POWER SENSE

BUSINESS PLAN

Years

CONTENTS

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|I |Executive Summary | |
| | | |
|II |Introduction and Background | |
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|III |Project Outline | |
| | | |
|IV |Ownership, Management and Employment | |
| | | |
|V |Market and Marketing Strategy | |
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|VI |Production | |
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|VII |Financial | |
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|VIII |Funding Proposal | |
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|IX |Detailed Projections | |

I: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

II: INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND

Introduction
This Business plan is written to: ο Document strategy ο Act as a management tool in monitoring performance ο Raise € (amount) equity funding from ο Raise € (amount) grant aid from ο Other (specify):

Background
Business name:
Address:

Telephone/Facsimile/E-mail:

Status: ο Sole trader ο Partnership ο Limited company
Registered for: οVAT ο PAYE/PRSI ο Corporation tax ο Income tax
Formed as: ο Purchase of existing business ο Purchase of franchise ο Start-up ο Other (specify)

Business in operation? Yes, started on ______________ No, planned to start on ______________

Product/service range
Product/service Description Price
A _____________________ ________________________________ € ________
B _____________________ ________________________________ € ________
C _____________________ ________________________________ € ________
D _____________________ ________________________________ € ________
E _____________________ ________________________________ € ________
F _____________________ ________________________________ € ________

III: PROJECT OUTLINE

General description of proposed business

Mission statement

Trends in industry

Targets

IV: OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYMENT

Founders/Management

Name:
Address:

Telephone/Facsimile/E-mail:
Date of birth:
Nationality:
Marital status:
Percentage shareholding:

Education

Year(s) School/course Degree/certificate
From _____ to _____ _______________________________ ο YES ο NO
From _____ to _____ _______________________________ ο YES ο NO
From _____ to _____ _______________________________ ο YES ο NO
From _____ to _____ _______________________________ ο YES ο NO

Work Experience

Year(s) Organisation Position
From _____ to _____ _____________________________ ___________________
From _____ to _____ _____________________________ ___________________
From _____ to _____ _____________________________ ___________________
From _____ to _____ _____________________________ ___________________
From _____ to _____ _____________________________ ___________________

Other Experience

Describe other significant experience that could be useful for your business

Employer and employees
Initially, how will your staffing be organised? You alone, while holding another wage-earning position ο You alone, full-time ο You and your partner: Full-time ο You and your partner: Part-time ο You and your business partner(s) ο You and your business partner(s) with employees at a wage ο How many employees full-time? ______ How many employees part-time? ______

Have you drawn up clear job descriptions for your employees? ο YES ο NO
If yes, enclose job description(s) as an Appendix
Do you plan to expand your employee numbers quickly? ο YES ο NO
If yes, do you think you can attract enough qualified people? ο YES ο NO
Who will replace you during any required absences?

V: MARKET & MARKETING STRATEGY

Overview of the market

What are the leading indicators in your market sector?
• Average annual turnover per employee ________
• Average annual turnover per m2 of selling space ________
• Average annual purchases per head of population ________
• Extent of the service area per outlet _____ m2
• Other

What is your estimate of the Irish market for your product? ________
What part of this market do you intend to service? _______%
Have you contacted future customers? ο YES ο NO
What was their reaction?

Have you obtained any forward orders? ο YES ο NO
What comments did you receive with the forward orders?

The forward orders total approximately €

Market

Who are your target groups?

What do you have to offer them?

Competitors

Competitor Description of product/service Turnover Employees
A ___________ _______________________________ € _______ _____
B ___________ _______________________________ € _______ _____
C ___________ _______________________________ € _______ _____
D ___________ _______________________________ € _______ _____
E ___________ _______________________________ € _______ _____
F ___________ _______________________________ € _______ _____

Competitors’ strengths compared to your own.
(Use + where you think your business is better, = where they are the same, and – where you think your competitors have an advantage.)
Competitor A B C D E F
Broad Range __ __ __ __ __ __
Guarantee __ __ __ __ __ __
Quality __ __ __ __ __ __
Price __ __ __ __ __ __
Service __ __ __ __ __ __
Delivery __ __ __ __ __ __
Proximity __ __ __ __ __ __
Other __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

In what ways do your products/services differ from your competitors’?
(If you can, describe differences for each competitor)
A ____________________________________________________________

_____ ____________________________________________________________

_____
B ____________________________________________________________

_____ ____________________________________________________________

_____
C ____________________________________________________________

_____ ____________________________________________________________

_____
D ____________________________________________________________

_____ ____________________________________________________________

_____
E ____________________________________________________________

_____ ____________________________________________________________

_____
F ____________________________________________________________

_____ ____________________________________________________________

_____

Key competitive advantages
What extras do you offer compared to the competition?
A ____________________________________________________________

_____ ____________________________________________________________

_____
B ____________________________________________________________

_____ ____________________________________________________________

_____
C ____________________________________________________________

_____ ____________________________________________________________

_____
D ____________________________________________________________

_____ ____________________________________________________________

_____
E ____________________________________________________________

_____ ____________________________________________________________

_____
F ____________________________________________________________

_____ ____________________________________________________________

_____

Marketing strategy

How are you going to present your business? ο Layout ο Colours ο Music ο Atmosphere ο Correspondence ο Brochures ο Business cards ο Van signs

