This is your how-to guide for completing your business plan for your Start Up Loan application. We have provided you with everything you need to complete a solid first draft of your business plan, there’s advice on what to write, research and attach as well as providing handy examples and links to online content.
This Guide should be read alongside the relevant section in the business plan and we’ve included helpful links between each section in the business plan and this guide to make this as easy as possible.
You really can’t go wrong if you follow this guide!
THE BUSINESS IDEA
YOU
MARKET RESEARCH
CUSTOMER RESEARCH
MARKETING
OPERATIONS
1. THE BUSINESS IDEA Click to jump back to your business plan
| In this section provide a summary, which someone who has never met you, and knows nothing about your business, would be able to use to gain a basic understanding of your proposition. We recommend finalising this section after you have completed your customer research. | Check out some great content on our website to help you with this section
Common Business Plan Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Business Plan: How to Write an Executive Summary Business Planning – Six Entrepreneurs Pitch their Business Idea |
| Include a summary of:
What your business will do. What products and/or services the business will sell. What the market opportunity is –Why is there a need for it? And how will you address this gap in the market? Your business’s philosophy and values, and tell us about what your brand stands for and who it appeals to. Who your customers are. What you have achieved so far – Website, social media following, test – trading, existing trading etc.… What the business structure will be. Any other directors or shareholders as well as what their input into the business will be and what shareholding they have if applicable. |
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| Supplementary attachments to provide:
If the look and visual impact of your business is important to its success (e.g. a clothing company, or anything reliant on design such as packaging or branding material) please attach any photos or mock ups of your products, work you have done on your brand and identity, mood boards or anything else that would help tell the story of your business visually. If your business is already trading or you have carried out test trading please provide evidence of your sales in the form of bank statements or management accounts. Anything else that will provide evidence of the work you have done on the business so far. |
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2. YOU AND WHY YOU’RE STARTING Click to jump back to your business plan
| In this section tell us a bit about you and your experience in each of these areas:
Professional Academic Entrepreneurial What is your motivation for starting the business Be sure to emphasise how your knowledge and experiences are relevant to the business. What triggered the idea and why have you decided to start the business now. |
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| Supplementary attachments to provide:
An up-to-date copy of your CV |
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Example of a Direct Competitor | Click to jump back to your business plan
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Name |
The name of your competitor | John’s Deli |
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Type of competitor |
What type of competitor are they and background information about them. | Direct Competitor. John’s deli has been established locally since 2001 and has a strong local clientele. John’s has a strong focus on imported goods from continental Europe and America. |
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What will you be competing on |
What will you be competing with them on – Price? Convenience? Quality? | We will sell a lot of the same types of products at approximately the same price, and will be based on the same High Street. |
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Strengths of competitor |
What does this competitor do well? | John’s is very well established and has additional revenue streams working as a distributor for a lot of their suppliers, supplying wholesale to local cafes and restaurants as well as retail directly to consumers. They have exclusivity of a number of high demand products. |
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Weaknesses of competitor |
What does this competitor do badly? | While all the staff are very friendly their lack of use of technology makes it very unreliable and the service is very slow. They do not have a proper POS till system and have no website to show what they do and don’t have in stock. When you call to place a larger order it is written down on a piece of paper and called through to suppliers rather than being entered into a system to track the order – As a result orders are often not passed on or fulfilled. They also have no database of customers to use for marketing purposes instead relying entirely on “inbound” sales. |
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Summary of how you will compete with them |
Based on these factors what will your business do, and what specific activities will you engage in to make customers choose you instead? | We will be exclusively selling products that have been sourced from within a 100 mile radius of our shop. There is a strong trend to localism as a more sustainable way to do business, and as an area rich in producers of all kinds there is a huge range of products available. This will be a strong USP compared to John’s. We will be buying directly from the producers ensuring our prices remain competitive while maintaining margins. We have our stock database linked to our website so customers can see at any time what we have in stock, and can also place orders online and track the orders. We will capture all customers email addresses so we can market new and related goods to them as well as keep them informed with what is going on with producer hosted events at the shop. |
Example of an Indirect Competitor
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Name |
The name of your competitor | Tesco |
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Type of competitor |
What type of competitor are they and background information about them. | Indirect Competitor. The UK’s largest supermarket chain. |
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What will you be competing on |
