There are four basic reasons to build a business plan and building an effective, clear and persuasive plan is going to be key to you achieving your goals.

A plan for...

• Raise finance
• Improve profitability
• Attract investment or grants
• Set goals

A business plan can help you do achieve all four.

Firstly, work out who you are writing it for. If you need to raise funding, perhaps you are writing it for your bank manager. If you are setting goals, it could be that you and your partners will be the only ones to read it. It's not uncommon to write several different versions of the same plan.

Here are some chapters you should consider including: