background experience, skills, and strengths do you and your team personally bring to this new venture?
Legal form of ownership: What legal form of entity have you decided to create?
Sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, limited liability corporation?
Justify your choice.
Products and Services: Describe in depth your products or services. (Please note that any technical specifications, drawings, photos, sales brochures, and other bulky items belong in the Appendix). What factors will influence
competitive advantages or disadvantages? What criteria are you using to price your products or fees or leasing structures of your products or services?
8.4.2. Marketing Plan
(Guidelines for this topic are expanded fully in Chapter 9.)
All ventures and projects need effective marketing to survive, and this requires careful, systematic research. You need to do market research to be certain that you project or product is sound.
There are two kinds of market research: primary and secondary. Secondary research stems from published information such as industry profiles, trade journals, newspapers, magazines, census data, and demographic profiles. This type of information is available in public libraries, industry associations, chambers of commerce, from vendors who sell to your industry, and from government agencies.
Primary research means first-‐hand data that you collect yourself. Your research tools (surveys, interviews, questionnaires) will help you to learn about consumer preferences. (These are fully developed in Chapter 7.) Each team is expected to conduct at least ten interviews and run an online survey, collecting a minimum of 100 responses.
In this section of the business plan, you will also be expected to discuss economics, the product, customers, and competition.
8.3.3 Operational Plan
This section of the business plan intends to explain the daily operation of the business. For instance:
describe its location and the surrounding environment,
list any major equipment (professional kitchen, office machinery, etc.) , name the people and describe the jobs they hold,
elaborate on processes or methods required for you to achieve the purpose of the company.
You will need to details such things as inventory, suppliers, credit policies, accounts receivable and accounts payable.
8.4.3. Management and Organization
Who will manage the business on a day-‐to-‐day basis? What experience does that person bring to the business? What special or distinctive competencies does that person need? Is there a plan for continuation of the business if that person leaves or is incapacitated?
8.4.4 Financial Statements
(This subject is fully developed in Chapter 10 Business Plan: Financial Planning.)
You will have many startup expenses before you even begin operating your business. It’s important to estimate those expenses accurately and then to plan where you will get sufficient capital. New businesses usually cost more than you anticipate. You will need to "pad" your budget and to learn projection planning.
The financial plan consists of the following documents:
a 12-‐month profit and loss projection,
a four-‐year profit and loss projection (optional), a cash-‐flow projection,
a projected balance sheet, and a break-‐even calculation.
Together they constitute a reasonable estimate of your company's financial future. More important, the process of thinking through the financial plan will improve your insight into the inner financial workings of your company.
8.4.5. Appendix
Please include only documents that are essential to the understanding of your business plan, such as:
Team biographies with photos or individual CVs with contact
information (Consider your business plan as an excellent promotional tool!)
Brochures and advertising materials Industry studies
Blueprints and plans
Maps and photos of location Magazine or other articles
Detailed lists of equipment owned or to be purchased
Copies of leases and contracts
Letters of support from future customers
Any other materials needed to support the assumptions in this plan -‐ Market research studies
-‐ List of assets available as collateral for a loan
All financial tables showing how you arrived at the conclusions put forth in the text (You will want to make sure you include all of your upstream assumptions and calculations so that the reader sees immediately what your thinking is.) Please note that large charts should not be put into the text of the business plan and all financial citations should be tagged with a reference to the document in the Appendix.
Questions
1. What is the purpose of a business plan?
2. What is the difference between a business plan and a feasibility study?
3. What is an executive summary?
4. What are generally the main parts of a business plan?
5. What are some good tips for business plan presentations?
References
Boulger Karlson, Carolyn (2009). Writing and Presenting a Business Plan Second Edition, Managing Communication Series 6, Editor James O'Rourke, IV
Educational Research Business Plans, (n.d.) Bplans by Palo Alto Software, [Online]
At http://www.bplans.com/educational_research_business_plan/management_summary_fc.php#.UMBYnY7ApUQ [Accessed June 12, 2012]
Gerber, Scott (2009). Ten Tips for the First Time Business Owner, Entrepreneur, [Online] At http://www.entrepreneur.com/businessplan/index.html [Accessed June 12, 2012]
Small Business Development Centers SBDC (n.d.). How to write a Business Plan, Vetbiz.gov [Online] At http://www.vetbiz.gov/library/Busplan.pdf [Accessed June 12, 2012]