What will you be competing with them on – Price? Convenience? Quality? | On the most basic level we will be competing with them on the sale of food and ingredients to cook and eat at home. |
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Strengths of competitor |
What does this competitor do well? | Cheap and convenient – there is a large Tesco and 2 Tesco Express stores within a short walk of our shop where similar goods are cheaper, and they have more convenient locations next to the main train station and a large car park. |
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Weaknesses of competitor |
What does this competitor do badly? | Tesco don’t have a very strong public image and are seen in some ways as the enemy of small local businesses and suppliers; While they offer some premium lines the quality of their produce is generally poor; They do not have a very good selection of organic sustainably sourced products which is becoming increasingly important to our target customers; Due to their large scale they aren’t able to offer the same niche range of products or offer any products from small, local suppliers. |
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Summary of how you will compete with them |
Based on these factors what will your business do, and what specific activities will you engage in to make customers choose you instead? | We will deliberately be sourcing a wide range of products that Tesco and other large supermarkets don’t stock. We will focus a lot of our marketing on the local suppliers we are using, and communicating how much more of the retail price they get to keep by buying from a small local business who sources directly as opposed to large multiples who have to put constant downward price pressure on their suppliers to keep margins high to cover their large overheads. We will focus our marketing on a very small range of customers who we believe only go to Tesco or large supermarkets out of necessity rather than choice. |
Example of a Substitute Competitor
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Name |
The name of your competitor | The Farm Café |
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Type of competitor |
What type of competitor are they and background information about them. | Substitute Competitor – They have a very similar ethos to our business sourcing all of their products from local producers but they are a restaurant that specialise in cooked meals for breakfast and lunch. They have been open for two years and have a very strong reputation locally. |
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What will you be competing on |
What will you be competing with them on – Price? Convenience? Quality? | We will be competing with them for the same customer’s spend – while we provide ingredients to prepare and eat at home, they use the same high quality ingredients in their meals – customers may choose to go out for a meal rather than buy the ingredients to cook at home. |
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Strengths of competitor |
What does this competitor do well? | High quality, sustainable, Locally sourced ingredients; Good reputation and very good reviews on TripAdvisor; Provide very good service and have strong well followed social media presence. |
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Weaknesses of competitor |
What does this competitor do badly? | Due to the size and type of their premises (large restaurant) their overheads are much higher, and as they use more fresh ingredients that spoil their waste is higher, both of which mean their meals cost well in excess of average for the area and it is definitely perceived as “expensive” whereas our products are priced in line with, or are cheaper than comparative quality products at the supermarket. |
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Summary of how you will compete with them |
Based on these factors what will your business do, and what specific activities will you engage in to make customers choose you instead? | We will focus our marketing on the joy and advantages of cooking at home – we will provide free recipe cards that will be available in the shop as well as on our website about how to get the most of the ingredients, as well as creating short videos showing fast and easy recipes busy people can use to prepare a meal with our ingredients in under 10 minutes. We also plan to launch free cooking classes featuring our more interesting products that are hard to source elsewhere to encourage people to buy them afterwards. |
| Check out some more great content on our website to help you with defining your Competitors:
How to Sell Smarter than your Competitors: Skinsincere Video on How to Beat your Competitors Paul Munnery: How to Research and Beat Your Competitors Business Plan How to Better Your Competitors Click to jump back to your business plan |
4. CUSTOMER RESEARCH Click to jump back to your business plan
Supplementary Attachments to Provide
Please provide evidence of this having been done in the appendices – Email chains are a good example, as well as summarised survey results.
5. MARKETING Click to jump back to your business plan
3 Examples of Customers for a Gourmet Burger Restaurant | Click to jump back to your business plan
CUSTOMER 1
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Customer |
Based on your research or test trading, provide a description of the type of customer you will be targeting |
Burger Aficionados and bloggers. |
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Description of Customer |
What lifestyle factors or behaviours does this group of people have in common, where do they shop, what do they buy, if relevant how much money do they earn |
These customers are predominantly male, aged 30 – 40. They are always on the look-out for new burger restaurants so they can be the first to review and post to social media. |
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Why are they your Customer? |
Describe how these factors are aligned with your business’ values, price, products/services and location |
We will be using high quality ingredients, such as grass fed beef and artisan baked buns, and focus on the quality and provenance of our ingredients. |
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Channels you will use to market to them |
List the channels you will be using to reach your customers. Be as specific as possible and say why you have chosen this |
Instagram, Facebook – most used platforms by this demographic.
