A simple business plan helps you think through the practicality of your concept by reminding you of your target audience, reflecting your focus, and keeping the statistics in check. New firms are sprouting up overnight as a result of the flood of bright ideas from clever young brains — growing revenue models that were previously unimaginable — finally directed by savvy investors. The trick is to get the ball going immediately and in the proper direction. So, regardless of whether your business concept is a Social Enterprise (For-Profit, For-smart) or anything else, a business plan is a smart approach to establish the idea's viability.
If you are drafting a Business Plan for the Hult Prize Case Challenge or any other Incubator/Accelerator, here are some things to consider:
1.issue Statement (issue your consumers face)
2. Your Solution (Product/Service)
3. Business Model (How You Will Earn Money)
4. Target Market (who is your consumer and how many of them exist)
5. GoToMarket Plan (How will you reach 10, 100, and 1000+ customers?)
6. Competitive Landscape (Existing Solutions and Advantages).
7. Management Team (How You Will Manage The Business)
8. Financial Summary (Costs, Revenues, Break-even, Five-Year Projections)
9. Funding necessary (Funding necessary for a 12-18 month runway).
10. Milestones and Future Roadmap
If you are new to Business Models, this 20-minute video can transform your life.
Getting From Business Idea to Business Model is a step-by-step approach for creating a business model that will help you attract clients and investors.
Identify a worthwhile market problem.Every business addresses a problem, and your startup should be no exception. Talk to others about the problem to ensure that it is large and significant enough to address, and then put it to the test by asking friends and strangers.
Define your target customer's persona. If you don't know what a persona is, see Pragmatic Marketing or HubSpot Academy. Then, create an accurate key persona for your product. Knowing your persona is essential for understanding how to engage your target audience.
Describe how you solved the challenge for that persona.Write a brief paragraph that begins with "The solution to this problem is …".
Describe the product.The answer to a problem differs from your offering, thus you must provide a separate description of your product or service. Consider your product description to be the opening paragraph of a landing page that converts visitors into leads.
Describe your product's characteristics in bullet points.Some people refer to this as marketecture - the top three to seven aspects of your product that will appeal to your target audience.
Know how you intend to get consumers.Direct salesforce or channel sales? Marketing-generated leads or referrals? Paid advertising or inbound marketing? Are there any significant collaborations that need to be formed? This is the foundation of your go-to-market plan.
Figure out how the economy works. This is a critical stage that many businesses overlook. You'll need to specify how much someone will pay for your product and how much it will cost you to manufacture (cost of goods sold, or COGS). Divide the two to obtain the gross margin, and make sure it is appropriate for your industry.
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