Outline For A Complete International Business Plan

1. Executive Summary

2. Identification of the product(s) and/or service(s) to be offered by the company, including the essential specifications and rationale, and the country or countries with which the company will trade (3-5 pages)

3. Policies guiding selection of products and/or services (a summary of the policies used in guiding the selection of products and/or services and the countries with which the company will trade) (2-4 pages)

4. Vision Statement (a summary of the strategic vision of the company, e.g., uniqueness, long-term ambition, competitive advantage, strategic concept, etc.) (2-4 pages)

5. Objectives and policies of the company (3-5 pages)

6. Organization and Management of the company (type of company, legal basis, ownership, organization chart, etc.) (4-6 pages)

7. Main assumptions of company operations for the next five years (economic, legal, political, resources, technological, competitive, etc.) (3-5 pages)

8. Physical requirements for the next five years (location(s), plant and equipment, offices, furnishing, plant and/or office layout, etc.) (4-6 pages)

9. Plan to establish company’s next specific level of growth (flowchart of steps required, timetable, etc.) (3-4 pages)

10. Production plan for the next five years (all aspects of manufacturing or processing relevant to the products to be offered, to the extent this is applicable) (5-7 pages)

11. Marketing plan for the next five years (marketing plan for the company, including target markets, research and analysis, advertising, promotion, pricing, etc.) (4-5 pages)

12. Information plan for the next five years (decision support systems, internal and external communication, etc.) (4-5 pages)

13. Human resources plan for the next five years (numbers and types of staff members, job outlines for all technical, management and professional staff, manpower plan, remuneration plan, etc.) (4-6 pages)

14. Financial plan for the next five years (sources and costs of capital, funding mechanism requested (if any), cash flow projection, pro forma profit and loss statement, etc.) (4-6 pages)

15. Appendices.

By breaking down each component of this outline, you will see the level and depth of thinking that is required to do a complete job. Remember, what you are striving for is to fully think the plan through, whether you are just starting out, or whether you are growing your business to the next level, whatever that might be for you.

Let’s get started.

The Executive Summary

This section, while it comes first, is the last to be written in a business plan. Here, you outline the overview of the rest of the plan, demonstrating to yourself and others the summary of all the main points of the plan. We will return to this piece after reviewing the other components.

Products and Services

Identification of the product(s) and/or service(s) to be offered by the company, including the essential specifications and rationale, and the country or countries with which the company will trade (3-5 pages).

Notice that this says more than, “What products or services will you be offering?” In this segment, you do list the various products (including services as a product), but you need to go a few steps further. How did you decide to choose these products? What are the specifications for what kinds of products you will be offering? What is your rationale for offering those products? Which countries will you be trading with, either for hard products, or for outsourced service suppliers?

Notice that the suggested page count is 3 to 5 pages. The page counts give you a good sense regarding the depth you will need to drive your research, in order to come up with something that is useful to you. It is not a 20 page section, but it is not a half a page either.

This allows you to determine your parameters sufficiently, while also keeping yourself from getting bogged down.

…End of Part 2