The Prince’s Trust is a youth charity that helps young people aged 11 to 30. They are one of the UK’s leading organisations helping young people to start their businesses and move into self-employment. Writing a Princes Trust business plan can be complicated without experience. This article shows you how to write a business plan for their Enterprise Program.
The Princes Trust Enterprise programme is a training course providing you with all the knowledge and skills to run your business.
The Enterprise programme is in one of their local centres and is divided into three stages. You can also learn flexibly on Enterprise Online.
The Prince’s Trust also offers development grants and business loans through the Startup Loan Company.
The Start-Up Loans Company’s scheme started in May 2012. It is a government-funded initiative providing start-up loans and mentoring for entrepreneurs across England and Northern Ireland.
It was designed to go some way to help solves the problem of supporting people who have a feasible business idea but no access to finance. The Start-Up Loan program aims to equip enterprising individuals with the tools needed to make their businesses a success.
The business plan is the essential part of your startup loan application with the Prince’s Trust, so let’s go through the Princes Trust Business Plan Template section by section.
Prince’s Trust Business Plan
Section 1: Elevator Pitch
On average, you spend 20 – 30 seconds in a lift.
Write a concise summary of your business that lasts no more than 30 seconds.
No fluff, just the core purpose of your business and the key benefits.
Section 2: Your background
Traditionally banks only loan money to entrepreneurs who are highly experienced in their field.
The Start-Up Loan scheme is similar but more lenient. It was started to help young people who do not have years of experience. If you don’t have much experience, you must make up for it with passion.
Your Motivation
Why do you want to start a business? Is it a hobby? Is it something that you are highly experienced in? You need to convey that you are desperate to start the business, and it’s just not a backup option.
Previous Work Experience
Enter here what type of work you’ve done in the past. Any relevant work experience within your business field will be beneficial. If you don’t have previous experience, mention any key managerial decision-making roles you’ve had.
Qualifications
List any relevant qualifications and vocational training you may have. Qualifications related to your business are ideal, but qualifications of any kind show you are a dedicated, committed person, so include them.
Training
The Start-up loan company do not fund training as a start-up cost, so I wouldn’t mention anything that would make them think you’re not qualified to run the business now.
However, every business owner should be developing and learning, so it’s okay to include professional development.
Hobbies and Interests
If you’re not qualified in your chosen field, I suggest that you mention that your business is your primary interest. It is important you portray your business as your passion project.
Section 3: Products and Services
Explain what your business does, breaking your products and services into categories and explaining customer benefits.
Section 4 – Target Market
Your Target Market is the most likely people to be interested and buy your product.
There could be multiple buyer profiles who will be interested in your product.
List them out as your primary, secondary and tertiary markets.
Also, include buyer habits. These include
When do they buy?
How often do they buy?
How much do they spend?
Section 5 Market research
There are two types of market research.
Primary Market Research
Primary market research is:
Previous sales and feedback from customers
The research was conducted directly with prospective customers’ surveys and interviews.
Primary Market Research doesn’t need to be face-to-face; you can do it online using polling software, Google Forms or many other applications.
Secondary or Desk Research
This type of research is done by market research companies or governments about the industry or/market in general.
Primary research is better than secondary research as it proves the demand for your product service. Desk research is useful as it gives insight into the overall market, but this type of research is also relevant to your competitors and possible new entrants.
Section 6: Marketing Strategy
Based on your target market, you need to describe the marketing channels you will use — for instance, Facebook, Google AdWords, flyers and posters.
Section 7: Competitors
The Prince’s Trust’s business plan template uses Competitor SWOT analysis. This is where you list all of your competitors and describe their strengths and weaknesses together in one place.
It’s important not to just users have a box-ticking exercise. A competitive SWOT analysis gives you greater insight into how you can strengthen your own USP and improve upon the weaknesses in your competitor’s business.
Section 8: Operations
Explain how your business will operate post-funding when you have launched.
Sections include:
Production – How will you produce your product or deliver your service?
Delivery – How will your product/service reach your customers
Payment Terms and Methods – How quickly will you get paid? This will be very important for your cash flow assumptions.
Suppliers – Who are your suppliers – are they reliable?
Premises – A description of where your business will be located. Some companies may need commercial property. Others can start from home. If you need a commercial, include the lease terms you agreed with a landlord.
Equipment – Any equipment you may need to start the business.
Legal – Any legal or regulatory issues that need to be resolved or complied with the business for you to start the business.
Insurance – An insurance quote for your business from a reputable supplier.
Then finally, you need to start-up costs. Just add what you need to start the business—no big shopping lists of things you would like to have. Just stick to the essentials.
Section 9: Backup Plan
Your backup plan is how you will repay the loan if your business doesn’t go as well it is expected.
It depends on the circumstances. Sometimes you can sell the business, equipment or the lease in some businesses.
In other circumstances, the best thing you can do say is you will return to full-time employment to repay the loan.