...------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER 8: BUSINESS PLAN WHAT IS THE BUSINESS PLAN? The business plan is a written document prepared by the entrepreneur that describes all the relevant external and internal elements involved in starting a new venture. It is often an integration of functional plans such as marketing, finance, manufacturing, and human resources. It also addresses both short-term and long-term decision making for the first 3 years of operation. Thus, the business plan – or as it is sometimes referred to, the game plan or road map – answers the following questions: * Where am I now? * Where am I going? * How will I get there? Potential investors, suppliers, and even customers will request or require a business plan. If we think of the business plan as a road map, we might better understand its significance. Let’s suppose you were trying to decide whether to drive from Kumasi in Ghana to Tripoli in Libya (mission or goal) in a car. There are a number of possible routes, each requiring different time frames and costs. Like the entrepreneur, the traveller must make some important decisions and gather information before preparing the plan. The travel plan would consider external factors such as emergency car repair, weather conditions, road conditions, sights to see, available campgrounds, and so on. These factors are basically uncontrollable by the traveller but must be considered in the plan, just as the entrepreneur would consider external...
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...Small Business Management American Public University February 6th, 2013 Abstract In this paper I will discuss the role and the importance of small business. There are several arguments for owning a small business and there are plenty of arguments against owning a small business. I will present how to start a small business, how to organize a small business, and how to operate a small business. This paper can be used a Small Business Bible, or a “How to” guide for anyone looking to open a small business. Small Business Owners and Managers face various issues such as social responsibility and ethics, those issues will be discussed in this paper. At the end of this paper you will be able to write a Business Plan and decide if owning or managing a small business is for you. Defining small business is not easy because the definition varies, however a small business is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field. There’s not much difference in a entrepreneur and a small business owner. I think everyone thinks about owning their own business at some point in their lives. I’ve thought about owning a hair salon, a beauty supply store, a restaurant, etc. the list goes on…however most recently I thought about owning a night club. Before starting a business the Small Business Administration (www.sba.gov) suggests you ask yourself the following questions: 1. Why am I starting a business? 2. What kind of business do I want? 3. Who is my...
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...BUSINESS PLAN BUSINESS PLAN 1. Why write a business plan? Writing a business plan is an important step in setting up a new business. There are both benefits and problems that can arise from having a business plan to consider. Benefits: * Useful in helping entrepreneurs to clarify their objectives and to consider their business idea thoroughly from every objective, which would improve the likelihood of its success. * Enables owner to know exactly what needs to be done in order to meet their business objectives, including targeting specific customer groups, product pricing, costing, sales forecasts and marketing. * Its and essential document in persuading lenders to invest capital in the business by demonstrating why it is likely to succeed. Banks insist on seeing such plan before grant6ing loans. * The plan becomes a working document with clearly defined objectives against which the business can monitor its progress. Problems: * To be valuable and persuasive document it needs to be accurate and realistic. It shouldn’t only show the strength of the business but also its weaknesses and any threat the business will face. * Many business underestimate how much it will cost to get the business off the ground, and find that operating cost turn out to be more than the amount budgeted for. * Business plans often take an optimistic view of the potential of a business. They make assumptions about the size of the market without any supporting market...
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...Zeigler, James August 12, 2012 MANAGEMENT Owning a business is a huge responsibility, but managing one causes many headaches. There are a lot of things that has to be in order to make sure the business runs smoothly and successfully. There are four different functions that keep the business in order if they are watched and managed well then the business will run perfect. The manager must know how to plan, organize, lead, and control to make a business expand and be great. Planning consists of many steps of action that keep a business running smoothly and grow. Managers must plan for the present and future of the business. Must set goals and plan ways to achieve them. Not only does the future have to be looked at, but so does the past, in order to see what worked and what plan failed. After making the plans, a manager must organize a way to make them plans work. They must organize the resources in making the plan a success. Select certain employees to the areas needed to run the plan. Establishing a layout makes understanding the plan more efficient. Leading a business is the most important function a manager must have to keep a business in shape. The manager has to lead the company in the plans that are made and lead the employees to be successful. They have to motivate their staff to keep going, and communicate to the crew for understanding of the plans that were established. The manager must control the business, whether it is the staff or control the quality of the...
