Business Plan Layout

By Amy Grundling

​A business plan is a road-map that indicates the necessary steps that must be implemented to ensure future successes. The key to an efficient business plan is in the quality of the outlay, i.e. no spelling mistakes, correct grammar usage, appropriate language use and the structure etc.
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Important subjects need to be addressed in a business plan. This includes a description of the business, a strategic plan, an operational plan, a market analysis, a financial plan and a risk analysis. When writing a business plan, it is important to consider who your target audience is. The target audience will be influenced by the reason the business plan is written.
A few reasons include: 

1. Supporting finance applications.
2. Determining the feasibility of a projects.
3. Evaluating the success of the current business.
4. Attracting potential investors.
5. Developing a medium- and long-term strategic plan.

This is an example of a business plan layout and what should be included in it:
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1. Cover Page
Title
Full name of the business
Physical and postal address
Telephone and fax numbers, email address
Date of plan

2. Table of Content
List of headings & page numbers
Graphs, figure and tables
References
Annexure

3. Executive Summary
Highlights
Purpose of the Business Plan

4. Description of the farming Business

• Background Information:

• Business owner
• Type of business
• Location of property
• Size
• Enterprises on the farm
• Farm Map

• Brief farm history
• Assessment of the current situation:

• Finances
• Marketing
• Operation

• Human resources

5. Strategic Plan
Vision, Mission & Goals
-Scan the Environment:
•     Close competitors
•     Infrastructure
•     Resources
-Industry and Market Analysis:
•     International
•     National
•     Market Share
•     Size of the industry
•     Critical Issues
-Competitive Environment
-External factors:
•     Politics
•     Economics
•     Social Environment
•     Environmental
•     Legal
-Internal Factors
•     SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

6. Operational & Product Plan
(Ownership and organisational structure)
Farm map and land use
Facilities and land use
Production choice and processes
Equipment
Technology choices
Enterprise Budget
Production and operations schedule
Value chain analysis

7. Marketing Plan
Describe the six P’s:
•     Product
•     Price
•     Promotion
•     Place
•     Process
•     People
Competitive Advantage
Written Contracts
Pricing Strategy
Market Risks

8. Organisation and Staffing Plan
Management Team:

• List or directors
• Consultants
• Advisers
• Professional Key Personal

Staff requirements and skills
Sourcing of staff
Structure & Responsibilities
Brief job description
Short CV’S of senior management (in annexure)

9. Financial Plan
​Financial Statements:

• Balance Sheet
• Income statement
• Cash flow projection

Projected Financial Statements

• Above Normal
• Normal
• Below Normal

Yield Scenarios
Financial Ratios
Capital Requirements
Investment Analysis
Identify source of funding
Repayment Analysis
Evaluation of alternatives

10. Risk Planning
Identification of risk:

• Production
• Financial
• Marketing
• Staff etc.

Probability of occurring and impact on enterprise
Risk mitigation strategies
Informal
Structured Risk Analysis
‘What-if’ Analysis
Sensitive analysis on Pricing and Production

11. Implementation and Monitoring
Develop an implementation plan and to-do list
Responsibilities and timeline
Establishing monitoring and control checkpoints
Keep records
Review progress
Feedback and evaluations dates

12.List of References 
13.Annexure