Doing a simple business plan is an excellent way to organize your thoughts about starting a new business or expanding an existing one. A basic business plan does not require much time, effort, or expensive tools. You do not need special software to create this type of plan either.
All you need to complete a basic business plan is Microsoft Office (preferably Microsoft Word). This can be done using any version of Windows or macOS. Your phone also qualifies as “Microsoft Office” since you can easily download apps that are pre-installed with those platforms.
This article will go over all of the steps necessary to put together a basic business plan in Microsoft Word.
The first part of any business proposal is your title. What you call your business will influence how people perceive it. Make sure your title grabs their attention, but also gives them some information about what to expect from you as an entrepreneur.
It can be helpful to use both short and long versions of the title – sometimes a briefer version is better since it cuts down on the length of the paragraph.
It’s always best to try to keep it simple unless you are very good at writing. If that is the case then go ahead and add in some fluff! (More on that later.)
The second part of any business proposal is your company summary. This should tell potential customers who you are, what you offer, and why they should invest in your products or services.
Your summary should be one or two paragraphs depending on the size of the space given. Use these para-goals to emphasize key points of your business.
The next step in doing simple business plans is defining your product or service. This will be one of the most important steps you take as an entrepreneur, as this will determine what kind of businesses you can start!
Most entrepreneurs begin with the hard parts – creating a business model and then refining that model’s components until it works. Starting with the product or service comes later, once everything else has been considered.
So what is a product or service? A good way to understand it is by thinking about something you use everyday. For example, if you use computers every day, then computer software is a product.
You get all kinds of software for different purposes, from word processors to video games to financial planners. All of these are products; they each do one specific thing well.
That is the key part of the definition: they are all discrete, individual goods. They alone do one particular thing very well.
A product like yoga clothing is not a product because it is designed to promote health. It is also not a product because it is new and trendy. It is only able to do one thing: make you look cool (or maybe fashionable).
That isn’t much of a product!
The term “product” doesn’t really apply here.
Location is one of the most important things you will work on as a business owner. Choosing your locale says a lot about who you are as an entrepreneur and what you plan to accomplish with your career.
Your business’s location should be something that feels right for you, professionally and personally. You want to make sure it’s somewhere you can easily visit daily, and where you feel comfortable being around people.
You also want to be close to public transportation so that you don’t have to rely on someone else for job-related trips or times to get home. This way, you’re not wasting money on expensive taxis or personal vehicles!
If possible, try to find a space with easy access to both indoor and outdoor seating areas, as well as restrooms. Finding a place that fits into your schedule and budget is key since you’ll need to use the office frequently during business hours.
A few years ago, having your own business website would have been considered expensive or even too difficult to do. But now that almost every major platform offers free web pages, it’s easy to start from scratch.
Your company website is an integral part of your business that helps people find you online. It also acts as your digital storefront, where they can view all of your products and services and place orders if you offer them.
By offering both pre-designed templates as well as customizable features, your potential customers will be able to pick just the right look for their visit—and you’ll get credit for helping them design their site!
There are many ways to use your company website to grow your business, so don’t forget to check out the many tips and tricks here. For more information about how to launch and run your business, you can read our article: How To Start And Run Your Own Business.
