By implementing known variables and parameters in business management, programmers were able to create a process flowchart that accommodates information such as product nature, target users, market factors, financial requirements, etc. to be organized into a business plan. Ultimately however, there is a limit to these automated processes. The human touch really needs to be added in order to make a business plan reliable.

What are the things you need to include in a sound business plan?

To begin with you should have a solid vision for your business or company. Your business plan needs to states the fundamental purpose of your existence and what you want to achieve, or what are your long-term goals. A vision is a statement qualifying the future direction of your business, summarizing the key purpose, ethics and direction of your business in a short descriptive written piece. Next you should look at where your business profile is. This document defines your business in detail, what it does, what it offers, how your business plans to do things. This profile should include a description of the market segment you have identified as your main focus or target.

Following on from these initial strategic documents you will then need to build your business marketing plan. The marketing plan outlines a scenario of how products will move from the production point to the end user. This plan should also seek to expand the business market identifying unique and valuable prospects for selling and developing the business products and services. The business participants are the next important feature in the business plan. Include a basic rundown of participants qualifications and unique competencies of your staff, including you, their different functions, as well as their individual position descriptions.

Finally implement a judgment of economic environment into your business planning. This will outline and describe the nature of the economic environment in which your business will be operating, and should include elements such as regulation policies, taxes, population, natural resources, data flow, etc. Along with this do a brief cash flow assessment. Knowing the projected capital requirements, cash flow and expected revenues for a given period, normally one year ensure that you can monitor your business progress. Creating simulated scenarios, each with its own cash flow assessment, will ensure that you have provided contingencies if something goes wrong as the business proceeds.

How to begin preparing a business plan

o Draft a basic concept about the business.

o Do a feasibility study and gather data related to the specifics identified in concept of the business.

o Refine the business concept using the data collected in the feasibility study.

o Further specify the business concept. Answer every What, Why, Where, When, Who and How question that may arise about your concept.

o Polish your plan. It should float valuable insights and bring focus to the objectives you have set on the business. All important information should be incorporated in the plans outline

o Verify your plan with sample plans. There are many sample plans downloadable from the internet. Comparing it with an automated business plan of the same nature of business would be useful to check its comprehensiveness.

Finally, do not underestimate the value of business planning, as the saying goes most people do not plan to fail they fail to plan. Even if you have all the leeway in the world available and plenty of startup capital, a business that relies on gut feeling and so called sixth sense alone risks failure, and is unlike to be a business that is running optimally.