Write the business plan that gets your business started, and funded
You have an idea. Now the big questions: will it make money, how much do you need to start, and where will the money come from? Start Your Business works through every one of them on your own idea, and you finish with a business plan you can start from and take to a lender.
▶▶ Watch the short introduction to the course on YouTube
What you walk away with
- ✔Market research on your own customers and competitors
- ✔Real costs and prices, so you know the business will make a profit
- ✔A cash flow plan, the start-up capital you need and where it will come from
- ✔A complete Business Plan, reviewed by a SMEAZ consultant
See the prices Start the course
Proven training, used around the world
This course is adapted for Zimbabwean conditions from the International Labour Organization’s Start Your Business programme, part of the ILO’s Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) programme, and is delivered by SMEAZ trainers certified in it.
Owners who took this training have started businesses, created jobs and raised their profits. Read the ILO’s 2025 success stories →
Choose how you want to learn
Self-paced online
On your phone or computer, in short sessions, whenever suits you. An AI coach comments on your answers and a SMEAZ consultant reviews your work.
Webinar
Everything in self-paced, plus live group webinars on Zoom with a certified trainer: ask your questions, discuss your work and learn with other owners. Dates are announced in the course WhatsApp group.
Live class
Everything in self-paced, plus training days at a venue with a certified trainer, printed manuals and catering. 3 training days. Register now; you pay once the date and venue are confirmed.
Already have the self-paced course? Add a webinar or a live class on the course page and pay only the difference. Pay by EcoCash or Paynow; the self-paced course opens as soon as your payment is confirmed.
Where two prices are shown, the first is for paid-up Small Enterprise, Medium Enterprise and Corporate members, and the second is for everyone else, including Standard members, Start-up members and non-members.
About the course
Write the business plan for your new business, decide whether to start, and plan the start.
For people with a concrete business idea. You research your market, cost your product, work out the money you need and where it will come from, and finish with a business plan you can start from and take to a lender. Adapted for Zimbabwean conditions from the International Labour Organization’s Start Your Business programme.
Who it is for
- People with a definite business idea who have not started trading
- Graduates of Generate Your Business Idea
- People who need a business plan to raise start-up capital
What you will do
About 40 hours in all: roughly 10 on screen and 30 in the field and at your desk, researching your market, collecting prices and writing your own plan. Most learners need about six weeks.
- Welcome (30 minutes). Why you plan before you start, and how the course works.
- You and your business idea (3 hours). Your readiness to start, what a business plan contains, and your idea in writing.
- Your marketing plan (10 hours, most of it in the field). Market research, the seven Ps of the marketing mix, and your sales estimate.
- Staff, organisation and the law (4 hours). The staff you need and what they cost, your legal form, your legal responsibilities and your insurance.
- Buying, and greening your business (3 hours). What you must buy to start, and how reducing, reusing and recycling raises your profit.
- Costing your goods and services (6 hours). What each product will really cost you, and whether your prices leave a profit.
- Financial planning (6 hours). Your sales, cost and profit plans, and the cash flow plan that keeps you from running out of money.
- Start-up capital (3.5 hours). How much you need for investment and working capital, and where it will come from.
- Start or not? (4 hours). Test your plan, decide whether to start, write the action plan and send your Business Plan for review.
What you leave with
- A complete Business Plan for your new business
- A clear decision on whether, and when, to start
- A Certificate of Completion when your plan is approved, and a Certificate of Competence once the business is trading
How the self-paced course works
- Work on your phone or computer, in short sessions. Your answers are saved as you go.
- Every exercise is about your own business, not a textbook case.
- An AI coach comments on your key answers and asks the questions a consultant would ask.
- A SMEAZ consultant reviews your finished work and replies with comments.
- Your certificate carries a number and a QR code that anyone can check on our website.
Ready to start?
Start the course Join as a Potential Start-up member Join the live class group
You will be asked to log in to your SMEAZ website account first. No account yet? Registering is free and takes two minutes.
What comes next
Once you are trading, Small Enterprise training begins with Growth Strategy, and the Small Enterprise membership gives you a member consultant.
Questions? Message us on WhatsApp.