Once you’ve settled with a business name, the actual writing of the business plan can proceed. The plan - your roadmap or blueprint for your business - need not be technical. It basically includes your assumptions, costs, strategies, and objectives in setting up the business. Though writing a business plan is not compulsory, it can be very useful as it provides standards and allows you to compare your business with similar businesses.

These are the essential parts of a business plan: the mission statement, executive summary, the management team, a discussion of what the business is all about, and an analysis of the business environment.

The mission statement puts forth your objectives and business concept; to avoidfuture setbacks makes sure that the goals you set are realistic. The executive summary is a snapshot of the whole business plan, meant especially for those who would rather not read the entire business plan. Make sure to discuss the credentials of your management teaml then, given the current business climate, offer the rationale for setting up the business.

After writing about the foundations of your business, elaborate on your product, marketing, and financing plan. You need to list down the attributes of your product and explain why you think it will sell. you also need to list your suppliers for raw materials, labor, and other inputs.

In designing the marketing plan, you need to answer these questions regarding your markets: what do they do, how you intened to read them, and you will make them buy. You also need to list down what factors and trends may affect your sales.

In the financing plan, you need to put how you intend to finance your business - with loans, savings, etc. You need to include projections of your cash flow, sales and performance ratios as wel as your business budget.

One frequently overlooked but very important aspect of starting a business is doing a business plan. Though it may seem daunting, making it is actually simple and can be done even without help from others.

The first step is to come up with a good business name for your business. It should be unique have  good recall, and be descriptive of the nature of your business. Having a unique name facilitates its registration with the Department of Trade and Industry. The name doesn’t need to be your brand but it has to be related to your line of business. A good name also facilitates branding because it would make people easily associate the product or service to your brand or name. Examples are National Book Store, Jollibee and Goldilocks.