...How to Write a Great Business Plan The following are recommended components of your business plan, although the order in which you write and present these sections can be subject to change: Executive Summary: This is the abstract of your business plan, a summary of everything you will say in greater detail in the ensuing pages. It spells out the content and goals of your plan, hitting all the highlights. This section is key if you are seeking outside funding as it introduces possible investors to your business. Be sure to include background about your company, the market opportunity, your capital requirements, a mission statement, an overview of management, competitors, your business's competitive advantages, and a summary of your financial projections over the next three years. "Some people write the executive summary first, but I would never do that," Pinson says. "I would go through and write my plan first and come back to the executive summary." Keep this to no greater than three or four pages. Company Overview: The company overview is designed to provide more information about your business, why and when it was formed, its mission, business model, strategy, and any existing strategic relationships. Pinson recommends including this section as part of an Organizational Plan that also covers administrative issues, such as intellectual property you may own, costs associated with your location, the legal structure of your company, management, personnel, and how you...
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...Chapter 4 Marketing and Implementation Plan I. Executive Summary As its name suggests, an executive summary summarizes, or reviews the main points of, a longer document or report for a reader that does not have time to read the entire report. An effective executive summary analyzes and summarizes the most important points in the paper or report, and will often make a recommendation based on the analysis. Executive summaries are “stand alone” documents that are almost always read independently of the reports they summarize. When writing executive summaries, always remember who will be reading it. You must take into account that the main purpose of your document, main topic and idea and why you need to showcase it. Remember we’re doing it from a marketing point of view. So here are some pointers to consider when writing your summary: * Who will read your executive summary? Sometimes your executive summary may have an “intended” audience: your professor might require you to write it for a CEO, department head, or supervisor, for example. On other assignments, your audience won’t have a specific identity, but always keep in mind that the reader of an executive summary needs to know all of the important information in the main document without reading the actual document. Even if you know that your instructor will be reading everything that you submit, write the executive summary as a “stand alone” document. * What is the main document’s main topic, theme, or idea...
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...ENTREPRENEUR WORKBOOKS Business Planning and Financing Management Series Building Block 2 The Business Plan and Executive Summary MaRS is a member of MaRS Discovery District, © December 2009 See Terms and Conditions MaRS – Business Planning and Financing Management Series THE BUSINESS PLANNING AND FINANCING MANAGEMENT WORKBOOK Introduction: What to expect In his book Outliers, Canadian author Malcolm Gladwell looks at the relationship between statistical probabilities and the chance of success in your chosen field of work or sports. His essential claim is that you need around 10,000 hours of practice to become really good in a particular field. This workbook guide will not take 10,000 hours to complete, so you should not expect that you will become an expert in business planning and financing management by going through the activities outlined within. Rather, the purpose of the workbook guide is to help you understand and focus on the key issues in the field of business planning and financing management, and to introduce you to frameworks within which to think and discuss essential areas of your business. The process offered will provide sufficient grounding in the topic so that you will know what questions to ask advisors and consultants, and, in the case of consultants, how to evaluate their work. Additionally, this workbook guide provides a launch point for a number of vital business decisions you will have to make to develop your start-up. As a best practice, it...
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...An executive summary summarizes, or reviews the main points of, a longer document or report for a reader that does not have time to read the entire report. An effective executive summary analyzes and summarizes the most important points in the paper or report, and will often make a recommendation based on the analysis. Executive summaries are “stand alone” documents that are almost always read independently of the reports they summarize. When preparing to write an executive summary, ask yourself the following questions: * Who will read your executive summary? Sometimes your executive summary may have an “intended” audience: your professor might require you to write it for a CEO, department head, or supervisor, for example. On other assignments, your audience won’t have a specific identity, but always keep in mind that the reader of an executive summary needs to know all of the important information in the main document without reading the actual document. Even if you know that your instructor will be reading everything that you submit, write the executive summary as a “stand alone” document. * What is the main document’s main topic, theme, or idea? Most reports have a “thesis” or central point that they are seeking to communicate. Try to sum this up in two or three sentences. If you are having trouble with this, imagine that someone has asked you, “what’s this report about?” and that you have to explain it in only a few sentences. Once you’re able to say what the main...
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...The executive summary is often considered the most important section of a business plan. This section briefly tells your reader where your company is, where you want to take it, and why your business idea will be successful. If you are seeking financing, the executive summary is also your first opportunity to grab a potential investor’s interest. The executive summary should highlight the strengths of your overall plan and therefore be the last section you write. However, it usually appears first in your business plan document. What to Include in Your Executive Summary Below are several key points that your executive summary should include based on the stage of your business. If You Are an Established Business If you are an established business, be sure to include the following information: • The Mission Statement – This explains what your business is all about. It should be between several sentences and a paragraph. • Company Information – Include a short statement that covers when your business was formed, the names of the founders and their roles, your number of employees, and your business location(s). • Growth Highlights – Include examples of company growth, such as financial or market highlights (for example, “XYZ Firm increased profit margins and market share year-over-year since its foundation). Graphs and charts can be helpful in this section. • Your Products/Services -- Briefly describe the products or services you provide. • Financial Information...
