In this last and ninth part of the series of our ‘Navigating the world of entrepreneurship – How ready are you to start a business?’, we look at creating a one-page business plan.

This step includes information on how to prepare your presentation deck or ‘one-page business plan’ that can be used to build a team, partners, source funding and investment.

You may often hear from business experts and advisors how important it is to have a business plan when starting a business. However, many entrepreneurs find the task of preparing a business plan daunting! You may also be wondering whether to prepare one for your business and whether it’s necessary at any stage of your business to have a business plan for in place.

As you may or may not be aware, many business advisors and experts usually encourage entrepreneurs to have a business plan in place as they believe that business plans serve as your ‘roadmap’ to guide you as well as help you stay focused as you navigate the world of business.

You may not require an extensive business plan right from the start. This is mainly because as you navigate the world of business there are maybe aspects of your business that may change either slightly or significantly. Hence this may lead to changes to your existing business plan which can be time consuming.

However, you can overcome this problem by simply opting for a ‘one-page business plan’ that is precise and easy to prepare and use. Besides the one-page business plan may also serve as a simple and quick presentation deck for you to share with prospective investors or individuals who may be interested in investing in your business or becoming partners.

Therefore a one-page business plan serves as a pitch document or deck for your business.

A one page business plan or presentation deck may include vital information about your business which include the following:

Business summary –This is where you briefly provide a compelling paragraph about your business or idea. Remember to include your business, company name or logo above the summary.

The problem – This is where you explain what problem you’ve identified and are trying to solve.

The solution – This is where you explain what solution you’ve come up with to try and solve the problem.

Product or service – This is where you would provide an overview of your products or service that you’ve created as a solution to these problems.

Timeline – Provide a simple timeline to highlight where your product or service is at.

Target market – This is where you briefly describe who your target customers are, their profiles and persona.

Market size – Briefly describe the size of the market including such information as the total market demand for your product or service; the portion of the market that you hope to acquire; and an estimate of the market share that your product or service can gain.

Competitors – Briefly describe who your ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ competitors are.

Competitors advantage – This is where you briefly describe what makes you different from others including your competitors and what makes your product, service or business better than them.

Traction or data metrics – This is where you provide a brief or a summary of how you measure the progress of your product or service such as sales revenue, number of subscribers, website traffic, social media followers or metrics and mailing list sign-ups.

Business model or revenue – Briefly explain what your business or revenue model is. This should include how your business plans to make money.

Team – Briefly introduce yourself, individuals or the team behind your business. Here you may only need to focus on key individuals or team who are essential to your business. It may only be you or you may need to involve outsourced individuals or team.

Financials – Briefly provide a summary of most crucial financial information for your business including costs, resources, distribution and marketing etc. You may also need to use a chart, graph and financial forecasts.

Goals or future plans – This is where you briefly explain what your next steps and goals are including what you would like to achieve over the next few months, quarter, year or five years.

Contact information – This is where you provide details on how people interested in your products, services or business may contact you. Also include useful links such as website address, social media channels etc.

Conclusion

Starting your own business can be quite a challenging and yet exciting journey. Without exploring and determining whether your business is viable would cost time and money, particularly if you are starting on your own with little or without money.

This bite size and quick 9 step-by-step guide contained useful information to help you as you navigate the world of entrepreneurship. The step-by-step approach suggested in this quick guide may not work for some individuals and businesses who apply them. Therefore it is only intended as an alternative approach that you can use to start your own business without wasting too much of your time and money!

We hope you found the above information enjoyable but most of all helpful!

If you’ve missed any of the series of our ’Navigating the world of entrepreneurship – How ready are you to start a business?’, discover them here.