Create a cover page for your business plan With the Following
layout and Format
Business Plan
Name of Company
Address of Company
City, State ZIP Code
Telephone Number
Fax Number
Date of Plan Presentation
You may also include:
Presented to:
Name
Company
Name of Owner/Contact Person
Address
City, State zip
Telephone
e-mail
Table of Contents
Section I – Executive Summary...........................................................................................3
Section II – Mission, Goals and Objectives.........................................................................3
General Description of Business......................................................................................3
Mission Statement............................................................................................................4
Goals and Objectives.......................................................................................................4
Section III – Background Information.................................................................................4
Industry Information........................................................................................................4
Business History (if applicable).......................................................................................5
Section IV – Organizational Matters...................................................................................5
Business Structure............................................................................................................5
Management Team...........................................................................................................5
Personnel..........................................................................................................................5
Outside Advisors..............................................................................................................6
Risk Management............................................................................................................6
Process.............................................................................................................................6
Section V – Marketing Plan.................................................................................................7
Products/Services.............................................................................................................7
Customer Analysis...........................................................................................................7
Competitive Analysis.......................................................................................................8
Market Potential...............................................................................................................8
Pricing..............................................................................................................................9
Promotional Strategies.....................................................................................................9
Advertising..................................................................................................................9
Public Relations..........................................................................................................9
Personal Sales...........................................................................................................10
Section VI – Financial Plan...............................................................................................10
Pre-Startup.....................................................................................................................10
How much money will it cost to get ready to open.......................................................10
Historical Financial Documents for existing companies (if you are expanding or
buying an existing business)..........................................................................................11
How do you propose to finance this? How much will come from:..........................11
Projections..................................................................................................................11
Appendix and Attachments................................................................................................12
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Section I – Executive Summary
Complete this section after the rest of the business plan.
Simply highlight the most important aspects of the plan.
Section II – Mission, Goals and Objectives
General Description of Business
What business are you in? What are the key products or
services of your business?
What market do you believe exists for these products or
services? (Describe your current market).
What is the location of your business? Why is this
advantageous?
How do you operate your business? Who is involved in the
operations? How much of your time is spent in the business?
In what stage of development is your business? (Development
stage, first year of operations, stable or mature business,
stagnant mature business, etc...)
Is growth a part of your plan for your business? If so, describe
what kind of growth you are projecting and how you think that
growth will occur (adding products or services, expanding
your market, changing your product or service mix, etc...)
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Mission Statement
What is the vision for the future of your business?
What is the purpose of your business – internally and
externally?
Include your Mission Statement
Goals and Objectives
What are your short-term (within one year) and long-term
(two to five years) goals and the objectives to reach your
goals?
Section III – Background Information
Industry Information
Identify your business industry
What are the current industry trends? Include growth
patterns, niche markets and size of the market.
What are the future industry trends?
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Business History (if applicable)
Provide a brief history of your business, including when it was
founded, why it was started, profitability and growth patterns
and how the business has changed over time.
How does your business fall into the current and future trends
of the industry?
Section IV – Organizational Matters
Business Structure
Describe the legal structure of your business (sole
proprietorship, partnership, corporation or limited liability
company). Include in this the ownership of the business.
Management Team
Describe your management team. Include key positions and
the qualifications (or needed qualifications) of employees.
Personnel
Describe the positions in your company, the job
responsibilities and skills (or needed skills) of employees.
What is your plan for filling positions? Explain how you will
recruit and what training might be needed.
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Outside Advisors
Describe what outside advisors you will use to enhance your
business. This should include the cost to your business and
what services they will provide. Examples include:
accountant, attorney, insurance agent and marketing agency.
If you will use an advisory board, list potential members and
area of expertise.
Risk Management
What types of insurance will you require and what are the
costs? (Include proof of insurance or a quote)
What are your exit strategies, including succession planning?
Process
Describe the process necessary to get your product/service to
your customer. This should include your inputs, how you will
add value, packaging and delivery. Also, include the type of
labor inputs necessary.
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Section V – Marketing Plan
Products/Services
Describe each product/service you will sell. List each
quarterly.
What is special or unique about the product/service you offer?
What benefit does the customer get from your
product/service?
Who will your primary suppliers be? Will you have credit
terms with them?
Customer Analysis
Describe the people buying or who are most likely to buy
product/service. (If you have more than one target market,
describe each). HINT: Resist the urge to say “everyone”.
Some people will use the products/service more often or in
larger quantities than others.
Provide a customer profile including: gender, age, income,
occupation, education and family status, or if selling to other
business, provide an organizational profile including:
purchasing decisions and procedures for buying.
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Competitive Analysis
List your strongest three to five competitors and where they
are located. What customer profiles are they targeting?
What are their strengths and weaknesses? Include the
following factors: products, price, quality, location, selection,
customer service, expertise, reliability, reputation,
management and advertising.
What are your key competitive advantages? Explain why
customers will buy from you rather than your competition.
Market Potential
Describe your geographic trade area.
Describe the size of your market in terms of potential
customers. Include whether this market is growing, stable,
declining and why.
What is your market potential in terms of total potential
sales? This should be based on market size, target market
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size, number that will be actual customers, average order size
and number of orders per year.
Pricing
How will you price products/services? If necessary, include
price strategy chart. Make sure you have considered your
cost of goods.
How does this pricing position you in the market?
Promotional Strategies
Advertising
What advertising tools will you use and why did you choose
these? Tools could include: newspaper, magazines, direct
mail, yellow pages, radio, TV, Internet, business cards and
brochures.
How often and how much will you spend on your advertising
budget?
Public Relations
Explain if you will use public relations and what activities this
might include as a part of your promotional strategies. These
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activities might include: trade shows, discounts, special
events, sponsorship and customer service.
Personal Sales
What part does personal sales pay in the purchase of your
product/service?
Who will be responsible for selling?
What qualifications will your salespeople be expected to
have?
What are your customer service policies?
Section VI – Financial Plan
This is the part that scares many clients the most. Without
realizing it, you have gathered most of the information needed in this
section just by completing the previous sections. Your SBDC counselor
can help you pull it all together.
Pre-Startup
How much money will it cost to get ready to open
a. Building or remodeling costs
b. Equipment, furniture and fixture costs
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c. Inventory costs
d. Rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance and employees
prior to opening
e. Pre-opening advertising
f. Attorney(s), accountant(s) and other consultants prior to
opening
Historical Financial Documents for existing companies (if you
are expanding or buying an existing business)
• Profit and Loss statements:
1. Month-end for every complete month for the last
12 months
2. Year-to-date for the current year
3. Year-end for the last 5 complete years
• Balance Sheets
1. Year-end for the last 5 complete years
2. Year-to-date for current year
• Income Tax Returns for the last 5 complete years
How do you propose to finance this? How much will come from:
g. Personal savings
h. Bank loans
i. Personal loans from friends or family
j. Outside investors
k. Other
Projections
2. What will your monthly sales be for the first year? What will
your sales be for years 2 and 3?
3. What will your monthly expenses be for the first year?
What will they be for years 2 and 3?
4. Complete Monthly Income, Cash Flow and Balance Sheet
Projections for Years 1, 2 and 3. Be sure to include an
explanation of how you came up with these numbers. It is
critical for you to provide assumptions so that development
of numbers can be understood.
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Appendix and Attachments
Following this page, attach:
• Resumes
• Letters of endorsements
• Copies of contracts and agreements
• Licenses, certifications, and other credentials
• Copies of market study material and other data used to
develop elements in the business plan
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