Build a Business From Your Kitchen Table: The Business Plan

Sophie Cornish, Holly Tucker

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781471139048
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Sophie Cornish and Holly Tucker are the founders of notonthehighstreet.com, an award-winning, multimillion-pound online marketplace selling thousands of innovative, stylish products. But eight short years ago Sophie and Holly were maxing out their credit cards, trying to secure loans and crossing fingers that their big idea would take off. Now they've written down all the lessons they had to learn the hard way, drawing not just on their experience but also that of the 5, 000 independent businesses they work with. With startling honesty, they lay bare the truth about getting started while raising a young family at the same time. They believe that anyone should be able to achieve a great working life on their own terms. Here's how. The vital essentials of a business plan to win you investment or map out your strategy are set out in an easy step-by-step guide.

THE BUSINESS PLAN

Now you’ve got the basic structure of your business together – the who, the where and the why – you need to get down to details. This is where you write down your well-researched three-year business plan. You’re halfway there already, because you’ve done the Down and Dirty Test in Chapter 2, but this is where you really knock all that information into shape. It’s a big job, but just as some people relish a therapeutic spring clean (which we both love) or conjuring up a home-cooked meal from scratch (which we don’t), it’s a highly satisfying task.

At the beginning, just jot down a few bullet points. Don’t start with a huge document or template to fill in – that will kill it. The headings should naturally spell out why your big idea is great and lead into structure and detail, but at the heart of its thirty-odd pages should be you, sharing with your reader what excites you about your business. It is this document that you will take to investors, personal backers, the bank manager, your parents . . . It will also contain all the information that you’ll need to be able to pull out of the hat at a moment’s notice when, for example, negotiating with suppliers. Even if you’re the only person who ever reads it, don’t run a business without one. This process helps you understand every corner and every detail of your business. By the end of it, you’re not just best friends with the idea – you’re soulmates for life.

Our format for a business plan isn’t revolutionary. You simply need to cover the idea and product (that’s the opportunity), why it’s needed (that’s the market), who you’re up against (your competition), then back it up with all the research you’ve done to prove you’re right...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Letter to the Reader
• The Business Plan
• Copyright