Create A Business Plan
I. Title Page - This page should contain
the following items, double-spaced, horizontally
centered, and positioned just above the center of the
page: Business Name, address, telephone number, and
owner (s) name (s).
II. Table of Contents - Should list the title
of each section of the document and indicate the
page number where each is located. This page is done
last, since it requires the entire document as input. It
allows the reader to quickly locate specific sections.
III. Theme or Concept - Should be a one-page
explanation of what your business will be like and why
it will be the best of it's kind. What are the unique
qualities that sets your business apart from others who
are competing for the same customers.
Example: What market is your business competing for?
What does your business do? What quality image
will it have? What volume of sales is expected? What
customer needs are met? What makes it unique from the
competition? In what price range will it compete?
IV. Marketing Plan
A. Target Market
1. What needs does your business satisfy for the
customer?
2. When and under what circumstances will your
customer come to your business?
3. Describe how often you customer will come.
4. How large is your target market?
5. How many actual paying customers will you get from
your target market?
6. Describe your customer. It is important for you to
developed a clear, mental picture of your ideal customer
by age, sex, income level, education level, geographic
location, occupation, leisure interests, buying habits,
goals and aspirations.
B. Competition
1. Who are your competitors?
2. Why are they successful?
3.What substitutes are there for your business?
4. What impact do the substitutes have on your
business sales?
5. What separates you from the competitor?
6. Why should the customer leave the competitor to
choose your business?
7. what percent of the market share do you expect to
get?
C. Location Analysis
Describe your business location and how it will
enhance the sale of you product and service.
1. What advantage do you have at this location?
2. Is there opportunity for expansion?
3. What are the neighboring businesses?
4. Do they compliment or detract from yours?
5. Are building renovations needed? At what cost?
6. What is the zoning?
7. Is the neighborhood stable, changing, improving,
deteriorating and how?
8. How is customer access, parking, etc?
D. Price Determination
Describe the cost of your product compared to the
value the customer will see.
1. How do you compare to the competition?
2. Why will customers pay your price?
3. what image will the price project?
4. What special advantages do your customers get that
is included in the price?
5. Will you offer credit terms?
E. Marketing Approach
1. What are the preliminary or test market results?
2. Where will your customers find out about your
business?
3. How will your image be clearly and consistently
conveyed to potential customers?
4. Which media is most suitable, ads, flyers,
coupons, radio, etc?
5. How will you evaluate the effectiveness of each
advertising and promotional effort (questionnaires
cards, return coupons, etc?)
V. Management Plan
Who will run the business and how will they do it?
A. Management Team
1. What business management background do you have?
2. How will that experience help drive your business?
3. How is the experience of key people related to
this type of business?
4. What legal form (corporation, sole proprietor)
will you be?
5. Who does what? Who reports to whom?
6. What other recourses are needed and who will
provide them?
B. Employee Relation
Describe your methods for hiring, training, and
communication with your staff.
1. What are your personnel needs now? in the future?
2. What skills will they require?
3. How will you hire and train?
4. What salary and benefits will you provide?
5. How will you communicate wage increases to
employees?
6. What personnel policies will be provided to your
employees?
VI. Financial Plan
A description of how your business will be financed
and how you will maintain a sound financial condition.
A. Current financial requirements
1. How much money will be needed for starting your
business?
2. What will be the source of start-up capital (go
into debt, equity, etc)?
3. What business and personal assets will be pledged
as collateral?
B. Use of funds
1. How will the money be spent (working capital,
equipment, inventory)?
2. How will borrowed funds make your business more
profitable?
C. Long-range financial strategies
1. How will you pay back your investors?
2. What terms of repayment are feasible?
3. What back-up plan will be used if repayment
cannot be accomplished as planned?
D. financial statements
Required financial statements.
1. Personal financial statement of owner.
2. Business start-up costs.
3. Pro Forma cash flow analysis (expected).
4. Balance sheet (proposed or actual).
5. Income statement (proposed or actual).
6.Capital equipment.
VII. Strategic Plan
It is important to include a description of where you
want to be in a few years and how you intend to move
towards those goals. This plan should focus on the
second through the fifth year and describe strengths within your business, weaknesses,
opportunities open to you and your competitors, and
threats impending you and your competitors. You should
describe strategies that use your strengths to take
advantage of opportunities and overcome threats: and
strategies to reduce weaknesses and avoid threats to
your business. The strategies should identify
intermediate goals (yearly) and the marketing,
management and financial resources that will be used to
accomplish these goals.
Contact us if you need assistance in preparing your
business plan.
