By Fernando Berrocal

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Successful startups are structured on three pillars: entrepreneurial vision, market strategy, and customer interactions.  Entrepreneurial vision serves as the foundation of a roadmap; it will decide where an entrepreneur wants to go.  An inventive marketing strategy consists of  conducting market research into customer needs, behaviors, and trends.  Good customer interactions forms the communication between a customer and a business–the quality of service your startup offers.

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However, without a thorough business strategy in place, each of the aforementioned characteristics would be considered worthless features in the long run. In reality, a business plan should serve as the main foundation of the organization, guiding a new or experienced entrepreneur on how to develop and expand the new business while still trying to manage the day-to-day main operations. Without this comprehensive plan, the new organization won’t be able to find its foundation and would struggle to get anywhere at all.

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Since there are so many different variables to consider - and all of them are important (all the time) - even the most seasoned business professional finds it difficult to put up a functioning organizational plan.  Make sure, first and foremost, that you understand these fundamentals of your business. Here are some key suggestions to help you construct the ideal business plan for your brand-new business.

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While your startup’s plan should cover a broad variety of items, it must at the very least include the following sections below:

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• A synopsis of your new business; put together a shortened version of your small company's business plan.  Include the products and/or services that you will be able to provide to your potential clients and/or customers.
• A comprehensive breakdown of your market research.  In this section, identify your target audience and industry sector (if you want to focus on one.)  Industry sector is also known as a niche market.

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• Your proposal(s) for business expansion, and a timescale for success.  Timescale includes how many sales to make in a specific window, the number of employees you need to hire in the short and long term, the professional development of these new employees, and related items.

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• The main facts about your economic situation of the business.  Delve into how much it will cost to run your organization, how you'll be able to sell your services and/or products, as well as where you are receiving this funding from (self-funding, grants or government grants, and bank loans or other types of loans.)  Include any relevant economic information.

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• Your marketing campaign's specific features; how you will grow your actual market share (and beyond).

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• A specified schema of operations for when things don't go as you have already planned in your business strategy.

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Even with all of the above, keep in mind that your business plan isn't carved in stone.  It can eventually be changed. Your overall strategy must keep sprouting and adapting as your startup scales and evolves. When different types of developments occur, you must be prepared to respond by adjusting your business plan accordingly. Furthermore, your business strategy should be flexible enough to adapt to changing customer behaviors; the study of consumers and the processes they use to choose, use, and dispose of products and services.  This involves the different (rapidly changing) trends that appear. The sooner you can incorporate them into your business plan, the better for you and your organization.

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Stay alert for brand new ideas in your market. While your business plan will be unique to your organization, you may get a sense of what is required of you by looking at how other enterprises approach theirs. This will also assist you in narrowing down the particular aspects, such as formatting and structure.

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Predicting business errors will help you prevent errors in your business plan. When creating this strategy, you are probably not considering any failure at all; you want to be optimistic about your new venture. After all, the plan's entire purpose is to guide you to your ultimate business success.  Being aware of possible issues ahead of time might assist you in completely avoiding them in the long run.

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Ready to bring your startup to the next level? Apply to MassLight’s next batch. MassLight supplies capital and a dedicated tech team. We take equity in return. Have questions? Refer to our FAQ page.

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