The first and foremost step if you have no experience in the business world and are looking for a way to get your small business off the ground, is to come up with the best possible business plan that you can write up.” Aladesuru Adewale Global Entrepreneurship llllAnnex

1. WRITING A
BUSINESS PLAN!
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Aladesuru Walter A!
“The first and foremost step if you
have no experience in the business world and
are looking for a way to get your small
business off the ground, is to come up with
the best possible business plan that you can
write up.”

2. WRITING A BUSINESS PLAN FOR YOUR SMALL
BUSINESS
As we all know by now, the success rate for small
businesses in Nigeria doesn’t exactly offer a strong argument in
the favor of the entrepreneurial spirit.
It’s tough going because the marketplace is tough.
It’s hard because in order to really succeed in today’s
world it seems like you have to plaster your company’s logo on
as many websites, bus panels, bumper stickers, T-shirts, and
even tattoos as possible in order to get the message across that
you even exist.
However, it can be done. It just can’t be done without solid
planning and the perseverance required sticking to a good plan
and follow through with it.
The first and foremost step if you have no experience in the
business world and are looking for a way to get your small
business off the ground, is to come up with the best possible
business plan that you can write up.
It is only with a good business plan that you can hope to
attract the eyes (and money) of potential investors, who are

3. always extra-wary about what they throw their money at and
why.
The main thing that is going to attract an investor – and, in
turn, cement the rationale for your business’s existence – is
coming up with a reason why your company simply must exist.
Call it your existential philosophy if you like. If you don’t
have a concept that describes just what your business is going to
do and just why it will fit perfectly into the industry you’ve
chosen, then chances are you haven’t flushed out a very good
business plan.
The chances are even greater that you yourself have not
figured out the particulars of your business venture, and as such,
are in no position to offer a business plan to an investor in hopes
of receiving financial backing.
Robbie Burns spoke the truth when he said that “the best
laid plans of mice and men often go awry” (loose Gaelic to
English translation), but without laying out the best of plans, a
small business owner can virtually count on everything going
disastrously off course.
Determining you Cash Flow

4. Depending on what your business is going to be, there are
all sorts of important, helpful things that you can put into a
business plan.
If, for instance, you are planning on starting up your own
landscaping business, it would be prudent to incorporate the
amount of mechanical equipment you’ll need in order to get
started.
You’ll want to mention how many employees you are
going to hire for you venture – full time and part time – as well
as forecasts on how much money you’ll be making in the
business every month so that you can provide meaningful
estimates on whether or not you can afford X number of full
time workers.
You’ll want to take into consideration any possible “down
time” where you might experience a drop off in profits – for a
landscape business, say, the winter months, where shoveling
snow might be the only gig you get for two months – and how
you are going to arrange layoffs of employees with respect to
these estimates.
Then you’ll want to figure out what your monthly
expenses are likely to be:
– For instance, how much will you be spending on
gasoline for your machines, and what happens if the price of
gasoline suddenly goes up?

5. – As well as what write-offs you are going to take
advantage of when it comes time to do the company’s taxes at
the end of the year.
Assessing the Risks
Assessing risks, as well, is a key component of a good
business plan.
If you are opening a coffee shop, you’ll want to factor in
the possibility that your espresso machine could one day have a
nervous breakdown and completely stop the business from
functioning normally, and just how disastrous this is going to be
to your “best laid plans.”
The human resources part of your business plan should
cover some of the possible risks as well.
For instance, if you want to start your landscaping business,
what kind of compensation are you going to guarantee to your
workers should one of them get injured?
Are they going to be covered by worker’s compensation?
How many employees do you think you will need to
function properly and what happens if one of them falls ill and
cannot work for an extended period of time?
Is there enough local labor to fill these positions?

6. In other words, you’ll want to address all the possible “bad
scenarios” that could afflict your business and then come up
with genuine solutions to these problems so that potential
investors will not only say “Wow this guy’s got all his bases
covered,” but also “Wow”, this business has a really good
chance of succeeding.
Marketing Plan for Your Business
Extremely integral to a good business plan is a solid
marketing component.
Here you’ll want to forecast for potential investors the
many ways in which you believe you have a good chance of
succeeding as a business in the marketplace.
If you’re opening a coffee shop, you’ll want to explain just
how you are going to handle the challenge of competing against
larger chains, and just why the location you’ve chosen to set up
your store is going to be ideal to attract a regular flow of
customers.
For example, when you are asked why you are opening a
coffee shop in front of an old folks home, come up with the
answer that you’ll have a steady base of regulars.

7. If you are wondering how you are going to market and
advertise your company, explain in your business plan just why
you think printing the name of your company on the paper
sleeve that insulates the coffee cups will be a good solution.
Better yet, explain why the name of your company and its
logo are eye-catching and memorable.
In short, you want to impress people but you want to do so
with as many statistical predictions and facts backing you up as
possible.
Writing a great business plan won’t ensure that you get an
investor to help you get started, nor will you be sure to succeed
just because your plans are solid.
But without one, you’re sunk even before you’ve sailed.
Prepared By:
Aladesuru Walter Adewale
Brand Development Entrepreneur and A Global Citizen
@AladesuruA
+2348035856753
+2347051886884
Aladesuru_adewale@live.co.uk

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