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...dealing business called Precision Auto Detailing. What Frank and Carlson plan on doing was to devote the early part of their day to their auto business while maintaining their 6 to 10 shifts at the packaging company. They both invested a total of $6000 to lease the building and buy tools and equipment. The building is located in a high-traffic area and has established a small base of clientele to whom some were local car dealers. Frank and Carlson kept the part-time employees who were already working there and try to earn other car dealers businesses by making a few phone calls. They wanted to provide their customers with top-notch service by picking up the vehicles they cleaned including inspections before they are returned. The price of their service ranged from $100-$250. Because of the service they provided their business grew rapidly and had to purchase new detailing equipment. The majority of the profits made went back into the company but was not enough to sustain their rapid growth. After running into Carlson he wanted me to explain to him on what he needed to do to get a loan to help finance the growth of their business. In this paper I will explain to Frank and Carlson via e-mail on coming up with a business plan and how to prepare an outline of elements they should include in a business plan. I will also explain to them on what bankers are looking for in a business plan and will offer them advice on what to do when they are ready to present the business plan to the...
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...Business Continuity Plan | | [Type the author name] | 5/16/2013 | | Part 1 I. Initiation of the BCP The initiation of a BCP is an effort by the company to ensure that mission-critical functions of the organization have the ability to continue operations in the event of a disruption. II. Business Impact Analysis The BIA is the part of the BCP that prioritizes mission-critical functions and processes and accesses the impact of various types of disruptions. This includes but is not limited by intruders, injections, server crashes and more. III. Business Continuity / Disaster Readiness / Recovery Business continuity is described as the ability of a business to continue to operate during and after a disaster. Disaster Readiness is how well an organization is prepared to handle a disaster. Recovery is what must be done in the event of a disaster to bring the organization back to normal functionality. IV. Develop & Implement the Plan This is the process of creating a plan that details how the organization will react in the event of a disaster, and the implementation of the plan is informing management, employees, and customers of the new policies. V. Test & Update the Plan The testing of the plan consists of either simulations or full-blown test of the plan. This will help to identify anything that was missed in the development phase and allow for the plan to be properly updated. Part 2 Lab 8 Questions 1. A BCP can help to...
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...Strategic Plan Belle Villarreal STR 581 February 4, 2013 Amy Ruiz Table of Contents Title Page Cover Page………………………………………………………………………………………...1 Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………….3 Company Background…………………………………………………………………………….5 Vision, Mission, and Value Statement ……………..…………………………………………….5 Sources used for External and Internal Analysis………………………………………………….6 Strategic Plan……………………………………………………………………………………...7 Implementation Plan………………………………………………………………………………8 Strategic Choice and Evaluation…………………………………………………………………10 Evaluating Alternatives…………………………………………………………………………..11 Values of Strategy………………………………………………………………………………..12 The Right Strategy……………………………………………………………………………….13 External Environmental Factor…………………………………………………………………..14 SWOT……………………………………………………………………………………………15 Competitive Position and Possibility…………………………………………………………….16 Action Items……………………………………………………………………………………...17 Resources Allocation…………………………………………………………………………….19 Successful Implementation………………………………………………………………………19 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….20 References………………………………………………………………………………………..22 Executive Summary The document you are about to read is a research paper and plan on how to open or start your own business. Within the next couple of years I plan to open a sleep study lab. My sister currents owns and operates her in a different city. My goal is to mirror hers and open a second branch in the city I live. Her sleep lab...
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...Risk Management Plan Project Name: IS305 Project Manager: Paul Bettinger Date: October 1, 2013 RISK management PLAN INTRODUCTION 2 PURPOSE AND SCOPE 2 RISK MANAGEMENT PLANNING 3 RISK MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENTS 6 RISK MANAGEMENT TIMELINE 7 MITIGATION PLAN Introduction 8 Cosiderations 8 Prioritizing 9 Cost benefit analysis 10 Implementation 11 Follow-up 11 Buisness impact analysis Introduction 12 Scope 12 PURPOSE AND objectives 13 Steps of bia 13 final review 15 BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN Introduction 16 oBJECTIVES 16 BCP PLANNING 17 PLAN UPDATES AND TRAINING 21 computer incident response team Introduction 22 Purpose 22 elements of the plan 23 incident handling process 23 cirt members 23 detection 24 containment 24 recovery and review 24 cirt policies 25 FINAL THOUGHT RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN INTRODUCTION A risk management plan is a process for identifying, assessing, and prioritizing risks that could cause the company a loss. Identifying these risks, threats and vulnerabilities and taking action to prevent or control them now and in the future. Creating a risk management consists of measuring and prioritizing risks involved and taking actions to reduce any loss the company may encounter. Being that indirectly we work with the Department of Defense, which as you knows is a department of the United States Government dealing with national security, a well-developed risk management plan is of the upmost importance. Without updating...
