Your business plan

Producing a business plan for your entry

A business plan is a written document that clearly identifies your objectives and outlines the methods for achieving them.

The business strategy award will be judged on the business plan you submit and any additional evidence of a commercial strategy to make the magazine viable. We do not need to see a full business plan, you are asked to submit a summary version.

So what should a business plan include?

First and foremost focus on the creation of a distinctive product. With that in hand, selling your idea to advertisers or sponsors will be much easier. Here are a list of other key elements of your plan that our judges will be looking for.

The objectives of your magazine

  • Information about the magazine you aim to produce, print or digital or both, content and layout plans, interactive aspects of a digital product, how it will compare with competitive products.
  • Production plans: how frequently will you publish your magazine, how many copies to print, how it will be printed, will advertisements be included, how much will it cost to print? Who is going to print the magazine?
  • The magazine production team – who is going to be responsible for the various tasks involved.
  • Your target readership group, how you are going to reach your readers / buyers, how are you going to promote your magazine?
  • Sources of revenue: sponsorship, cover price, advertising revenue.
  • Simple ‘P&L’ (profit and loss) analysis
  • Major challenges facing your team in achieving your magazines objectives

More help with your business plan

There are many websites that provide information on writing business plans. We provide here a list of resources that focus specifically on magazine and newspaper plans.

Considering your community and the environment

Latest Tweets

Shine School Media Awards @shinemediawards - Feb 20
Could your school create a project eligible for this year's Shine Awards? Yes! We're supplying a set of lesson plans on our website helping teachers and setting your students up for the future. Find out more >>> https://t.co/aFlYpyPFHt #ShineSMA20 #UKEdChat https://t.co/UXIqyXqZGg

Bruges72 @Bruges721 - Jan 20
RT @Bruges721: It really is delightful for us here @DenmaurPaper to be a small part of a team like #shinemediaawards which plays a role in…

Shine School Media Awards @shinemediawards - Jan 20
Former ’Most Outstanding Pupil’ @Bill_Bowkett has written us a great piece about how winning a Shine prize made a difference to the start of his career – as he joins an MA Journalism course. Thanks Bill! >>> https://t.co/SJRC3YRCQT #UKEdChat https://t.co/B8hFcoZPey