This article aims to present you information on how to write a fish farming business plan as a sample on writing plans for projects that gets approved.
As much as most start up businesses want to grow and expand their venture, getting finance to implement their idea has always been the major setback.
This is not due to the lack of profitable ideas, there are many reasons why startups fail in Nigeria, which include their inability to write and present an acceptable business plan for organizations that are ready to finance them.
For many startups, it is obvious that putting up business plan together is a major setback, this article provides solution to the most difficult things young entrepreneurs can’t do.
There are over 100 profitable business ideas in Nigeria to choose from and if you want to write business plan for any of these small and medium scale businesses, you’ve got nothing to worry about.
I mean, if you’re searching for what elements are included in an acceptable business plan, you don’t have to worry, at the end of this post, you will be able to prepare your business plan as you’ll get samples of various business plans to download.
So let’s get started
What Is a Business Plan?
In a simple term, a business plan is a written representation of where a company is going, how it will get there and what it will look like once it arrives that destination.
Therefore, we can say a business plan is a document setting out a business’s future objectives and strategies for achieving them.
If you’ve gone through our post on how to start a fish farming business in Nigeria, and want to write a business plan to get a loan or investment fund, check this out.
So What are the Contents of An Acceptable Business Plan?
In our previous article on how to write a standard business plan, we highlighted some element that makes up a good business plan, right here, we’ll explain more with real examples.
Since you are going to be preparing your business plan yourself, it is necessary that you know all that would be contained in your business plan.
Having a proper understanding of each of these element will help you craft a business plan that’s acceptable for loans or grants.
Every acceptable business plan is divided into three parts and are categorized as below:
- Description
- Analysis and;
- Financial
Now, let’s take it one after the other
PART ONE: DESCRIPTION
This is also divided into three and all describe something related to your business or the industry.
A. Company Description
This is a brief description of your company. The name, the address, the contact email and phone number.
When the company was created, the owners and their brief history. All these are expected to be stated in the company description.
Just try as much as possible to make it brief and understandable for someone who is accessing your business plan for loan or grant.
You can check out the brief company description below on how to write :
“XYZ FARM is a farm focused on catfish table size production that provides for a large market range.
The company is based in Kaduna, Kaduna State. The founders established the company to bridge the huge gap that exist between the daily demand and supply of table size cat fish in Kaduna metropolis.
We also want to use this business as a means of creating employment within the community and to contribute to the economy of the country.
We plan on providing products with quality and maintain this supply efficiently. This is a business that plans on distributing cat fish to restaurants, home delivery food centers, hotels, schools, clubs, bakery and catering businesses and supermarkets. We also plan on doing this at very affordable prices.
This fish farming business plan is meant to articulate the vision and future of our farm, and to appeal to investors and external stakeholders to get involved in this business and help with its funding as it is a capital intensive business.
5,000 fingerlings would be optimum for the initial operation of the business. Production site is in Kaduna, plenty open space, cheap labors, road connection, water availability and immediate access to markets. Revenue for this will be gotten from personal saving and loan.”
B. Management/Staff
Under company description, you still need to describe your employees and those who will be working with you to show that there are capable hands to handle the business.
This has a better way of influencing investors’ opinion. So for this fish farming business plan sample template, see below how the management/staff section has been handled.
See example below:
3. Description of Product and Services
This is the section where you give vivid description of your products or service. Your investors will definitely need to know about your products and services.
So, take you time to tell them what you sell or the services you offer. Include its benefit too. Below is an example of brief description of products in a fish farming business plan.
| Product/Service | Description | Price |
| [Table size catfish] | [This is a table size catfish with needed protein to supplement the body] | [N800 per kg] |
4. Market and Business Environment
The essence of making a particular product is to get buyers who are interested buying it.
You need to show your investors that you have conducted a market survey and knows the opportunity available for your product in the market.
You may even state some statistics and figure relating to consumption of your products or service. The kind of people or companies that uses your products or service.
