a business enterprise is a process that requires concerted efforts in order for the initiative to be a success. As such, this report seeks to critically evaluate the reasons why it is important for a new start up business to create a comprehensive business plan. Basically, a business plan is an outline of a business idea which seeks to justify the reason behind starting that particular business. Internally, the business plan helps to shape direction upon which the organisation will operate and externally, it helps in linking with the stakeholders. In order to establish the significance of a comprehensive business plan in a start up business, it is imperative to begin by explaining the meaning of planning which is regarded as the key term in this discussion in order to gain a full understanding of the whole concept. â€Å"Planning includes defining goals, establishing strategy and developing plans to coordinate activities†. In the same vein, Bates et al (2006) concur with this idea when they state that planning which is concerned with generation of ideas is regarded as the starting point of establishing a business as well as managing it. In actual fact, before starting a business, one needs to determine in advance the goals to be achieved as well as to visualise likely result of the objectives for the business enterprise. Therefore, it can be safely said that planning is a process whereby objectives are decided upon and developing the plans to reach them as well as to coordinate other activities. Planning can be said to be very important in a business venture because it gives people in a particular organisation an idea of the direction in which business will be going. 2. Strategic objectives A comprehensive business plan is very important in every business given that it outlines the objectives of that particular business venture. Essentially, every business is in existence because of a purpose. In most cases, the major aim of business is to generate profits through revenue that is generated from its operations (Armstrong & Kotler, 2004). Basically, the objectives of the business venture are clearly stated in its mission statement and are emphasised in the vision of the organisation. The mission of the organisation clearly outlines the purpose of a particular business and this is where objectives are also stated. The vision of any business enterprise is to detail the plans as well as the measures that can be taken in order to achieve the set goals. This may not be possible without a comprehensive bu siness plan which details the measures as well as the steps that can be taken towards attainment of the set goals. 3. Market analysis Planning is very important because it gives the people in the organisation an idea of the direction in which the business is going (Bates, 2006). However, there are likely problems to be encountered during the operations of the business enterprise given that it operates in an environment that is characterised by various factors. As such, a comprehensive business plans details a critical analysis of the environment in which the organisation is operating. In this case, a SWOT analysis is very important since constitutes the comprehensive plan of the