Where to order a business plan — this question is asked by those who are thinking about starting a new business. After all, a business plan is not only a step-by-step instruction at first, it is also a tool for obtaining money to start a business.
What is the purpose of a business plan?
1) To attract a partner to the business. The most common need in our practice for ordering a business plan is a business plan for a private investor. As a rule, such projects involve investments from 2 to 30 million dollars;
2) For a bank. The Bank is ready to co-finance projects to open new directions within the existing business. The most common misconception is trying to raise funding for a startup through a bank. With very rare exceptions, the bank does not finance newly opened businesses due to the high risks of the project. Before attracting a bank loan, the company must work for at least 6 months.
3) For grant and other government subsidies. Also, quite often we are approached by start-up entrepreneurs who have decided to receive a grant from the state. Grant support can range from 300 (for start-up entrepreneurs) to 2,500 thousand dollars (to support agricultural producers).
4) «For myself». Sometimes entrepreneurs order business plans in order to evaluate the effectiveness of a new business project and make a management decision (to enter the project or not).
In addition to the business goals listed here, there is a whole market for ordering business plans for educational purposes. In addition to students, private individuals (entrepreneurs) or organizations can act as a customer of a business plan.
Who needs a business plan?
1) Students. For students, general business plans may be suitable, without reference to a specific territory, situation, project. Even if such a “binding is needed”, then only conditionally, so to speak, “for appearance”. Therefore, business plans prepared for students are the least difficult to write. The most important thing there is to observe the external logic of the project and not get caught in plagiarism.
2) Private individuals. These projects are more difficult to work with. There is a much higher level of responsibility here:
- if this is a business plan for obtaining a state grant, then it becomes important to comply with all the formalities in the business plan so that the competition committee can highly evaluate the business project;
- in a business plan for a private investor and “for oneself”, it is important to realistically assess the prospects of a business idea: not to embellish, but also not to “bury” the project. If the project is calculated too optimistically, then the investor’s money and the customer’s efforts and time will be wasted on a project that will not live up to expectations. If
However, individuals usually order project evaluations in amounts up to 2-10 million dollars. Organizations order business plans for larger projects.
3) Organizations. With these customers, the level of responsibility is the highest. Two factors come into play here:
- the amount of investment in the project is estimated at tens and hundreds of millions of dollars. Accordingly, the risk of loss due to an error in the business plan is very high;
- customer requirements for the quality of the business plan. Quality assessment includes both the reliability of calculations, the completeness of marketing research, the clarity of the wording used in the business plan, and the beauty of the design of the business plan.
How much does a business plan cost?
The answer to this question depends on:
- who is the customer;
- What is the purpose of a business plan?
All business plans can be divided into 3 groups according to the quality of execution and level of elaboration:
1) For teaching purposes. If you are a student and order a business plan for study purposes, you can:
- download a business plan on the Internet and adapt it;
- buy a ready-made business plan for $400-600;
- order on sites that specialize in selling standard business plans. The price of such a business plan is from 1500 to 5000 dollars.
2) Investments within 10 million dollars. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur and are looking for an initial investment in a project, then a typical business plan for students will definitely not suit you. You need to order a business plan, which will include the study of your specific project. The amount of work on such a business plan can start from 10 thousand dollars:
- if you make a decision «for yourself», then you do not need a business plan in the standard sense. You need a financial model of the project, which will show at what sales volumes the project reaches the break-even point, the estimated amount of initial investments in the project, the payback period of the project. The development of such a financial model costs from 10 thousand dollars;
- a standard business plan for a grant or a private investor will cost between $20,000 and $30,000, depending on the territory, as well as the amount of information you are willing to provide to the developer.
3) Investments over 10 million dollars. Such business plans are usually ordered by organizations or large investors. The complexity of creating such a business plan depends on many factors:
- Is there a need for market research?
- Is there a need to involve technical experts?
- whether there is a need for complex project calculations, including construction estimates …
Depending on all these factors, the cost of a business plan can range from $40,000 to $250,000.
Where to order a business plan?
If you are ordering a business plan for business purposes, and not for educational purposes, then it is better to turn to professionals.
Otherwise, the price of an error can be ten times higher than the cost of a business plan. Our organization «Business and Plan» has been developing business plans of varying complexity for more than 4 years. During this time, we have developed more than 150 successful business plans that have brought investments to our customers. For more detailed information, please contact:
