...U.S. Small Business Administration MP-32 HOW TO WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN Managing and Planning Series ______________________________________________________________________________ Copyright 1993, Linda Pinson and Jerry Jinnett. All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced, transmitted or transcribed without the permission of the authors. SBA retains an irrevocable, worldwide, nonexclusive, royalty-free, unlimited license to use this copyrighted material. While we consider the contents of this publication to be of general merit, its sponsorship by the U.S. Small Business Administration does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the views and opinions of the authors or the products and services of the companies with which they are affiliated. All of SBA's programs and services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. ______________________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 COVER SHEET 1 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE (MISSION STATEMENT) THE BUSINESS Legal Structure 2 Description of the Business 2 Products or Services 3 Location 3 Management 3 Personnel 3 Methods of Record Keeping 3 Insurance 4 Security 4 Summary 5 MARKETING Target Market 5 Competition 5 2 Methods of Distribution 5 Advertising 7 Pricing 7 Product Design 7 Timing of Market Entry Location 8 Industry Trends 8 7 FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS Summary of Financial Needs 8 Sources and Uses of Funds Statement Cash Flow Statement (Budget) 9 Three-year...
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...**Additional References for Business Plan Writing** Industry Analysis Industry analysis is business research that focuses on the potential of an industry. An industry is a group of firms producing a similar product or service, such as music, fitness drinks, or electronic games. Once it is determined that a new venture is feasible in regard to the industry and market in which it will compete, a more in-depth analysis is needed to learn the ins-and-outs of the industry the firm plans to enter. When studying an industry, an entrepreneur must answer three questions before pursuing the idea of starting a firm. i. First, is the industry accessible – in other words, is it a realistic place for a new venture to enter? ii. Second, does the industry contain markets that are ripe for innovation or are underserved? iii. Third, are there positions in the industry that will avoid some of the negative attributes of the industry as a whole? It is useful for a new venture to think about its position at both the company level and the product or service level. At the company level, a firm’s position determines how the entire company is situated relative to its competitors. \\Industry vs. Firm Level Factors To illustrate the importance of the industry a firm chooses to enter, research has shown that both firm- and industry-specific factors contribute to a firm’s profitability. In various studies, researchers have found that from 8 to 30 percent of the variation in firm profitability...
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...stress in students, therefore aiding academic business writing? Elizabeth Lovett – 1333401 Contents Introduction 3 Main Body 4 What is Time Management? 4 How can time management skills be established and developed? 5 Strategic Thinking 5 Personal Development Plan (PDP) 6 Advance Planning 7 Do these skills allow for good time management? 8 Does a lack of time management lead to stress? 9 Conclusions 10 Recommendations 10 List of References 11 Introduction This report is going to be examining what time management is and how time management skills can be established and developed through various methods. Also, it will be discussed whether the aforementioned methods are effective. Following on from this, the relevance of time management and its associated skills will be evaluated in regard to academic business writing. Finally, the effects of a lack of time management and whether this results in a build-up of stress causing writing quality to decrease. Research will be presented on recent findings about time management skills, as well as those which have been deemed successful for a number of years in many scenarios. Whilst it may be difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of more recent theories, I will give my recommendations at the end based on all the information discussed. Time management is a skill of great importance and should be regarded highly before even beginning to write any academic business work. Choosing to write about this topic...
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...How to Write a Restaurant Business Plan By: Ronald C. Manalastas Writing a restaurant business plan, whether for a proposed or existing venture, represents the daunting task of researching, organizing, and integrating loose information into a compelling business blueprint. How you develop the plan assumes critical importance because it can make or break your financial interest. A restaurant business plan is a resource document that reflects your strategic intent or vision as a business owner, manager, or entrepreneur. It details how you intend to achieve that vision after understanding the external context of the business and determining your internal capacity to effectively address opportunities and threats, face competition, and mitigate risks. How then do you write a restaurant business plan in a manner that creates value to all business stakeholders? The following is a basic tutorial in writing a restaurant business plan: I. Assess the nature and scope of information requirement Before writing, you must ascertain with particularity what information you will need to progressively proceed with the completion of the plan. Here, you have to establish what kind of information is available in-house or from your own database and what must be researched from primary and secondary sources. You must determine if you need to conduct interviews or surveys and formulate questionnaires to support the process. Once the types and sources of information are identified, you can prioritize...
