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Business Plan Guide
The Executive Summary
Although first on the list and first in
the plan, this will be the last section
of the business plan that you write. Here
you will give a brief overview of the entire
operation and the service or product to
be sold.
Identify your market, the management structure,
and a brief synopsis of planned operations
(how you will conduct your business). Summarize
your overall financial projection; be clear
and concise.
This paragraph will set the tone for your
entire project, and it will be the "hook"
that entices a lender or investor to continue
reading the rest of the plan.
Business
Description
In this part of your plan, you
should describe the history of this
business as it relates to the general
industry. If the business is not yet
in operation, discuss how and why
you got the idea and why it is a good
business in which to be. You should
include short-term (no more than a
year) and long-term (2 - 5 years or
more) goals, as well as your strategies
for achieving those goals. |
| 1. |
What is the history of your business.
|
| 2. |
Describe the type of industry your
business will be in. |
| 3. |
What is the outlook for your business?
What projections are you making? |
| 4. |
Clearly state your goals and your
strategies for achieving them. |
| 5. |
Is this business risky? What makes
it so? How will you reduce the risk? |
| 6. |
How will your business succeed in
its particular setting? |
Product or Service
Describe your product or service in
terms that an "outsider" can understand.
Include the uses and unique qualities of
your product or service.
| 1. |
What, exactly, is your product or
service? |
| 2. |
What market niche will it fill? |
| 3. |
How does this product or service differ
from others currently available? |
| 4. |
Does your product or service meet
patent and/or licensing laws (if applicable),
and does it meet state and local regulations
(if applicable)? |
| 5. |
Why will your customers buy your product
or service? |
If you have a unique product, check out
this site:
To locate a manufacturer for your product,
go here:
Marketing Plan
Describe how you plan to market your
product or service. Talk about how you plan
to advertise. What will your public relations
strategy be? Include information about competitive
pricing and your plan for selling your product
or service. Provide sales forecasts for
at least one year, and up to three years,
if possible.
| 1. |
Who are your potential customers-include
names and locations |
| 2. |
How will you tap into the current
market? |
| 3. |
Explain your sales strategy-sales
force and methods of distribution. |
| 4. |
How do you plan to advertise? Discuss
different media you plan to use and
why, how often you plan to advertise
with each medium, how each medium will
reach your target market, and how much
advertising will cost your company.
Prepare an advertising schedule for
your first year, as well as an advertising
budget. |
| 5. |
Identify the market niche you intend
to capture and how you plan to do that,
outside of paid advertising. |
If you need to know more about marketing
and why it is important, go to one of these
sites:
- The 4 P's of Marketing
- Help for building your marketing plan
- Dictionary of marketing terms ry/index.html
- Manufacturers' Agents National Association
Market Research &
Analysis
In this section of the plan, you will
describe the general state of the industry
you are entering, any trends in the industry,
and what the potential is for the future
of the industry. You will also identity
and describe your target market and analyze
the competition.
| 1. |
What geographic market will you serve?
Tell why you chose a particular location.
|
| 2. |
Who will you sell your products and
services to? Provide a profile of your
targeted customer? What do they look
like? What do they purchase? Where do
they shop? How much money do they make?
What is their family structure? What
kinds of work do they do? How many of
them are there? |
| 3. |
Who are your competitors? Detail the
differences between their products and
services and your. What are their strengths
and weaknesses? What are yours? |
| 4. |
What portion of the market share does
each competitor hold? |
| 5. |
Describe your competitive advantage.
How will you differentiate your products
or services in order to remain competitive?
Include a discussion of price, quality,
range of products and services, innovativeness,
etc. |
| 6. |
Estimate what portion of the market
share you can reasonably obtain. |
Here are some links to help you learn about
your customers:
Great
Research Starting Point
Dun
& Bradstreet
US
Department of Commerce
CCH
Business Owner's Toolkit
Operational Plan
In this part of the plan, include the total
operational details for your business.
| 1. |
Will you purchase products for resale,
purchase parts and assemble, or manufacture?
Define your general manufacturing operations,
including the processes used to create
your products and/or services. |
| 2. |
Create a list of raw materials sources
and/or inventory resources. Provide
a list of vendors and suppliers. |
| 3. |
Describe what special equipment will
be needed, what it will cost, and where
it can be obtained. |
| 4. |
Will you operate in your home, lease
space, or purchase a building? Detail
why you chose this option and the costs
involved. |
| 5. |
How will you maintain and provide
security for your equipment and facility?
|
| 6. |
Describe your plan for staffing your
business, including how many employees
will be needed and how they will be
recruited and selected. How will you
train new employees? What will it cost
you to pay employee wages and benefits? |
| 7. |
Describe your policies for extending
and recovering credit. |
| 8. |
What warranties will be extended?
What are your sales and service policies?
|
For forms, agreements, contracts, etc.,
try these sites:
CCH
Business Owner's Toolkit
American
Express Small Business
FormNet
Management Plan
In this section describe the legal structure
of the business and who will lead and manage
the business.
| 1. |
Will you operate as a sole proprietor,
partnership, or corporation? |
| 2. |
Who are the owners and managers? What
relevant experience do they bring to
the business? Why and how will they
make the business a successful one?
Provide resumes for key leaders and
managers. |
| 3. |
How will owners and managers be compensated?
|
| 4. |
Provide an organizational chart for
your business. |
| 5. |
Who will handle the bookkeeping and
tax preparation? |
| 6. |
Have you selected a team of professional
advisors (attorney, CPA, lender, mentor,
etc.)? List them, and explain what they
will be doing for your business. |
Find more information on this at...
What to do next
For information on how to handle employment
and employees, contact:
- NC Employment Security Commission
919.733.7166
- NC Department of Labor
Health & Safety Division
919.733.7166
- US Department of Labor
Financial Plan
In this section of the plan you will provide
financial documents to support your plan
and provide a realistic picture of the financial
future of your business. Include a summary
of the funds needed to start the business,
sources and uses of funds, payment terms,
and collateral available to secure the loan.
Be sure to include any personal investment
you will be making in the business.
| 1. |
Provide a list of start-up expenses
for the business |
| 2. |
Provide personal financial statements
of the owners. |
| 3. |
Include a statement of the Sources
of Capital. |
| 4. |
Provide sales projections for three
years. |
| 5. |
Provide projected cash flow statements
for three years. |
| 6. |
Provide projected profit and loss
statements for three years. |
| 7. |
Provide an "opening day"
balance sheet. |
For forms, financial templates, and calculators,
try one of these sites:
Appendix
The appendix will include any supporting
documents for your business plan.
1. |
Resumes of owners and key employees
|
2. |
Lease agreement |
3. |
Store or plant layout |
4. |
Capital equipment list |
5. |
Maps showing business location and
market information |
6. |
Photos of products, equipment, etc.
|
7. |
Supporting charts and graphs |
8. |
Relevant articles to support industry
trends |
9. |
Legal documents such as patents, trademarks,
registered copyrights, license to manufacture,
etc. |
10. |
Letters of commitment or intent from
suppliers and potential customers |
What's Next?
Once you've completed your business
plan, I recommend that you type it. Typing
it or using a word processing program shows
that you are professional and that you mean
business.
Being neat also has its advantages if you
will use this document to help you get money
for your business. Remember, you want to
use this plan to communicate your ideas
and aspirations to other people.
Before making that trip down to the bank,
run the plan past some friendly eyes first.
Take it to your local community college's
Small Business Center where they can read
it and make suggestions. This is typically
a free service, and the advice and counsel
you can get there will be extremely valuable.
The same can be said for the Small Business
Administration, although these offices are
more sparsely scattered than local community
colleges.
In addition to these free services, the
UNC system has a Small Business Technology
Development Center (SBTDC) office on each
campus. These offices deal primarily with
high-growth, high-impact businesses, and
their services are also free.
You could also take your plan to your attorney
and/or accountant, a friend who has a business,
a professor or business instructor at a
local college, or even the director of your
local chamber of commerce. Not all of these
services will be free of charge, but the
point is to have someone give your plan
a look.
Before approaching a banker or other potential
lender or investor, you want to get an outsider's
view of your plan. This will help you polish
it and make it more attractive.
Once you're confident that your plan will
work (i.e. make money), then it's time to
put on your best duds and make a trip to
the bank.
To start creating your support team, start
with these links:
For assistance in locating an attorney
in your area, call the NC Bar Association
Lawyer Referral Service at 800.662.7660
To contact an insurance agent who can help
you determine the most appropriate type
of coverage for your business, check with
your current insurance provider, the yellow
pages, or contact the NC Association of
Independent Insurance Agents at 919.828.4371
or the NC Department of Insurance at 800.662.7777
Disclaimer
You should not consider any of the information
contained on this site to be legal advice.
The information herein is good stuff, and
while I make no guarantee that following
this advice will make a lender fall at your
feet or cause your business to be wildly
successful, doing the things suggested here
and writing a solid business plan WILL improve
your chances.
There is nothing commercial about this
website. I don't do this to make money.
I get no financial consideration from any
company or organization this site links
to. I do this because I love small businesses
and small business owners. It takes guts--real
guts--to do what you are wanting to do!
I admire that.
I want to see every small business started
in North Carolina beat the odds and celebrate
their 10th anniversaries.
Just be sure to invite me to the celebration!
That will be compensation enough.
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