Personal Invitations – personal touch that will encourage people to attend more than a blanket email or social media post. By only sending to a limited number of people it will also be more exclusive. |
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Activities within channel and related costs |
For each channel you have identified, describe in more detail what specific activities and strategies you are planning to use and what the associated costs will be and how regularly you will incur these costs |
Instagram – we will post pictures of all of our burgers taken by professional photographers. We will use hash tags and tag relevant burger blogs and groups. Instagram is heavily used by this group.
Facebook – use Facebook ads and promoted posts to have content visible in the feeds of people who like other burger restaurants and bloggers. Invitations – we will have a soft launch evening where we will invite prominent burger bloggers to the restaurant. |
CUSTOMER 2 | Click to jump back to your business plan
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Customer |
Based on your research or test trading, provide a description of the type of customer you will be targeting |
Foodies |
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Description of Customer |
What lifestyle factors or behaviours does this group of people have in common, where do they shop, what do they buy, if relevant how much money do they earn |
These customers are an even mix of male and female and generally aged 25 – 45. They like eating in new restaurants and follow new food trends. They could live anywhere in the city but most weekends would make a special trip to at least one new eatery they have heard about. They would prefer craft beer or real ale to lager and would more likely favour independent businesses over buying from big chains. |
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Why are they your Customer? |
Describe how these factors are aligned with your business’ values, price, products/services and location. |
As premium/gourmet burgers are a food trend at the moment, and we have a clear USP with our offering, people who are interested in, and enjoy trying new food are likely to want to try our burgers. |
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Channels you will use to market to them |
List the channels you will be using to reach your customers. Be as specific as possible and say why you have chosen this. |
Instagram, Facebook – most used social media platforms by this demographic. |
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Activities within channel and related costs |
For each channel you have identified, describe in more detail what specific activities and strategies you are planning to use and what the associated costs will be and how regularly you will incur these costs. |
Instagram – we will be using Instagram stories to show our chefs creating new burger recipes. We will post at least 5 photos of burgers to our feed per day as well as 5 funny or interesting posts such as quotes about food or our ingredients. |
CUSTOMER 3 | Click to jump back to your business plan
|
Customer |
Based on your research or test trading, provide a description of the type of customer you will be targeting |
Local Residents |
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Description of Customer |
What lifestyle factors or behaviours does this group of people have in common, where do they shop, what do they buy, if relevant how much money do they earn |
They live within an easily commutable distance of the restaurant |
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Why are they your Customer? |
Describe how these factors are aligned with your business’ values, price, products/services and location. |
From a geographical point of view these are the customers who are most important to us and who we would expect to make up a large part of our customer base. |
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Channels you will use to market to them |
List the channels you will be using to reach your customers. Be as specific as possible and say why you have chosen this. |
Resident’s discount, local newspaper, loyalty card |
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Activities within channel and related costs |
For each channel you have identified, describe in more detail what specific activities and strategies you are planning to use and what the associated costs will be and how regularly you will incur these costs. |
Resident’s discount – we will have an opening party offering free burgers and fries to the first 100 customers. We will make conversation with customers and ask where they live; if they are local we will give them a key ring which will allow them to have half price meals on Monday and Tuesday night. As we see people come in regularly we will ascertain if they live locally and provide up to 100 key rings in total.
Local Newspaper – it’s very important for us to be part of the local community – we will advertise our monthly special in the local paper every week. Loyalty Card – those that live locally are the most likely to be repeat purchasers, to encourage this we will have a loyalty card that will allow the customer to get every 10th burger for free. |
6. OPERATIONS Click to jump back to your business plan
Staff | Click to jump back to your business plan
Are you planning to employ any staff in the business other than yourself? If so, provide full details in this section. Include what the role will be, what month the role needs to be filled, how many hours per week they will work or if it is full time, and how much they will be paid.
