Business Plan Template
Version 2.0
Ian Brown Group Pty Ltd
© 2016 Ian Brown Group Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Summary
Provide a brief history of the your business (if you have an existing business) or a
brief history of yourself and your team (if you have a new business).
Describe your product, process or service and the extent to which it is new or
innovative. Describe the core invention/innovation? How far is it from entering the
marketplace? What are the key activities and objectives of the project that you are
currently focused on? What commercial outcomes do you expect to achieve
following the period described within this business plan?
Estimate (in years and months) the length of time you have spent on research and
development for this novel product, process or service. Estimate (in years and
months) the length of time you have spent commercialising this novel product,
process or service.
Milestones and Key Activities
Define the period described within this business plan and list the Milestones you
plan to achieve during this period. Milestones should be measurable outcomes
that can be used by third parties to objectively assess project progress (e.g., final
prototype design accepted, trial completed, distributor appointed, independent
testing and validation completed). Milestones do not have to be sequential; they
can and often will overlap in execution. List other key activities to be undertaken,
noting who will do the activity, against each of the milestones (i.e., activities are
the key steps needed to reach each milestones). Include eestimated costs for
each milestone.
Market Opportunity
Start this section by explaining, clearly and concisely, the customer problem you
have solved. Define the price point and gross profit margin you believe your
product, process or service can achieve. Then describe your target customers, for
example: consumers or businesses or governments, and why they will buy your
new product, process or service. Next, estimate the size of the target market
including the average dollar revenue per customer, number of customers in priority
geographies and the total achievable dollar revenue of target geographies.
Describe the product development and customer development work done so far.
Provide evidence of why customers want your product and technical viability of
your product. [This information will be built on further in a Value Proposition
section to be discussed later.]
In the context of the total achievable market; describe the beachhead market you
plan to focus on at first, that will allow you to test and refine the business model,
before further investment and expanding operations. Then describe the total
accessible market, the market you plan to access within the first 3 - 5 years.
Finally describe the market share and revenues you plan to achieve.
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Explain the structure of the market, in particular the value / supply chain and
relationships between suppliers, distributors, influencers and end customers and
your intended place in the chain.
Discuss the value of your new product, process or service from each key supply
chain participants' perspective, including their needs, desires and drivers (what
motivates them to participate / facilitate / support your product, process or service).
Intellectual Property
Broadly describe your sustainable competitive advantage or intellectual property
position and how your advantage will stop competitors or potential competitors
from competing, directly or indirectly, with your product, process or service. If
possible also comment on your position against direct and indirect substitute
product, process or service. [This paragraph can be written last as a summary of
the other paragraphs in this section.]
Clearly define your intellectual property, including its novelty, and any protection
mechanisms employed such as: submitted patent applications, granted patents,
registered designs, registered breeders rights, registered trademarks, partial
software deployment, software encryption, software processing in the cloud, enduser licenses, subscription agreements, membership agreements, other
agreements and/or copyright.
Describe how your business timeline fits your intellectual property runway and how
the runway will fit with potential licensees and/or acquirers of the intellectual
property.
Describe how your intellectual property aligns with your Market Opportunity and
Value Proposition. Further, describe how each will grow and evolve as your
business grows and evolves and what key measurable milestones will be achieved
through the first 3 - 5 years.
Describe the results of any patent searches or freedom to operate searches.
These can be either searches done by management or by advisers. Many early
stage companies do not engage advisers to conduct freedom to operate searches
in the early years due to scope and cost constraints - if this is the case in your
company then comment on - if and when this work is envisaged. Then, map out
the IP landscape and how you fit into the landscape based on searches conducted
by management.
In the case of software, list the closest functional matches to your software, their
commercial licenses and structure. For example - Company “X” uses “Y”
technology for their “Z” product, process or service. It is licensed under license “L”.
Then describe how your IP is different (because of “a”,”b”,”c”…) and how you plan
to model your business.
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Provide information on who will be managing the intellectual property - internally
and externally. Provide information on qualifications and provide a short
biography. [This information will be built on further in a Management Capability
section to be discussed later.]
Notes: Intellectual Property means: Statutory and other proprietary rights in respect of
trade marks (including goodwill in those marks), patents, circuit layouts, copyrights,
designs, confidential information, moral rights, domain names, know-how, plant varieties
and all other rights with respect to intellectual property as defined in Article 2 of the July
1967 Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organisation; any application
or right to apply for registration of any of the rights referred to above; and all rights of a
similar nature to any of the rights in paragraphs which may subsist, whether or not such
rights
are
registered
or
capable
of
being
registered.
