Drafting A Persuasive Home-Business Plan

Contributed by Jennifer Goldman

Simply put, a home-business plan allows you to translate your dream into action. By laying out your concept, what you hope to achieve, and how you plan to achieve it—all in logically organized detail—you can show potential investors what a valuable and lucrative role your business will play in the market. You can also use your business plan as means of determining the feasibility of your objectives, since it will force you to map out both your long- and short-term goals and recognize beforehand, where problems may arise. That way you can readjust your plan or take preventative measures that will decrease projected risks.

Once you’ve started your home business, you and your management team can use your business plan as an operations manual on an ongoing basis. Keep in mind that your business plan should be carefully researched and provide a realistic picture of your home business’s management, financial requirements, projected profits, marketing, and more. Creating a business plan will seriously up your chances for success since it will function as the road map to achieving your dream.

Specifically, your home-business plan should include these items:

Front Page–Your business plan should start with a cover page that contains contact information including your name, the business’s name, its physical address, and its mailing address if different. The front page of your business plan should also provide the business’s phone number, fax number, the date the plan was composed, and the date it is being distributed.

Statement of Objective–The statement of objective is one of the most crucial elements of your business plan. This section offers a detailed explanation of the most important points of your business plan. It illustrates what you intend to achieve, and just as important, it communicates what exceptional characteristics your business possesses that will make achieving those goals possible.

Your statement of objective should propose and sell your concept not only by highlighting those characteristics that will make it a success, but also by talking briefly about how you can realistically put your plan into action. Your course of action will later be defined further in the “Stages of Action” section of your business plan.

Background–This component details your professional experience/qualifications as well as the history of your company, which in this case, involves whatever business development you’ve been doing thus far on your new company’s behalf. You may also want to provide the professional history of the members of your management team. You can either include your resumes in the business plan packet, or for each of your colleagues, you can write a short narrative bio. While this section should focus on your professional experience, it wouldn’t hurt to throw in a few personal details, as long as you’re putting your best foot forward. For instance listing your involvement in volunteer activities or sports makes a positive statement about your personal strength and character.

Products and Services–This part of your home-business plan describes, in plain English, your main products and services. It points to the products originality and appeal; it also talks a bit about the production process involved.

Definition/Analysis of Market– This area of your home-business plan identifies your company’s unique market niche. It pinpoints potential clients and defines their needs. This component should be well researched and should incorporate current market conditions as well as take into consideration projections for the future.

Sales and Marketing–In the Sales and Marketing section of your home-business plan you will discuss your strategy for gaining clients and growing your business. You’ll also detail how you plan to go about identifying and outdoing the competition. It’s important that additionally you use this section to explain what capital you will require in order to market your products and services.

Schedule–Here’s where you lay out your broader long- and short-term goals in sequential order and attach them to a timeline. This section will help you break down your goals into manageable pieces. It will also prove reassuring to investors who will be able to see that your working off a carefully planned out model geared towards progressive momentum, development, and ultimately expansion. They’ll see dollar signs for sure.

Capital Requirements–In this section you’ll itemize your projected costs, subtract your personal investment and come up with a figure for the funding you’ll need. Then you should divide your required capital into categories based on where you hope or intend to get it.

Financial Projections–This is where you discuss how, how much, and how soon you intend to profit. Be prepared to back up your figures by explaining the reliable formulas you use to forecast and calculate your projections.

Identification of Risks–You might be thinking, why bring potential risks to the attention of prospective investors. The answer is simple: when you’re building an argument for your business, it’s important to acknowledge and diffuse any opposition that may arise. In doing so you’ll beat skeptics to the quick. By explaining how you intend to cope with these risks, you’ll put the investor’s mind at ease.

Stages of Action–This component features a chronological list of the crucial phases involved in the success of your plan. For each phase, describe the actions required, and identify which, if any, actions you’ve already taken.

If you carefully map out all of these elements in your home-business plan, you should have no problem convincing backers that your business is a worthwhile and potentially profitable investment.

About the Author:
Jennifer Goldman is a freelance writer, editor, and proofreader living in Denver, Colorado.