| Role/Job Title
What will the job title be or what will the functions be? |
Hours per month/week or FT
How many hours per month will the employee work if part time? Or state if full time. |
Cost
What will their monthly salary, or average monthly cost, be? – This should include employer’s national insurance and any other employer’s costs. If they will be paid by the hour please include the hourly rate as well. |
Month Start (1 – 12)
What month in year 1 will they start assuming the month you receive the loan is month 0. |
| General Manager | Full-Time | Salary of £35k/year, total cost of £38,710 including employer’s National Insurance | Month 1 |
| Sales Assistant x 4 | 2 x part-time working approximately 20 hours/week, 2 x FT. | Part time employees will get £10/hour and full time employees will be paid a salary of £20k to £25k depending on experience. Including employer’s NI this will cost up to £27,330 per FT sales assistant. | 1 full time to start in Month 1, 1 part time to start in month 3, and an additional full time and part time to start in Month 6 |
Suppliers and Third Parties | Click to jump back to your business plan
To ensure you are getting the best prices from your suppliers and service providers, and that your cash flow forecast is as accurate as possible, you should have contacted a number of these parties to get quotes and discuss payment terms – take this into consideration when preparing your cash flow forecast.
In this section make a list of the major suppliers and service providers you will use, what you will buy from them, at what prices, and what the payment terms will be. Focus on larger costs that will have a material effect on your cash flow.
Risks | Click to jump back to your business plan
In this section identify key operation risks to your business, what the impact will be, and what steps you are taking, or have taken to mitigate the effect of these risks.
| Risk Factor | Impact on Business | Mitigation and Outcome |
| Reliant on one distributor for 80% of all products | If there was a problem with delivery or unfavourable change in terms it would have an effect across all of our products due to how much we purchase from this supplier. We would have to increase prices or reduce margins to remain cash flow positive. In the instance of a delivery problem we may not be able to open on the effected days. | We have built relationships with 3 other suppliers who between them can supply everything we get from our main supplier. They are located very close to us and have provided assurances around their ability to deliver at very short notice – this service costs more which is why we do not use them as our main suppliers, but would enable us to stay open and limit financial and reputational damage of being closed for periods of time. |
Legal and Regulatory | Click to jump back to your business plan
In this section provide details of legislation and regulations that apply to your business. Are any specific licenses or qualification required for you to operate the business either legally or for credibility?
| Relevant Law, regulation, or qualification | Evidence of Compliance provided |
| A3 Premises use (restaurant) | Planning permission granted for change of use – letter from local authority attached |
| Personal Alcohol License | License attached |
| Premises License | License attached |
| Food Hygiene Level 2 | Certificate attached |
Supplementary Attachments to Provide
Evidence of your compliance with each of the legal and regulatory requirements you have identified as applying to your business.
Next Steps | Click to jump back to your business plan
In this section provide detail and timelines for each step you need to take from when you get the loan to achieve your first sale.
| Need to do | By When | Associated Cost |
| Sign lease and pay deposit | Day loan is drawn down (end of March) | Deposit – £4,000
Legal costs – £1,500 |
| Start shop fit-out | 1 April | £5,000 |
| Buy Equipment | End of fit-out circa 30 April | £2,500 |
| Contact web developer to build website | Day loan is drawn | £1,500 |
| Contact mailing list about launch party | 30th May | £0 |
| Send invites to local social media influencers about pre-launch | 15th April | £1000 – cost of pre-launch party. |
| Buy stock | 15th April – 30th April | £5,500 |
CONGRATULATIONS – YOU’VE COMPLETED
YOUR BUSINESS PLAN TO APPLY FOR A
START UP LOAN FROM VIRGIN STARTUP!
You’re one step closer to turning your business idea into a reality and it’s a big step we want to celebrate with you – share your progress with the startup community and tweet us @VirginStartUp.
If you have any questions about the business plan email [email protected] and one of the Virgin StartUp team will be happy to help you.
Also, make sure you check out www.virginstartup.org for even more advice and inspiration.
Good luck and remember…
“BUILDING A BUSINESS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE; IT’S ABOUT
HAVING A GREAT IDEA AND SEEING IT THROUGH WITH INTEGRITY.
THAT GOES FOR VIRGIN GALACTIC TOO, WHICH IS ROCKET SCIENCE.”
RICHARD BRANSON, FOUNDER VIRGIN GROUP