Rate those areas your customers are most interested in, and your relative strengths in those areas.
Buying Motive Customer Importance Your Relative Strength
Broad Range ο High ο Mediumο Low ο Strong ο OK ο Weak
Guarantee ο High ο Mediumο Low ο Strong ο OK ο Weak
Quality ο High ο Mediumο Low ο Strong ο OK ο Weak
Price ο High ο Mediumο Low ο Strong ο OK ο Weak
Delivery ο High ο Mediumο Low ο Strong ο OK ο Weak
Service ο High ο Mediumο Low ο Strong ο OK ο Weak
Proximity ο High ο Mediumο Low ο Strong ο OK ο Weak
Other ο High ο Mediumο Low ο Strong ο OK ο Weak ο High ο Mediumο Low ο Strong ο OK ο Weak

How are you going to approach your customers and what buying motives are you going to emphasise?

What marketing and promotion resources will you emphasise?
Resource Emphasis Cost
Brochures ο A lot ο A little ο Not at all ο Not yet € _____
Mailings ο A lot ο A little ο Not at all ο Not yet € _____
Advertisements ο A lot ο A little ο Not at all ο Not yet € _____
Sponsorship ο A lot ο A little ο Not at all ο Not yet € _____
Word-of-mouth ο A lot ο A little ο Not at all ο Not yet € _____
Personal selling ο A lot ο A little ο Not at all ο Not yet € _____
Notice boards ο A lot ο A little ο Not at all ο Not yet € _____
Public relations ο A lot ο A little ο Not at all ο Not yet € _____
Other ο A lot ο A little ο Not at all ο Not yet € _____ ο A lot ο A little ο Not at all ο Not yet € _____

Explain your promotion methods (how, where, frequency, why, etc.)

Distribution

How will your products/services be distributed?

Are product deliveries insured? ο YES ο NO
If yes, for how much? € _______ k

If your goods or services are supplied under standard terms of trade, summarise them here.

VI: PRODUCTION

Products

Product/service Description Price
A __________________ __________________________________ € _______
B __________________ __________________________________ € _______
C __________________ __________________________________ € _______
D __________________ __________________________________ € _______
E __________________ __________________________________ € _______
F __________________ __________________________________ € _______

Describe your production process.

What experience do you have with this process?

Are you involved with (or will you be using) new techniques or new products in your production processes? ο YES ο NO
If yes, are you receiving assistance from experts? ο YES ο NO
If yes, who are they and how are they engaged?

New capital expenditure required

What equipment are you using in the production process?

List the equipment you intend to lease, buy new, or buy used.
Description New/Used? If used, Age Buy/Lease? Cost
_______________________ ο N οU ___ years ο Bο L ________
_______________________ ο N οU ___ years ο Bο L ________
_______________________ ο N οU ___ years ο Bο L ________
_______________________ ο N οU ___ years ο Bο L ________
_______________________ ο N οU ___ years ο Bο L ________
_______________________ ο N οU ___ years ο Bο L ________
_______________________ ο N οU ___ years ο Bο L ________
_______________________ ο N οU ___ years ο Bο L ________
_______________________ ο N οU ___ years ο Bο L ________
_______________________ ο N οU ___ years ο Bο L ________
_______________________ ο N οU ___ years ο Bο L ________

What guarantees do you have for this equipment in case of malfunction
(re-purchase, service contract, insurance)?

Does the available production equipment provide enough capacity to achieve the revenue you have budgeted? ο YES ο NO

Quality

Will your production process be accredited to a Quality Standard?
If yes, which? οQuality Mark ο Hygiene Mark οISO 9000/2000 ο ISO 14000 ο Other

Have you checked your products and production processes for environmental considerations? (pollution, noise, undesirable waste products) ο YES ο NO
If yes, are there any environmental objections? ο YES ο NO
If yes, what are you planning to do about it?

Raw material sources

Have you contacted your future suppliers ? ο YES ο NO
If yes, what are their terms of trade? (Payment conditions, delivery times, etc.)

Are there alternative suppliers? ο YES ο NO
If yes, list them

What advantages do these alternative suppliers offer you?

VII : FINANCIAL

Summary of projected performance

Insert: • Operating Budget: Estimate of Sales and Gross Profit • Operating Budget: Overhead Analysis • Cashflow: Summary

VIII: FUNDING PROPOSAL

Insert: • Initial Investment: Summary • Initial Investment: Proposed Sources

Can you support the required investment in fixed assets with quotations from suppliers? ο YES ο NO

In your estimates, did you take seasonal business influences into account, and calculate based on your maximum requirements? ο YES ο NO

How did you estimate your stock levels?

How did you estimate the value of your work-in-progress?

How did you estimate the value of your debtors?

Do you have sufficient liquid assets to cope with disappointments, delays and unexpected expenses? ο YES ο NO

IX: DETAILED PROJECTIONS

Assumptions

Analysis of Overheads

Insert Operating Budget: Analysis of Overheads

Cash flow

Insert: • Cashflow: Summary • Cashflow