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...How to Write A Report Reports consist of the following elements: Order in Report | Order Written | Executive reads | 1. Executive Summary | 6 | Always | 1. Contents | 7 | N/A | 1. Introduction | 1 (Unless academic Report) | Sometimes | 1. Findings (Main Body) | 3 | If interested in research | 1. Conclusions | 4 | If surprised… | 1. Recommendations | 5 | Nearly always | 1. Bibliography / sources | 2 Write as you research | If report shows area that needs further investigation | 1. Appendices | Anytime you find extra info. | Rarely | 1 Executive Summary The executive summary should include a summary of all of the key points, the idea is that an executive can read the summary and if it appears logical and inline with expectations the recommendations can be followed without the need to read further. This is in fact the most important part of the report and should be written last. The executive summary should include a summary of all parts of the reportincluding recommendations. Writing Order: Written after the rest of the report (But before the contents page) Email Tip: If you are sending the report via email, include the executive summary in the main part of your Email, so that a busy executive doesn’t have to read an attachment to read the main points. 2 Contents The Contents of the report should be consistently laid out throughout the report and you should include both page numbers and title numbers. In this example we look at...
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...IT3006 Corporate Organizational Structure Template Name Brandan L. Holder | Date Completed 5-24-2014 | Prerequisite: You must have Units 1–6 completed before composing this assignment, which utilizes the practiced research and writing processes. Purpose and Overview The purpose of this assignment is to help you prepare for successful, enjoyable participation in a positive team experience for Units 8–10. In this assignment, you will research and compose descriptions of a fictitious anonymous company's IT Systems functional area and four main IT departments to demonstrate the organization’s support and interrelationships between the departments. Further, you will explore organization’s code of ethics and executive summaries of reports to understand what they are and how to compose them. Your main task is to develop a broad overview of the mission and purpose of each IT department to be prepared to participate in the team activity for Unit 8. Note that your assigned role for the team is not needed or related to this assignment. As you complete this assignment on this template, refer to information provided in the Unit 7 studies. Specifically, utilize these provided resources and perform research to satisfactorily complete this assignment. Teamwork Activity Challenge. “Organizational Structures” reading. “Functional Areas Managers” reading. * IMPORTANT: This assignment is due Sunday of week 7. Learners completing it on time will be performing Unit 8 as part of...
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...Project One Alliant International University Sabrina Morris MG 210 Entrepreneurship Dr. Dana Leland April 20, 2014 Project #1: The Business Plan When should an entrepreneur write a business plan? Writing a business plan ahead of time, before you open your doors for business, appear to help the performance of the business subsequently. Business plans are all about walking the walk. People who write business plans also do more stuff so doing more stuff, such as researching markets and preparing projections, increases the chances an entrepreneur will follow through. a well-written plan is great for attracting talent. When a prospect asks to understand your business, you can hand them a plan that gives them an entire overview. The written record of your goals coupled with a track record of delivering against those goals sends a message loud and clear: You understand your business and can deliver the results you promise. Great employees will respond to that message-as will banks and investors the next time you need to raise money. (http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230350, n.d.) When might it not be necessary to write a business plan? Some entrepreneurs fail to write business plans because they don’t want to test their ideas too much, for fear they won’t withstand the scrutiny. Taken seriously, a business plan will show that some businesses should not be started, a possibility some entrepreneurs don’t want to confront. Most of the business plans had nothing to do...
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...Executive Summaries are much like any other summary in that their main goal is to provide a condensed version of the content of a longer report. Definition of Executive Summary The executive summary is usually no longer than 10% of the original document. It can be anywhere from 1-10 pages long, depending on the report's length. Executive summaries are written literally for an executive who most likely DOES NOT have the time to read the original. • Executive summaries make a recommendation • Accuracy is essential because decisions will be made based on your summary by people who have not read the original • Executive summaries frequently summarize more than one document Types of Summaries Summaries written in order to recommend a specific course of action are executive summaries. Summaries that highlight the major points of a long piece are called abstracts. The purpose of an abstract is to allow readers to decide whether or not they want to read the longer text. View our Writing Guide about Abstracts Standard summary only refers to a summary of someone else's published work and is written for a variety of purposes. View our Writing Guide about Standard Summaries Processes for Writing an Executive Summary Executive summaries are typically written for longer reports. They should not be written until after your report is finished. Before writing your summary, try: • Summarizing the major sections of your report. You might even copy text from your report into...
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...Consulting Case Memo -- Outline Executive Summary While this section appears first, it should actually be the last thing you write. * The executive summary should be no more than one page. * Executive summaries are not “introductions.” They do not provide background. * Everything discussed in the executive summary should be explained in greater detail in the body of the memo. * If the only thing someone reads is your executive summary, your reader should have a good understanding of the problem, your proposal, the most important cost(s), and the most important benefit(s). Problem Statement Identify the problem in business terms. State clearly why the owner, president, or CEO should care about addressing the problem you’ve identified. Proposed Solution Identify the one most important action the company or organization needs to take to address the problem. Be as specific as possible in describing your solution. Costs of the Proposal Be as inclusive as possible when thinking about costs. Consider things like opportunity costs and the impact of the proposed change on the organization’s culture in addition to the more obvious financial costs. Identify every possible objection to your proposal. Why hasn’t the company already taken this step? The quickest way to have your recommendation rejected is to hear an objection to which you must reply, “I hadn’t thought of that.” Benefits of the Proposal How will your specific proposal address the problem you’ve...