Know-how means expertise, knowledge, skills, techniques, methods, procedures, ideas
and concepts.
Value Proposition
Clearly define the value proposition for your intended customers or customer segments.
Describe the value of the new product, process or service from the customer’s
perspective, including the customer needs, desires and drivers. What motivates them to
buy?
Describe your competitive advantage and describe who are the most likely competitors for
your new offering and what your product, process or service could potentially substitute.
What alternatives or substitutes do your intended customers currently have? Describe
how your customer would likely view your new product, process or service in comparison
to the alternatives or substitutes.
Discuss your customer analysis including testing and validating the customer analysis.
Describe the fieldwork that you have done, including the question that your team asked
and the answers they received.
Provide independently verifiable evidence of why customers want your product, process
or service, and why they would be prepared to pay for your product, process or service at
your proposed price.
What evidence do you have to confirm the functionality and/or technical viability of your
product, process or service?
Discuss any first sales of your product, process or service (e.g., beta version sold at a
discount to get feedback) and discuss how it aligns with the value proposition. Is it the full
expression of your value proposition or not?
Discuss whether your product, process or service changes standard practice. If it does
change standard practice discuss the value proposition with the switching costs included
and how you will motivate and manage customers to switch.
Describe your Customer Development Plan.
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Execution Plan
Describe in summary the business model you have chosen to pursue for your
novel product, process or service and discuss why you have chosen the business
model. [This will be described in more detail below]
Explain the execution plan for the period described within this business plan and
your business overall, for example: Overall objectives and tactics to achieve the
period objectives and the business objectives overall.
Clearly define the path to market (e.g., direct sales, distribution channels,
franchising, etc.). The key structural or market challenges to be addressed (e.g.
government regulation, market inertia, timing imperatives, manufacturing
capability/capacity, etc.).
Describe the core elements of the operational plan, which could include but is not
limited to:
• The business model (how do you plan to derive your revenue lines).
• The delivery model (that is, the supply chain and delivery chain, or how you will
acquire and service the customer for example: order placement and reception,
logistics of delivery, customer service infrastructure etc.).
• Human resources (and key performance indicators for people you plan to hire).
• Infrastructure that will need to be established.
• Marketing and communications channels that will need to be established.
Provide a sound financial plan for the project and the business including cash flow
over the period described within this business plan taking into account the funds
available and including the establishment of milestone-based executable elements
(milestones that are meaningful enough that would allow you to execute a
subsequent fundraising event should more funds be required).
Describe plans for customer / channel support arrangements. What will be done
internally, what is outsourced, will partners be used?
How any intellectual property necessary for successful commercialisation will be
managed (e.g., future protection strategies, freedom to operate, patent insurance,
etc.).
Describe anticipated future capital requirements to ultimately exploit the market
opportunity.
Where applicable, explain the manufacturing strategy including the potential use of
a small flexible manufacturer in the early stages and a larger high throughput
manufacturer in the later stages.
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Provide a risk analysis including description of the risk, likelihood, possible impact
and mitigation strategies.
Management Capability
Provide a short summary of the skills and expertise of your key personnel
including, in relation to the particular stage of the period described in this business
plan, what level of expertise your team has in: commercialisation management,
project management, business management and relevant sector/technology
domain.
Who are the key people within your organisation that are intimately involved in
your IP and how are they involved (e.g., not necessarily just the “inventor” but the
key motivators within the organisation)?
Discuss the membership of your board and/or any advisory committee or group
that may have been established to help guide senior management.
Explain any gaps or deficiencies in management expertise and/or resources, and
how you intend to address these during and beyond the period described in this
business plan, including any recruitment plans.
Include a biography and photo and LinkedIn page reference for everyone you
consider key to the success of the period described in this business plan and the
business.
Social / National Benefits
Explain how the project will benefit society (for example, new direct or indirect
jobs, reduction in healthcare costs, environmental benefits) and/or promote
economic growth and competitiveness.
Explain what significant spill-over benefits will accrue to society through conduct of
the period described in this business plan and/or successful commercialisation
including: diffusion of knowledge and skills, diffusion of new products, processes
or services and/or increased collaboration between businesses and/or businesses
and research institutions.
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