| Get your Business Plan Ready |
It helps to put things down on paper and get a business plan ready. A handy framework for a business plan can be accessed on the Net at sba.gov. You can avail of the services of experts.
The financial advisory
services group, PriceWaterHouseCoopers, will work on your plan if they are
taken in by your idea for a success fee, which allows them to get a percentage
of the funding if the deal comes through.
| General
outline |
A general outline for your business plan should include the following:
- Executive
Summary: usually written last, it summarizes and provides the reader
with an overview;
-
The Business: describe the company, trade name, vision, mission, ethics, goals and legal structure;
-
Products & Services: outputs, sales mix, costs and profits, expansion of services and product lines and product/service life cycle;
- Industry
Analysis:
trends, demand outlook, barriers to entry and growth, impact of innovation
and technology, impact of economy, government and financial health of the
industry;
- Market
Analysis:
trends, size, competition analysis, projected market share and decisions
on products and services;
- Marketing
Strategy: location, distribution channels, sales, pricing, tools:
networking, circles of influence, internet, brochures, sales systems and
database;
- Management: Operations & Organization: organizational
structure, responsibilities and support (professional services);
- Implementation
Plan:
staff, staffing issues, systems, communication, book-keeping, equipment,
software, office, furniture, fixtures, land and buildings, research &
development;
- Potential
Risks and Downfalls: identify risks (liability, contract termination
etc.) and plan to reduce or eliminate identified risks or threats;
- Financial aspects: start up costs, cash flow sensitivity analysis, cash flow and expenses, etc.
(For
more information on how to make your business proposal refer to OLW's course
on Venture Capital Funding.)
| Non-disclosure
Agreement |
You do not always
have to provide a full copy of your plan.
Use good judgement and exercise caution in your dealings. Sometimes an excerpt, summary or just financial statements and projections will suffice. If you are providing proprietary information a secrecy agreement and non-competition agreement might be appropriate.
Caption: When you provide someone with a full copy of your plan get him to sign a confidentiality, non- disclosure agreement (NDA)
When you create a plan, you have to make many assumptions. Some of these are so basic that they remain, appropriately, unstated. Also, there is little use in worrying about cataclysmic or other events that can render all your planning a waste of time. You have to start with the premise that it is going to be ‘‘life as usual.'' Beyond that, there are several broad assumptions that you are going to have to make. These assumptions are what support and quantify the projections that you will make in the plan.
You will have to make some assumptions about:
- The
general environment -- interest rates, demographics, and other
factors that all businesses face
- Factors
specific to your firm -- capacity,
opportunity, motivation and environmental factors.
- How you will shift gears -- if necessary, in response to events outside your control. Such as growth, economic downturn, illness or other significant crises or risks.
Unless you're starting a totally new type of operation,
there will be someone around with experience in what you're planning to do.
You'd be surprised how willing even potential competitors are to share information,
if asked in the right way. This is particularly true if you will serve a limited
geographic market and do not plan to directly compete with similar organizations
located some distance away.
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| Managerial aspects |
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Do
not forget about the management aspects of running your own |
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