13 people want: How to write a business plan for a social enterprise

There are various resources out there. However, having looked at so many, whether they be from funders, advisors or consultants, I would still point people to this

http://www.sel.org.uk/uploads/New_BusPlanGuide.pdf

It is recommended by SENSCOT, Social Firms UK and often referred to at the Social Enterprise Academy.

Also, if you are in Scotland perhaps going on a course with the latter would help to focus. There are some funded places and action learning is a great way to get through an often laborious process.

Hope this helps!

Went to click "I'll write this how-to", but it threw up an error...

Here's a good source of advice on what structure to use Sequoia Capital:

*Writing a Business Plan*

We like business plans that present a lot of information in as few words as possible. The following business plan format, within 15-20 slides, is all that's needed:

*Company Purpose*
- Define the company/business in a single declarative sentence.

*Problem*
- Describe the pain of the customer (or the customer’s customer).
- Outline how the customer addresses the issue today.

*Solution*
- Demonstrate your company’s value proposition to make the customer’s life better.
- Show where your product physically sits.
- Provide use cases.

*Why Now*
- Set-up the historical evolution of your category.
- Define recent trends that make your solution possible.

*Market Size*
- Identify/profile the customer you cater to.
- Calculate the TAM (top down), SAM (bottoms up) and SOM.

*Competition*
- List competitors
- List competitive advantages

*Product*
- Product line-up (form factor, functionality, features, architecture, intellectual property).
- Development roadmap.

*Business Model*
- Revenue model
- Pricing
- Average account size and/or lifetime value
- Sales & distribution model
- Customer/pipeline list

*Team*
- Founders & Management
- Board of Directors/Board of Advisors

*Financials*
- P&L
- Balance sheet
- Cash flow
- Cap table
- The deal

Original version here: http://www.sequoiacap.com/ideas