Business plans

When you make a capital investment, whether in equipment for your existing business or by investing in another business, you do so because you expect to generate income in the future. If this were not the case, you would not make the investment.

It is often helpful to split up funds within a business to show sources and applications. Sources show from where the money has come; applications show to where the money has gone.

The documentation required when sending goods to customers in other countries can seem complicated to a new exporter.

Certificates of origin (CO) verify a product’s country of origin and state where the product was manufactured, produced or processed, though this can become more complicated when raw materials come from one country and a product is then manufactured in another.

By the time you have reached this factsheet you should have developed your export strategy and should have a plan of action.

You will be aware from running your business in your domestic market that there is a difference between costing and pricing. It is only rarely that businesses can add up all the costs, then add a margin, and call that the price.

This note is intended primarily for businesses that are seeking external finance. A business plan for use internally will tend to be more of a checklist of actions but a plan for a funder needs to explain the business in enough detail to reassure them that they will eventually get back their investment and make a return. A business plan can be prepared for the whole organisation or for a division or even just for a single service.