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...How to prepare a Business Plan Prof K Ramachandran Thomas Schmidheiny Chair Professor of Family Business & Wealth Management Indian School of Business, Hyderabad Most Entrepreneurial initiatives fail • How come backpacks, Staples, Jeans, gmail, Chic Pouch Shampoo, Nirma, Goodknight, Dell, Take aways, mobiles, share autos, mineral water (and the companies) . became run away success? Why did they all become successful? They eliminated high customer dissatisfaction By Offering Solutions to customers’ problems Discontent – Criticality Matrix High Discontent Low Criticality High Criticality Low Discontent Financial Attractiveness Strategy (source, cost, availability, adequacy) Technical Attractiveness Strategy (Existing/new technology and products/services) Market opportunity Marketing Attractiveness Strategy (size, Entry, Sustenance) Entrepreneurial Capability Strategy (Attitude, Skills, Knowledge pool/network – individual/group) Why businesses fail? • Not spotting opportunity right • Not developing balanced tripod and sharpened diamond • Not maintaining sharpness of diamond over time • In essence, S W resource pool not matching with OT of environment • Entrepreneurs need to facilitate transformation of the “baby” through its life cycle Rs FLC and Capability mix at different stages Growth Idea Motivaton Attitude Planning Opportunity Stabilisation t S Start - up W O T Write the horoscope of the enterprise ...
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...Sample Written Business Plan Outline* Paper Section | General Topics Covered | Focus Questions/Suggestions | Cover Page | * Company name * Logo and/or tag line * Names of principals [Team Members] * Date | | Executive Summary | * Purpose of Business * Identify business opportunity * Market size and growth potential * Customer needs * Failing of competitors (if any) * Competitive Positioning * Summary of funding needed | What are the fundamentals of your business and why should anyone pay attention?Must grab the reader’s attention and include everything that you would cover in a five minute interviewWritten Last2 pg. max | Business Concept/Product Description | * F.I.S.T. * Value Proposition * Keys to success | What are you selling? Describe exactly what your product is and for what purpose it was designed. Discuss how it works, special features, resulting economic, social, or environmental benefits.Why is your product different or better? Stress Value Proposition: describe what unique benefit you will provide to a particular set of customers and thus to TJX.Show TJX the numbers.3 – 5 pgs. | Market Analysis | * Industry Description * Growth rates Target Market * Total market size * Customer needs * Customer preferences * Competitive Analysis * Key competitors * Competitor SWOT * Your Business SWOT | How many potential...
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...Sample Written Business Plan Outline* Paper Section | General Topics Covered | Focus Questions/Suggestions | Cover Page | * Company name * Logo and/or tag line * Names of principals [Team Members] * Date | | Executive Summary | * Purpose of Business * Identify business opportunity * Market size and growth potential * Customer needs * Failing of competitors (if any) * Competitive Positioning * Summary of funding needed | What are the fundamentals of your business and why should anyone pay attention?Must grab the reader’s attention and include everything that you would cover in a five minute interviewWritten Last2 pg. max | Business Concept/Product Description | * F.I.S.T. * Value Proposition * Keys to success | What are you selling? Describe exactly what your product is and for what purpose it was designed. Discuss how it works, special features, resulting economic, social, or environmental benefits.Why is your product different or better? Stress Value Proposition: describe what unique benefit you will provide to a particular set of customers and thus to TJX.Show TJX the numbers.3 – 5 pgs. | Market Analysis | * Industry Description * Growth rates Target Market * Total market size * Customer needs * Customer preferences * Competitive Analysis * Key competitors * Competitor SWOT * Your Business SWOT | How many potential...
