United Arab Emirates

business-plan

Creating and pitching a successful business plan

A good business plan is an essential first step on the road to success when starting a new venture. It sets out your ideas and aims not only for your potential investors but for you and your business as well. As your business takes shape, you should refer back to your plan to make sure you’re following your intended path and to see if you need to make any adjustments.

If you intend to seek outside funding, the plan needs to be tailored to the requirements of the potential investor. In any event, your plan should include the following:

Executive summary

This is the showcase of your plan, where you provide sufficient details to allow potential investors to decide whether they are interested in learning more. It should contain a short summary of your business idea and why you believe it will be successful. You should also include brief details of your key personnel, location, financial information and your plans for growth. Between one and three pages is sufficient for this section.

Details of your market

You will need to be familiar with the market in which you will be competing and this section should include a profile of your target market and your industry outlook. Potential investors will need to know that you have researched your competitors and that you understand their strengths as well as market trends.

Marketing strategy

Once you have details of your ideal market, you need to set out how you will promote your product or service. This should include promotional ideas and whether you will connect directly with customers or clients or whether you will go through a retailer or agent. Likely costs should be included.

Management and organisational structure

As well as listing your key personnel, you need to allocate areas of responsibility, such as marketing, finance, sales and operations. You should take account of any legal requirements in this area, for example, businesses operating in the UAE must comply with the new Economic Substance Regulations in the UAE (the Regulations), which require (amongst other criteria) that a company’s managing director or a key member of the management team be based in the UAE, operating there full-time and carrying out specific ‘relevant activities’, which are detailed in the Regulations. For those without a UAE-based director, it is possible to appoint a professional to act in this capacity to satisfy the rules. If you need help in this area, Beyond-Legal are happy to discuss the options available to you.

Business operations plan

This is the section where you will set out details of the operational structure behind your business. It will include information on IT systems, management information systems for your stock, sales and accounts, your production facilities and details of premises. You should also mention how you will comply with any legal requirements in your area of business.

If you are intending to trade within the UAE, the Regulations will require you to have adequate physical assets, including premises, within the country.

Financial plan

If your business has already been in operation for a time, you should include historical figures, broken down to show, for example, sales of different products or sales in different areas. Your up to date accounts should include explanations where needed, such as where capital investment came from.

You will then need to include financial forecasts for the next three to five years together with any assumptions made.

Request for funding

This is where you need to set out your request for funds. Explain how much money you would like and on what it will be spent. You should also give details of whether you are seeking a debt or offering equity in your business, the terms for which you are asking and the time period over which any debt will run or the size of any share in the business you are offering.

Pitching

WithOnce you have your business plan prepared, craft your pitch. You should tailor it to your target audience, usually a bank, venture capitalist, angel investor or crowdfunding platform. Find out all you can about them before approaching.

Make sure that you know your business plan well and can talk knowledgeably about your product and market. You must familiarize yourself with all of your figures and be ready to answer questions about all aspects of your plan.

A note on style

Your plan should aim to be concise, use simple language and be easy to follow in the long term. If it is an overly long and complicated document, not only will potential investors be put off, you will be less likely to refer back to it in the future as your business grows.

Make sure the plan has a good cover and a numbered list of contents at the beginning. Add any in-depth pages such as financial forecasts and CVs of key personnel in appendices at the end to keep the plan itself simple and uncluttered.

A well-written business plan will give your venture the best possible start and should keep you focused on your aims as you move forward.

Our UAE-based legal consultants offer independent legal advice to companies operating and generating income within the UAE. We have a breadth of experience and the specialist knowledge to help our clients plan and build successful businesses.



We also help businesses ensure that they are structured in compliance with the Economic Substance Regulations in the UAE introduced in 2019.

To speak to one of our business experts, please ring us on +971 (0) 56 678 5251 or +971 (0) 58 587 9663.

Get in touch with us today for a free introductory consultation.