Get paid to design business plans

An illustration of some of the things you must have in a good business plan.

What you need to know:

  • Considering that some businesses have failed without a proper business plan, the services of a gifted business plan designer come in handy. Dorothy Nakaweesi explains how you can actually make some money from this.

You have trekked through the streets of Kampala for months, in search for a white collar job but in vain! Then the thought of starting your own business props up.
But you don’t know where to get the starting capital to turn your dream idea into a reality.
But not all business require money or capital to start. There are many businesses you can start without using money or with little pocket change like designing business plans.

A good business plan required you to construct realistic financial projections and explore some of the risks involved. That’s why you might have to hire a business planner .
This article shows you how to start designing business plans for others and make a killing, with barely any capital. All you need is the knowledge you got from school.

Put simply, a business plan is a document that brings together key elements of a business that include details about products and services, cost, sales and expected profits.
Having all these ideas in your mind may seem easy but putting every detail on paper is another thing altogether.
Considering that some businesses have failed without a proper business plan, the services of a gifted business plan designer come in handy.
In an interview with Prosper Magazine, Mr Newton Buteraba, the chief executive officer House of Wealth – a local firm offering business advisory services, says: “Banks usually make mandatory requirements for people who want to borrow money. A good business plan is an easy ticket to getting that loan.”

People need business plans for banks; others need business plans to entice funders or partners while others need business plans for their own good.
A business plan is a road map to growing your business. Without it you risk closing shop within year.
“That is why most businesses in Uganda collapse because they have no plan on how to grow. It is here that the experts in designing business plans come in handy,” he shared.
It is upon you as the designer to market your services to potential clients. Approach businesses and people whom you think might require your services. Make yourself known and help them understand their businesses better.

Capital
What is required to start this kind of business?
Experts say the only thing is required of as a business plan designer is to be a good reader, or be ready to move shop to shop, understand how businesses operate and how you will help them.
You are not only a designer but also an adviser. This is why you need to invest in research.
If you are for stance designing a business plan for some who wants Shs200 million from the bank and the bank needs a business plan, you can charge a 1 percent fee which about Shs2 million.

Of the 2 million, you can use about Shs500,000 to research and the rest is your profit.
So when you break this further, Buteraba says designing a business plan for someone who wants Shs20 million, 1 percent of this is about Shs200,000.
“With this percentage, it means if you to design say 10 business plans in a month, you will be assured of your monthly Shs2 million profit and at the end of the year, you will be Shs24 million richer.
Buteraba who is also a business plan designer, says the amount one requires determines how much your commission.

Advice
Engage your client from the first to last page of the plan to help them make a good presentation. This will help them get the loans and your commission eventually.
All business plans must have 90 per cent of clients’ input. The rest is professional input.
“If you are dealing in a matooke business, you know the source, the markets and where you want to take the business,” He shared.
It would be advisable to create an electronic copy that your client can customise, keep a copy on file and continue customising it according to their needs.