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...20 Reasons Why You Need a Business Plan Categories: * Business Planning 1. To prove that you’re serious about your business. A formal business plan is necessary to show all interested parties -- employees, investors, partners and yourself -- that you are committed to building the business. 2. To establish business milestones. The business plan should clearly lay out the long-term milestones that are most important to the success of your business. To paraphrase Guy Kawasaki, a milestone is something significant enough to come home and tell your spouse about (without boring him or her to death). Would you tell your spouse that you tweaked the company brochure? Probably not. But you'd certainly share the news that you launched your new website or reached $1M in annual revenues. 3. To better understand your competition. Creating the business plan forces you to analyze the competition. All companies have competition in the form of either direct or indirect competitors, and it is critical to understand your company's competitive advantages. 4. To better understand your customer. Why do they buy when they buy? Why don’t they when they don't? An in-depth customer analysis is essential to an effective business plan and to a successful business. 5. To enunciate previously unstated assumptions. The process of actually writing the business plan helps to bring previously "hidden" assumptions to the foreground. By writing them down and assessing them, you can test them and...
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...20 Reasons Why You Need a Business Plan Written by Pete Kennedy Categories: * Business Planning 1. To prove that you’re serious about your business. A formal business plan is necessary to show all interested parties -- employees, investors, partners and yourself -- that you are committed to building the business. 2. To establish business milestones. The business plan should clearly lay out the long-term milestones that are most important to the success of your business. To paraphrase Guy Kawasaki, a milestone is something significant enough to come home and tell your spouse about (without boring him or her to death). Would you tell your spouse that you tweaked the company brochure? Probably not. But you'd certainly share the news that you launched your new website or reached $1M in annual revenues. 3. To better understand your competition. Creating the business plan forces you to analyze the competition. All companies have competition in the form of either direct or indirect competitors, and it is critical to understand your company's competitive advantages. 4. To better understand your customer. Why do they buy when they buy? Why don’t they when they don't? An in-depth customer analysis is essential to an effective business plan and to a successful business. 5. To enunciate previously unstated assumptions. The process of actually writing the business plan helps to bring previously "hidden" assumptions to the foreground. By writing them down and assessing them...
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...company. View the link Public Companies for a comprehensive list of publicly traded companies.) 2. Identify/ create/ build a Marketing Mix for this product as it is today. 3. Discuss any potential ethical or social responsible issues that could arise from the marketing of this product. Your post should be written about the marketing activities of a well-known consumer product, not services (like insurance, storage, or banking), not automobiles/ jets or any other industrial product. Select a well-known consumer company/product that comes in a box/ bottle/ can/ etc. (like Corn Flakes, M&M, Hershey Kisses, Welch's Grape Jelly) to demonstrate the marketing concepts we will study. You will usually find a great deal of marketing/ business information...
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...1. Writing the plan without involvement and buy-in from all key stakeholders: often the task of writing the business plan is given to a staff member or consultant. The worse thing this person can do is write the plan in isolation. Unless there are a series of consultations with people who know the business intimately and will be responsible for implementing the plan, its execution will fail or the plan will sit on a shelf forever. 2. Unrealistic sales forecasts: selling is hard. Selling a new product or service is extremely hard. A common mistake is to over-estimate the size of the market and the ability to penetrate this market. To ensure projections are realistic, get individuals who know the market intimately to challenge them. 3. Lack of thoroughness of the financial model: every business plan includes a section that summarizes cost and revenue assumptions. These cannot be taken lightly. The excess of revenues over costs is what will provide the fuel for the journey. As soon as cashflow is out of balance, you lose, not only your ability to invest and grow the business, but also the trust of your stakeholders. Set exhaustive and realistic budgets! 4. Lack of recognition of the need for business skills: many ventures are started by experts in a certain field (scientists, non-profit managers…). The smart ones understand the importance of complementing their lack of business skills and experience. 5. Failure to identify the risks: many are concerned that stressing the risks...
