Business plan is the pre-requisite of starting any business. A written document of this plan can shape a business in a systematic way. From this concept, a two-day workshop on “Writing a Business Plan” was held for women entrepreneurs. It was held on 20 and 22 May 2020. This interactive workshop aimed at showing the process of writing a complete business plan that works for running a business. A significant number of participants took part in this workshop to understand the structure of a business plan. This workshop was designed and conducted by Munir Hasan, General Secretary of Bangladesh Open Source Network (BdOSN).
The content of this workshop was about the basic concept of a business plan, importance of having a written document of a plan, key elements of it, purpose of a business plan, different types, its structure, outline, detail of its oral presentation and so on. All these topics were covered in the first day of the workshop and the second day was all about hands on practice of writing a business plan.
Munir Hasan started this workshop with elaborating the idea of a business plan. He discussed why we need to write a business plan, who will read this and what they are looking for. He said, “A business plan is a narrative document which can be used in multipurpose. This will be use for the internal and external staff of any business. Typically, a business plan can be 25-30 pages long, but in Bangladeshi context it can be covered in 15 pages.”
He described the two audience of a business plan. He stated that, there are two audiences of a clearly written business plan- i) A firm’s Employee to operate in sync and move forward business in a consistent and purposeful manner and ii) Investors and other external stakeholders to grab the investor’s funds or the attention of others. After that, he discussed about the conventional structure of a business plan and provide a guideline for writing a business plan.
By giving the example of Zappos.com, an online shoe and clothing retailer, he pointed that, a business plan can be changed with time and the growth of a firm. He said, “Zappos changed its business plan three times to enhance their growth. So, you have to reflect your current condition. It may include future projection or past static analysis for better understand your growth but it will focus on current status of your firm.”
The main point was described by the speaker which was about the role of a complete written business plan to approach for fund or invest. Citing the example of Kamal Quadir, CEO of bkash, Munir hasan said, Kamal Quadir is an exemplary in terms of investment or fund raising. He has the great capability to convince investors. Munir husan suggested our participant to gain the knowledge, level of dedication, reliability of commitments and resources to convince investors. He said, Investors don’t invest in products or services. Initially they invest in person like Kamal Quadir. Munir hasan also warn our participant not to tell a single lie to the investors. This may cause a devastating destruction to their career.
After this, our facilitator explained about the key elements of a complete business plan. He also demonstrated the difference between Industrial analysis and Market analysis. He said, before preparing a business plan you have to read a lot about the relevant topic which you choose for your business. And also have to read plenty of business plan sample to understand the language of a business plan.
Munir Hasan stated the importance of an executive summary which is an element of any business plan. He noted that, though an executive summary is the very first segment of a business plan, it has to be written at the end of all. He added that, an executive summary is the main part which may cause any investor to go through all of your document. He also suggested to make this summary not more that one page.
Our speaker also explained why the “Management Team and Company Structure” section of a business plan is particularly important. He said, an investor will want to know about your legal status. In the operational segment Munir Hasan suggested our participant to briefly describe the operational plan of the business. It will include the general approach to operate the business.
Lastly, at the end of the first day workshop, Munir Hasan explained the way of presenting any business plan. He noted that, an elevator pitch should take 40sec and any Business plan will take maximum 2 minutes. So, you have to make your executive summary more attractive. Keep in your mind that, when you are going to present any business plan to any investor you have to present it in power point format and please do not make it lengthy and time consuming. It must be short and simply understandable. When you approach for funding then place your brief written business plan to them.
After the brief presentation, there was a QA segment in the workshop where our speaker answered to the questions of the participants. In term of this topic a participant asked, Will operational plan and marketing plan be separate? Answering this questions, Munir Hasan replied, definitely it should be in different segment.
Another participant Linza Dipa Mondol asked, Is there any page limit in company description? Munir Hasan replied, one page is enough for it.
A participant asked, which information are relevant in team management section. The reply was, it will include the name, role or designation in the firm, education, experience, achievements and field of expertise of the employee.
Masud Rana, another participant of the workshop, asked, how important is a trade license in the case of F-Commerce? Munir Hasan replied, it is important to have a trade license when you are thinking of getting started. Even if you run your business for 10 years without a trade license, it will not be acceptable to investors.
Habibullah Neon has an online gadget shop near his varsity. When he goes to deliver products at a price lower than the market price, he is compared to a large online delivery shop like Daraz. He wants to know how to get rid of it. Munir Hasan said in answer to his question, the only way to find a unique business policy in yours. This is called market competition. If you want to survive with deserved profit you had to have a unique side in your business.
Toma, another female participant of the workshop asked, many agencies with govt. are helping SME business because of Pandemic. But we can't get involved. What's the way? She also added, how logical do you think it would be a good decision to start a new business in this Corona Crisis? Munir Hasan replied, Bangladesh Karmashangsthan Bank, Bangabandhu Loan etc. are now giving these opportunities. You have to be there physically to apply to grab these opportunities. Place your documents and apply and of course keep update.
After the first session on 20 May 2020, the second session of the workshop was held on 22 May 2020. At this time all the participant observed the formation of a business plan for an organization called Ferot.com. They are then given an assignment on it which they will submit later.
It is noted that, this workshop was organized as a follow up session for the participants of Girls Innovation Bootcamp of Bangladesh Open Source Network. This workshop is designed and conducted under ESDG4BD project.