Importance of a comprehensive business plan - Essay Example

A comprehensive business plan for a medium sized restaurant can be sub-divided into three parts: business concept, the marketplace and financial position. These three components are split down into more than half-dozen components that encompass the overview of the business plan, a detailed account of the business dealing in food, market strategies guiding the food industry, analysing the position of market rivals, design and development, details about operations and management, and the financial standing of business (Letovsky, & Banschbach, 2011).

Unlike small business plans with fewer pages, comprehensive business plans offer the business executives with a detailed outline on how to approach various challenges and capitalize on the strengths and opportunities for the successful running of the business. Business plans serve the important roles of providing a guideline for running the business, especially for start-up ventures in the highly competitive and delicate market environment - the food industry. Business plans enable many small and medium enterprises to cultivate trust with not only credit facilities that may offer financial assistance, but investors who may see it wise to channel a given amount of money to the business.

Business plans can also enable a business owner running a medium-sized restaurant to know the position of his or her company in the market (D'Angelo, 2007). Owing to the comprehensive nature of details to be incorporated, a business plan for a medium-sized restaurant can present several challenges as the work of developing one can be daunting and could consume more resources from the amount set aside for starting the business. Components of a comprehensive Business Plan A comprehensive business plan for a medium-sized restaurant has several sections.

These sections are clearly detailed to allow business to allow the business owner(s) and managers to have at their finger-tips, what the business entails and what needs to be done at particular moments in the life of the business. These include: (a) Executive Summary The executive summary provides a one-glance assessment of what the business plan contains. This section is important because it enables key stakeholders to understand the position of the business, and the assets which are available at the business executives’ disposal for easy deployment when the need arises. (b) Company overview The company report section outlines important details about the business, such as location, size, what the business specializes on and what the goals of the business (Gjerde, & Harlow, 2010).

The company overview allows for an easy connection with various stakeholders such as customers, and suppliers for successful business operations. The company overview may also outline the locations of the market rivals, who in this case can be other medium-sized restaurants. This essentially allows for the deployment of the right strategies for competition in order to have an edge over the market rivals. (c) Products or Services The part of the business plan which outlines the products or services, ought to offer a clear description of the kind of products and or services the business sells with more focus being based on the value for money.

This section cultivates a cordial relationship with clients, thus wins over their loyalty. (d) Market Analysis This section of the business plan should offer a comprehensive description of the