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...Strategic Plan, Part III: Balanced Scorecard BUS/475 January 21, 2013 Strategic Plan, Part III: Balanced Scorecard For this portion of the business plan, we will use a balanced scorecard of strategic objectives for Mother Nature’s Healthy Eats. Some of these strategic objectives were taken from the SWOTT analysis that was created in part two of this business plan. A balanced scorecard is a set of four measures directly linked to a company’s strategy: financial performance, customer knowledge, internal business processes, and learning and growth (Pearson & Robinson, 2009). After sitting down and reviewing several issues that needed to be improved, the most needed for improvement were put on the balanced scorecard and each objective was given a time frame or percentage of improvement goal. The length of time for the first scorecard is to be met within a one year time frame or less. Each objective has been carefully thought out and what measure will be used to collect the needed information to ensure each objective has been met or what needs to be used to help in obtaining the objective. Financial The first strategic objective for the financial quadrant is to increase revenue and lower costs that will be measured with the financial statements each month and the target for this objective is a 25% increase within one year. The second strategic objective is the competitive position in which Mother Nature’s Healthy Eats is currently in. There is a large amount of competition...
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... Organizing a business is accumulating and synchronizing the social, fiscal, physical, knowledge, and other assets needed to accomplish all goals in an organization. Establishing events include enticing the general public to the business, identifying occupation duties, combining duties into work groups, clarifying and divide up resources, and producing an environment so that associates and objects works together at the same time to accomplish greatest extent success. Supervisors are in every occupation. In fact, supervisors preform the same duties in every business. Whether it is the manager at a beauty salon or an industrial job the duties are and will always remain the same task. Planning, organizing, leading and controlling will serve a vital role in accomplishing a supervisor’s vision on how a business should be managed. Each element is essential and without each element business will not functions well without all four elements (warish, 2009). This paper will discuss all four function of management, and how they are preform in a business and how they relate to our own business. Planning Planning is a supervising task of steadily making decisions to accomplish a goal or to achieve a task within an organization that a person, or a group, or a company will pursue. Identifying the objectives to be accomplished and determining in advance an appropriate procedure needed to accomplish any...
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..."As manager’s adviser to a possible new firm, set out the entrepreneurial new business lifecycle to help the business owners develop a strategic plan, also the options and challenges they will face in the growth and development phase ,and later on , when pursuing a “going global’ focus." At the beginning, what is Entrepreneurship? Entrepreneurship is strategic thinking and risk-taking behavior that results in the creation of new opportunities. The Entrepreneurs are either; * A classic entrepreneur is someone willing to pursue opportunities in situations others view as problems or threats. * A serial entrepreneur starts and runs businesses and nonprofits over and over again, moving from one interest and opportunity to the next. * A first-mover advantage comes from being first to exploit a niche or enter a market. What many people think is that entrepreneurial ventures and small businesses are one and the same, but they aren't. Entrepreneurial ventures are organizations that pursue opportunities, are characterized by innovative practice, and have growth and profitability as their main goals. While, Small Businesses are organizations that are independently owned, and financed; has fewer than 100 employees; doesn't necessarily engage in any new or innovative practices; and have relatively little impact on its industry.(p292) Attitude & Personal Interests of Entrepreneurs * Internal locus of control. * High energy level * High...
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...Marketing Plan 14376 S. Othello St. Seattle, WA 98118 Phone: 206-446-7890 Email: vanbookkeeping@gmail.com Web Site: www.vanbookkeeping.com Contact: Van Nguyen Table of Contents Executive Summary 4 Marketing Objectives 4 Goods or Services 4 Resources Needed 3 Projected Outcomes 3 Company Description 3 Strategic Focus and Plan 3 Mission/Vision 3 Goals 3 Core Competency 3 Situation Analysis 3 Internal Focus 3 External Focus 3 Industry Analysis/Trends 3 Competitor Analysis 3 Company Analysis 3 Customer Analysis 3 SWOT Analysis Summary 3 Market – Product Focus 3 Marketing and Product Objectives 3 Target Markets 3 Points of Difference 3 Positioning 3 Marketing Program 3 Product and Product Strategy 3 Price 3 Promotion 3 Place 3 Data and Projections 3 Sales Forecasting Methods Used 3 Sales Data 3 Costs 3 Financial Projections 3 Financial Information Systems Needs 3 Organization 3 Implementation Plan 3 People Required 3 Manufacturing, Financial and Other Resources Needed 3 Timing 3 Evaluation and Control 3 Marketing Information Systems Needed 3 Criterion Measures with Objectives 3 Appendix A: Biographical Sketches of Key Personnel 3 Appendix B: Support Material 3 Executive Summary Van’s Bookkeeping will provide dependable and quality services for payroll, personal & business taxes, and...
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