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...A Systematic Approach to Writing and Rating Entrepreneurial Business Plans KEVIN HINDLE AND BRENT MAINPRIZE KEVIN HINDLE is a professor of entrepreneurship at the Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, Swinburne University of Technology. Melbourne, Australia. khindle@swin.edu.au BRENT MAINPRIZE is the core professor of entrepreneurship in the Faculty of Management at Royal Roads University in British Columbia, Canada. brent.inainprize@royalroads.ca T here is a small but growing b o d y of research that details many desirable attributes a n d qualities that, at a general level, any entrepreneurial business plan should contain. It is a reasonable proposition that this research, and any principles it may contain, can and should provide the basis for a systematic approach t o b o t h the writing and evaluation of entrepreneurial business plans. Despite this, the majority of entrepreneurial business plan writing and evaluation is unsystematic—if systematic is taken to mean "based o n empirical evidence and developed theory." T h e vast majority of the a b u n d a n t literature on " h o w to write a successful business p l a n " is n o t research-based (Hindle [1997]). T h e espoused criteria of its authors far o u t weigh the formal application of the k n o w n attributes of successful ventures (Hindle and Mainprize [2002]). This article seeks to articulate a research-based system for assessing the c o n t e n t quality of e...
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...with proper explanations. PART II Select the correct answer (You can high light) 1. A business plan is best described as a a. | crystal ball picture. | b. | money plan. | c. | contingency plan. | d. | game plan. | 2. The primary outside users of business plans are a. | employees. | b. | investors and lenders. | c. | customers. | d. | government agencies. | 3. Which group would be the most interested in a business plan for a new venture? a. | Customers | b. | Lenders | c. | Supervisors | d. | The Internal Revenue Service | 4. Jill is writing a business plan for a small home based operation. If well written, the business plan will assist her in determining if a. | the business aligns with personal goals. | b. | an investor would be a perfect fit for the proposed company. | c. | suppliers can be found for the operation. | d. | outsiders can be made into insiders. | 5. The document that assists an entrepreneur and the management team focus on important issues and activities is a. | the organization chart. | b. | the budget. | c. | the sales analysis. | d. | the business plan. | 6. A business plan a. | is best for telling insiders about the company. | b. | is more important than the final outcome. | c. | is not the business. | d. | will ensure success. | 7. A good business plan leads to a successful company when the entrepreneur and management team a. | identify all unexpected...
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...S c h o o l of Ac c ount a nc y Faculty of Business Writing F O R A C C O U N TA N T S Edited by Di Lewis i This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. © School of Accountancy, QUT 2003 Produced by QUT Publications 232975 8437 ISBN: 1 74107 014 7 ii Contents Preface Accountancy writing and preparation of documents Writing and accountants Determining the Purpose (aim) Investigating Planning the document Writing the document Revising the document Style of professional documents Good and poor writing Audience Tone Language Overwriting (padding) Overgeneralisation Spelling, punctuation and grammar Abbreviations Expressing numbers Paragraphing Headings and sub-headings Quantitative information Recommendations Letter writing for accountants Claim letter Letter of advice Letter of engagement Letter of enquiry Letter of refusal Management letter Memos E-mails Research Essays, Reports and Resumés Research essays Reports Resumés References and Bibliographies iii v 1 1 2 2 7 8 8 9 9 10 10 10 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 13 14 16 17 19 21 22 23 24 26 27 27 31 40 41 iv Preface Writing for Accountants is a brief guide to the types of writing that accountancy students and practising accountants are most often called on to do. It is not intended as a definitive text, but rather...
