Believe it or not, it isn’t just funders who will learn about your new real estate brokerage business when you create a business plan. You can learn a great deal of important information from the process of creating a business plan which will better prepare you to manage the business going forward.

Market Research

You may think you’ve done market research, but creating a business plan requires you to look deeply into the industry, your customers’ needs, and your competitors. The research must be systematic, looking not just at a couple of competitors, but at the entire field until you’ve identified your top opponents. Looking at competitors can also uncover some of the best practices of the industry which you may not have known, as well as weaknesses in other businesses which give you an opportunity to create competitive advantage. By delving so deeply into these areas that you can write a coherent and complete business plan, you will be armed to better deal with your market situation both before and after your launch.

Operations Plans

How the business will actually operate may become an afterthought until you are required to write it clearly in the business plan. By not putting off the work of planning your sales, administration, and marketing processes, you will discover additional costs to plan for and opportunities for savings. In the process, you will have to make decisions with a significant impact on the job descriptions of your team, better preparing you for hiring process. All of these activities within the business are key drivers of costs and revenues, and only by planning these systems can you project those costs and revenues accurately.

Projecting Financials

Finally, the act of creating detailed, multiple-year financial plans asks you to look behind the critical launch year to consider your firm’s future potential. Only by looking three to five years ahead can you see if you are really launching a brokerage which will meet your personal needs for reward based on the risk you are taking on. You will also learn a lot in the process about what kind of business you are creating. Will you lead the company through rapid expansion to a multiple broker firm? Will you want to hire additional management help at a future date? Or is a small brokerage with consistent, steady income what you desire out of this venture?

There are definitely some cases where writing a business plan yourself is preferable and others where an expert third party may add value to the process.

Writing your business plan yourself

For micro businesses raising small amounts of investment (say under £50,000) this is likely to be the best approach. Apart from anything else it doesn’t make sense spending 10% or 15% of the funds you are trying to raise on getting someone to help you write a plan! Most high street banks offer on-line applications or software templates to help you. Just beware that you may have to repeat the application process several times in different format if you don’t have a stand-alone business plan.

For larger businesses too there may be value in writing your own plan. If you write your own plan then you will know every detail of it which will help you when questioned by a bank or potential investor. Everyone wants to avoid those embarrassing moments played over and over on Dragon’s Den where the entrepreneur looks vacant when asked for details of their gross margin or net profits in the first year of trading!

Writing your own plan might also show your all round commercial ability to appreciate all aspects of the business and with that there is a good chance that you will understand how to drive it towards success. Software & templates abound on the internet to support this approach and there are plenty of “Do’s and Don’ts” published free to guide this process.

The draw backs of this approach are that many people do not have all the financial, sales, marketing, operational skills and experience necessary to construct a good business plan. They may also lack the ability (or time) to integrate them into a solid business case. Some people may not have the writing skills to bring the plan together. Finally, some people may find themselves “too close” to the business to clearly and simply convey the business opportunity. Weakness in any of these areas may reduce your chances of securing funds.

Business Plan Writing Services

The alternative is to get some help from an experienced hand. Historically accountants and sometimes solicitors as well as independent copywriting services have offered these services.

However, there are now an increasing number of companies specializing in providing business plan writing services. These companies bring specific independent expertise to the table. As well as writing skills they can have a broad base of commercial experience including financial forecasting and by nature of their independence can provide an objective perspective on your business.

As well as offering writing itself (both financial forecasting and the written plan) they may also offer help with research and feasibility and introductions to potential sources of funds.

When selecting business plan writing services there are a few good guidelines worth following:

1) Commercial Experience – The ability to write well is not enough to make your plan investable – this is not simply a copy writing exercise. If you are going to secure funds you need to construct a business case that integrates all commercial aspects of your business. So, be sure that the people writing your plan have several years of senior commercial experience – the broader the better. This commercial experience should include budgeting or forecasting – your financials are a critical part of your plan.

2) Track Record – Many business plans are confidential so do not expect to see many examples. However, companies should be able to provide written and attributable testimonials from clients.

3) Pricing – Services range from around £2,000 for small start-ups upwards to £15,000 for larger corporate plans. As with most things, you get what you pay for and the price generally reflects the complexity of the business model. Make sure you ask for a specific proposal that outlines exactly what you are going to get for your money, the timescale and price. Consider “virtual services” rather than “face-to-face” consultants to reduce your costs but not the quality of work.

4) Ownership – one potential disadvantages of having a plan written for you are that you will not “own” the business plan and be totally familiar with it. So, ensure that you are fully involved in the process and that there is time scheduled for you to review and discuss the financial forecast and written plan with whoever is writing the plan for you.

5) Funding – Have plans that they have created secured funding? Whilst funding depends on a wide variety of factors and not just the quality of the business plan (state of the market, availability of capital, product, service, proposition, management team etc.) any specialist service should be able to quote a few examples where their plans have helped to secure funds.

For most people who do not possess experience of writing business plans you may improve your chances of securing funding by engaging a specialist writing service to help you create a plan. However, make sure you are fully involved in the process – you need to own the plan at the end of the day and know it inside out and backwards – your future is in your hands not theirs!

Perhaps the most difficult part in any endeavour is the start-up phase. Indeed, this idea applies to any business venture. To reduce risk, a detailed plan must be prepared for proper guidance. This pre-opening strategy will help in defining goals and setting targets.A business plan contains information on company’s strategic actions, resources for financing and specific guidance in operations. Today, modern technology has offered variety of business plan software to serve individual business needs.

Free business plan software will help you create your plans easier by eliminating the tedious task of lay-outs and formats. The use of this systematize software will help you save time and resources. Step by step guidance is offered in many professional business plan software to avoid mistakes that are commonly committed in manual procedures. With its pre-formatted features, you can be assured of considerably low margin of error.

With built-in financial formulas, financial management will be stress-free. Instead of doing all the computation and dwelling with mathematics, you can just import your data and wait for the software to give out reports. Your need for statistical tables, graphs and charts will be conveniently catered since these are included in the software package. Various resources for industrial and business research are also available in detailed forms. So, you can get away with expensive research activities and outsourcing workforce to do the field-work.

An understandable and credible business plan will surely help attract prospective investors by giving them the exact information that they need. Business Plan software provides targeted internal and external investors avenue to effectively assess capital investment to find promising projects. Your software will surely be an effective funding tool to please venture capitalists.

Strategic planning will result to better and informed decisions. With advanced software features and tools, you can conveniently monitor your reports. In addition, you can efficiently track cash flows, evaluate variances and operating results. Variance analysis is also available so you can easily compare actual results versus company standards and take appropriate actions. With this feature, you can have better business management and efficient operating conditions.

When done with the planning, an awesome presentation is a must. The format, as part of the software package, will depend on the presentation style. For start-ups, common business plan presentation may include the so-called “elevator pitch” which serves as a teaser by introducing the executive summary. This style aims to stir up the interest of prospective investors, consumers or business partners. Some of the common presentation styles include slide shows with narrations and written presentation. With the use of business plan software, you can enter the presentation room with confidence. Presentation features will add professionalism to your plan. You will definitely impress your audience with an informative, complete and smart business plan.

Since a good plan dictates your venture’s future, you must choose the right business plan software for you. It’s high time to take your business to the next level and take a smart start for more promising rewards.