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...THE ROBERT GORDON UNIVERSITY Aberdeen Business School A GUIDE TO REPORT AND ESSAY WRITING: Interpreting assignment instructions and structuring your work Copyright © 2006 The Robert Gordon University Conditions of Use All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or storage in any information retrieval system, without prior written permission. Please address all enquiries to: The Robert Gordon University Aberdeen Business School Garthdee Road Aberdeen AB10 7QE The Robert Gordon University Website: http://www.rgu.ac.uk Aberdeen Business School Website: http://www.rgu.ac.uk/abs/ |Introduction | The purpose of this guide is to provide you with information on how to structure a report or an essay. It is important to emphasise, for coursework purposes, that lecturers may place special emphasis on certain elements of the report or essay content. Please therefore take particular note of any specific instructions that you are given by a lecturer. It is recommended that you refer to this guide each time before you begin work on a new coursework assignment. Separate guidance will be provided on the more detailed requirements for writing a dissertation. |Planning your...
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...writing and editing skills and a consciousness about international writing. Top of ClearTop of ClearTop Key Topics Plan a complete and accurate document in minutes Organize ideas for readability Reach your audience Write using plain English Avoid ambiguity and unprofessional tone Trim the fat Revise for style to maintain reader interest Activate active voice Polish with parallelism Write grammatically Punctuate properly Send focused e-mail Format technical reports Write clear processes and procedures Top of ClearTop of ClearTop |Effective Report Writing | Report writing is one of the most critical stages of many endeavours in the business world as well as the academic world. All the efforts that one has undertaken are finally translated into a report. It is going to be the face of the project and people are going to judge the project based on the reports given to them. Reports also form a very important tool for decision making. The report could be anything ranging from a one-day project to a Ph.D. thesis which is researched for years. The final report could make or break the entire project. Hence it is very important to write a good report. A "good report" is a very subjective term. What do we define as ‘good"? A good report should be one, which effectively conveys what the writer wants to say or what the outcome of...
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... | | |Section 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY……………………………………………. |1 | |Section 2.0 PRODUCT AND SERVICE DESCRIPTION……………………….. | | | |1 | |Section 3.0 TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION………….………………………… | | | |1 | |Section 4.0 MARKET AND COMPETITION……………………………………. | | | |2 | |Section 5.0 BUSINESS MODEL………….………………………………………. | | | |2 – 3 | |Section 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | | |The executive summary is an independent element of the business plan. It should...
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...hierarchy Cultural difference: technical and medical jargons or Google work environment Choice of communication: using the wrong medium(phone) to communicate Length of communication Use of language: grammar, vocabulary Disabilities: hearing and sight Known or unknown receiver Individual perception/ attitudes/ personalities: racial difference / labeling people according to their looks, false perception Atmosphere/noise/distraction Clarity of message Lack of feedback 3. What is written communication? Why is it Important compared to oral communication? (4 marks) Written communication is a form of communication written using symbols between people or groups. It is important for - For record purpose - Legal issues - For reference purpose - Purpose of clarity (pictures, authority, etc) - To be formal 4. What are the good practices that increase the effectiveness of communication? (4 marks) Ways to improve effective communication - Continually practice writing in the language - write with a clear purpose that meets the needs of the reader - decide what you want to say and put this in a logical and suitable sequence - Use words, sentences, paragraphs and layout to convey your meaning concisely, courteously and confidently - Edit your own work critically. - written work must undergo three important stages • planning, • Writing, and • editing. 5. Difference between email and letter (4 marks) E-mail is short for electronic mail and is a method of composing, sending and receiving...
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...RESEARCH STUDY OUTLINE COVER PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT * In paragraph form, write down the researcher’s acknowledgments ABSTRACT * An abstract is a shortsummary of your completed research. If done well, it makes the reader want to learn more about your research. * These are the basic components of an abstract in any discipline: 1. Motivation/problem statement: Why do we care about the problem? What practical, scientific, theoretical or artistic gap is your research filling? 2. Methods/procedure/approach: What did you actually do to get your results? (e.g. analyzed 3 novels, completed a series of 5 oil paintings, interviewed 17 students) 3. Results/findings/product: As a result of completing the above procedure, what did you learn/invent/create? 4. Conclusion/implications: What are the larger implications of your findings, especially for the problem/gap identified in step 1? The Abstract is a summary of all key sections of the Research Study and should work as a separate, stand-alone document. Interested parties will read this section first in conjunction with a glance at the financial section when deciding whether or not they read the rest of the plan. Key points to remember include: * Write this document after the content section of Research Study is completed * Although the Executive Summary is written last, it is presented first * The Executive Summary should be no more than one page long TABLE OF CONTENTS * Table of contents...
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