For this fish farming business plan, you can talk about the market demand and supply of catfish. For example list the set of target audiences that will buy your products and how much supply you’ll give and how you intend to supply the products.
PART TWO: ANALYSIS
As stated early, a business plan is sectioned into 3 sections and now we’ll shed more light on the second – analysis.
Analysis of a business plan is also sectioned into some categories:
1. Objective and Business Strategies
Here, you are expected to state your business objective and at the same time explain what your business strategies are. This will go along way to building an acceptable business plan.
For a fish farming business plan, be straight to the point in stating the key objective of your business (every business have varying goals), and your strategies.
2. Marketing Plan
Just as the name implies, what are the marketing plans you want to implement. Are you coming to dominate the market? Then how? It is very necessary you state all this for your investor who wants to risk his fund for your business.
For instance in the marketing plan section, when writing a fish farming business plan, your targeted market could be People within Kaduna Metropolis who consume fish for protein nutrient.
This depends on who you think would need your products and where they reside. Therefore, you market survey statement could be as below:
“We have conducted an intensive market research in order to understand the market for us to compete favorably. A survey questionnaire was used to gather all the necessary information relating to fish farming.”
3. Operation Plan
How do you intend to produce? For instance, how many creates of eggs can you harvest in month if you’re just starting a poultry farm? Or how many dozen of plastic yogurt do you planned to produce per day?
How many of your workers will be working to meet the target? All these are to be included in your operation plan.
PART THREE: FINANCIAL
This is the last part of your business plan and its the most important to your investors.
They really want to know your financial needs and how you will put this into use to generate profit.
They cared to know your financial predictions and how you can work with figures. Financial is divided into:
1. Sum of Financial Resources Needed
Many small business owners to be, who don’t need a loan or grant to start have chosen to get loans on these online lending platforms in Nigeria.
But in this section, you need to categorically state the amount in Naira or dollars that would be needed to finance your business.
List all the items you want to buy and their prices with all necessary expenses. If machinery is required, state all and their prices. You must have done market survey to know the correct prices.
For a fish farming business plan, see an example below:
For the purpose of raising 5000 fingerlings of catfish to table size, the business will need 2.5m and below is the breakdown of how the money would be put into use.
Therefore, from the above table, the investors knows you need N2.5m and can easily see what the money is meant for.
2. Cash Flow Statement
This is a statement that shows how your finance would be put to use to ensure the business is not in short of cash at any period of time.
The statement also ensures that the business does not tie down unnecessary cash during the year.
This shows how you want to spend the N2.5m and at what time would you need it? You can see the cash flow for the catfish business below:
Sample of a projected cash flow statement for a fish farming business plan
3. Capital Structure
Capital structure simply implies how you intend to get the needed finance. For instance, if you need N2,500,000.
How do you intend to get the sum of money? Are you borrowing from other sources? How much is your own personal capital? This section will state all your capital structure.
Below is how to write down your capital structure to show you are serious:
The total capital required for the fish farming shall be sourced is N2.5m and is to be sources as below:
- Bank loan – N 2,000,000
- Personal savings – N 300,000
- Borrowing from family and friends – N 200,000
Total: N2,500,000
With this, your investor can clearly see where you intend to source for fund in financing your business.
4. Risk
Every business has its own risk. You need to state some of the risks factors that may affect the business in case they occur.
Though, you don’t over stress the risks so not to scare your investors away.
In case you want to put up your own business plan, the above fish farming business plan sample is enough to prepare an acceptable business plan for any business.
You can also check sample of business plans for various businesses that you can download as guide for your work.
Fish Farming Business Plan Sample (Conclusion)
Now you’ve seen how fish farming business plan sample that preparing an acceptable business plan is one of the things that hinder most small businesses to prosper.
Since many business owners cannot afford to finance their business, they’re unable to access finance from investors. Please take this serious and prepare your business plan today.
