By Wesley Ngwenya
Tip #1: Excellent Executive Summary
An Executive Summary can be a combination of both the background and introduction. You must write an effective and compelling Executive Summary. It will ensure that you and whomever reads your plan can instantly grasp what your overall projected business picture will look like. This is an overview. It addresses the who, what, where, when, why and how. It must be strong and fabulous.
Tip #2: Assess Your Skills, Abilities and Experience
It is very important to know what your skills, abilities and hobbies are. Your business is likely to be successful if you can transform these skills into ventures that can earn you money. This helps you focus on your strengths and not weaknesses. In your business plan, you need to clearly outline what your skills are and what other partners are also bringing whether it is in the form of skill or experience. Address the three Es. These are experience, expertise and examples. What is your experience in doing this kind of business? What exactly is your expertise and how will you be tapping into the expertise of others? Do you have any successful examples of how you the best person to run this business venture?
Tip #3: Realize the Risk of Business
Getting involved into business is also risk business. Remember that your business will need your undivided attention. This means you will risk money, you will risk time, you will risk personal resources, and you will risk your energy. Remember there is no sweet before you sweat. You clearly need to determine how you will ensure that your vision is sustained and your morale is high as you get into writing a business plan and implementing it.
Tip #4: Know your Competitors
Know your competitors by name. Where they are located, who are their managers, the varieties of products they offer, their prices, their discounts, their strengths, their weaknesses, and any other relevant information. Research, research and do more research!
Tip #5: Know your Customers
Know what kind of people are going to buy your product and service. Are you going to get the same customers as those of your competitors? Or are you entirely creating a new customer base? Do you know the demographics of your customers—their age, income, where they live, lifestyle, etc? I am often disappointed when I help clients writing business plans because they seem never to have a target customer base in mind. I often encourage them to have a target market and design their products to meet the needs of that market.
Tip #6: Have a Marketing Strategy
It is important to develop a step-by-step plan on how you are going to enter the market. Put up a plan on how you are going to compete favorably on the market. Are you going to be price-driven or service-driven? Marketing strategy is the pillar of the business plan. Many small businesses in Zambia have failed because our entrepreneurs lack the skills of marketing and the spirit of resilience.
Tip #7: Have a Start-Up Budget
Ensure that you have put aside a specific amount of money for the business. Whether this money is borrowed or is from your pocket. The start-up budget should clearly be reflected in the business plan.
Tip #8: Put up a Strong Management Team
The people that are going to run your business are very important. They are like builders. The blueprint is already done and all the materials are already gathered. Now the huge task to making all these materials transformed into a lovely building remains on the shoulders of the builders. The management team needs to know what to do every time. Ensure that your management team knows what your expectations are. Give them goals to meet. Do not tolerate any slackers.
Tip #9: Do a Cash-flow Analysis
This is perhaps the most important part of your business plan. If you are borrowing money or looking for potential investors or business partners, this is where they will first look at. A cash-flow analysis determines what your revenues will be, what your costs will be and what profits you will be making over a predetermined period. Cash-flows are the blueprints of the business plan.
Tip #10: Utilize Professional Services
In order to come up with a compelling business plan it is important that you use professional help. Consult a professional business plan writer, a banker and a lawyer so that they can help you put all the loose ends together. It will cost you but it is worth every Kwacha spent. Remember cheap is expensive.
This weekend 2nd April, 2011 we are hosting a workshop on “Creating Investment Opportunities for Entrepreneurs”. This is a great opportunity for those in Lusaka to network with other businesspeople. During this time, I will be helping those who would like to write a business plan in order to raise capital. My other colleagues will also be sharing on other topics. Feel free to contact me for more information. Wes_ngwenya AT yahoo DOT com
GREAT ADVICE.
ALSO REMEMBER GUYS, DOWNLOAD BUSINESS PLAN PRO AND YOU’LL NEVER GO WRONG.
ZAMBIANS WE MUST CHANGE OUR COUNTRY, WE SHOULD NOLONGER WAIT FOR OTHERS TO DO IT FOR US.
ICHALO TULE SENDA, WINDS OF CHANGE ARE GATHERING
THANKS
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm……………………? Cool though all business students have done this already,maybe its directed at PF kaponya’s but again they cant write.
The problem in zambia is that there is so much license to be acquired when starting a business more than 6 licenses.
This is copy and paste stuff that we have already read on the internet. Give us a real life scenario of someone and how they went about with it, how it went, lessons learnt etc. I hope Wesley Ngwenya is a successful businessman otherwise it will be like those witchdoctors advertising get rich concoctions when they are staying beneath the flyover bridge.
# 4, It does not mean only doctors who have been sick are the ones who should treat. You went to school in order to advise others to run businesses even if you have never been an entreprenuer. This is the reason you have achieved so much academically and your Grade one teacher has remained with a graduate certificate. Our grandparents gave us valuable advice about how to rise to the top and yet they remained in the village. It is not in the practice but in the wisdom where we find value.
Kapdi is still kicking it in Kapiri? wow! Pa Kapdi
Its so childish that some of these characters are masters at criticizing, yet they never offer any original ideas of their own. I was taught a business plan years back and yet I find these tips very refreshing. Learn how to give credit where’s its due, banyamazai imwe.
PF Kaponya’s can’t understand a thing about business plans that’s why they are surely the ones negative about this. For those that missed the news, the Kaponya’s style of leadership was at peak in Chingola on Saturday when the Seprpent ordered the Mayor to go down on his knees and apologize in public for have demolished illegal houses in some compound! and the kaponya mayor had no guts but do as ordered by his master! What a Zambia it would be if the SataN was to go to State House. Surprisingly the serpent himself did exactly the same when he was Local government minister in the Chiluba gov. but atleast FTJ had the decency not to ask the serpent to do the same but just reprimanded him in private which is what a leader should do.
#1, ICHALO TULE SENDA, WINDS OF CHANGE ARE GATHERING
Mulesenda ichalo kuli banani? It’s as if the country is in the hands of foreigners.
That is where PF slogans are ridiculous. If the slogan is to have any meaning it can only mean that you want to give the country to Mr Sata as a personal property, God forbid!.
@ 4, great stuff.
This great information…Thank you Mr. Ngwenya for sharing with us this expensive information. Zambians, we must take up the challenge.
No 4 learn to give credit, not. Just condemning anyhow like your fellow politicians
#4 shame on you
great write up
This is just an additional advice more of such tips are given time and again by the likes of chibamba kanyama & felix galamukani banda every week on muvi tv and wind matoka from ZDA
as well as kennedy musonda 4th dimesion.Now the question is are the Zambian implementing
this advice or it’s being head and read on paper and television? we should also ask ourselves why
is it foreigners like indians,chinese & somalians are doing it more than us zambians?? or are we
just good at talking without action?if that the case then we just have to blame ourselves.
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