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...Business Communication and Writing Skills in the Work Place Andre Florida State College at Jacksonville Business Writing GEB3213 Professor Edward Rush II February 8, 2013 Abstract Writing and communication skills have become have become one of the essentials for success in the business field. Many companies that once ignored the effects of proper writing and communication skills are beginning to understand the power of effective communication and writing skills. Employers are beginning to demand that business students come out of college with suitable writing and communication skills. Good communication and writing skills help managers and employees express information more clearly and faster than ever before. Business Communication and Writing in the Work Place According to authors Gary L. Neilson, Karla L. Martin, and Elizabeth Powers(2008), poor communication skills are one of the main reasons company can not properly execute successful strategies(p.3). In their article titled The Secrets to Successful Strategy Execution, authors Gary L. Neilson, Karla L. Martin, and Elizabeth Powers(2008) go through extensive research to try and understand why companies with such great potential fail (p. 3). Over the course of a 5 year span, the authors have spoken with more than 1,000 companies, government agencies, and non profit organizations in over 50 countries to try and figure out why companies fail(Neilson, Martin & Power,2008 p. 5). The research displayed that...
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...Self-Assessment Tasks Plan MBA6004 Foundational Skills for Business Leaders Unit 1 Assignment 1 Introduction This report is a self-assessment of the written and Excel skills evaluation that is required by Capella. Based on the results from the assessment, the student is required to create an action plan for improving those skills in this course and future courses. The self-evaluation consists of three components. The first assessment consists of 20 multiple-choice questions. The second assessment instructs the student to write an essay on a given topic. The final assessment consists of 20 multiple-choice questions to determine the student proficiency and competency with Microsoft Excel. Once the self-assessment has been completed, the outcome of each assessment is made available to the student. This paper will discuss the steps that will be taken while pursuing my MBA degree. Learner Action Plan The Action Plan tab is designed to help students organize and manage key academic courses, structure professional and life tasks to support the students through the program to ensure overall academic success. The Skill Enhancement tab provides an extensive list of tutorial and self-paced courses to improve both your writing skills and Excel skills. Figure 1: Skills Enhancement Based on my assessment results, an action plan was developed that involved improving my writing and enhancing skills in Excel. My action plan does show that the dates that have been set to complete...
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...Business planning is essential for the success of any business. A business plan provides direction, keeps you on track and is usually a requirement when you seek finance. Read Why do I need a business plan to find out how writing a business plan can assist your business. Once you've read Before starting a business plan and conducted research into the feasibility of your new business you're ready to write your plan. We have a number of free templates and downloads to help you get started. This section is based on our free business template and guide and steps through the various areas and information you need to include in your business plan. Your business plan may vary from this depending on the type and structure of your business. Tips when writing your business plan When writing your business plan and before you start using it, consider the following: Do your research - You will need to make quite a few decisions about your business including structure, marketing strategies and finances before you can complete your plan. By having the right information to hand you also can be more accurate in your forecasts and analysis. Determine who the plan is for - Does it have more than one purpose? Will it be used internally or will third parties be involved? Deciding the purpose of the plan can help you target your answers. If third parties are involved, what are they interested in? Although don't assume they are just interested in the finance part of your business. They will...
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...Grant Proposals It doesn’t matter if the business is just an agency, organization, for profit or non-profit they need money to operate. Profit companies focus on getting their funding through revenues and interest-bearing loans. Non-profit companies depend on grants, loans, and public generosity. It is a must to understand that non-profit agencies are businesses too and they also need a way to pay for their expenses. Writing grants is the way an agency finds funding. Either an employee professional grant writer or having administrative personnel to write the proposals, they then submit them for review to potential donors. Writing grants proposals is far from an easy to deal with. There are deadlines, awareness of what programs a funder is looking to invest their time and money into. Details for the application are an important part to writing a grant. Some are short and don’t require much information, while others require detailed description of the program. This is the grant writer’s priority to make sure that it meets requirement and all the information that is needed is there. The primary point to a proposal is that is to get their program out there and to make it clear and honest picture of the organization project for those funding and in general. The writer must convince the review committee that their program is the best to choose. Grant proposals are the entrance to a organization, and creative writing can either win the committee over or break the deal. The information...
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