Business Plan Format

There are plenty of ways to write out a business plan, whether in a format like this or through following the business model canvas. The cover page, confidentiality agreement and table of contents each would have their own separate page. Everything after the table of contents flows normally. I have kept this pretty simple, you can find more detailed business plans at bplans.com. I combined business plan formats and ideas from about 4 different sources to create my plan. It fits well for my business idea, hopefully it will help you understand the basics of creating a business plan.

  

Business Plan

Name of Business

Business Address

Phone Number

Owners - Titles 

  

Confidentiality Agreement

 

The undersigned reader acknowledges that the information provided by _______________ in this business plan is confidential; therefore, reader agrees not to disclose it without the express written permission of _______________.
It is acknowledged by reader that information to be furnished in this business plan is in all respects confidential in nature, other than information which is in the public domain through other means and that any disclosure or use of same by reader, may cause serious harm or damage to _______________.
Upon request, this document is to be immediately returned to _______________.

___________________
Signature

___________________
Name (typed or printed)

___________________
Date

Table of Contents

1.0   Executive Summary

2.0   Mission, Goals and Objectives

2.1   Mission Statement

2.2   Goals and Objectives

3.0   Products and Services

3.1   Background Industry Information

3.2   Current and Future Trends

3.3   Background of My Business

4.0   Organizational Matters

4.1   Business Structure

4.2   Management

4.3   Outside Services

5.0   Marketing Plan

5.1   Product Description

5.2   Features and Benefits

5.3   Product Growth Description

6.0   The Market Anazlysis

6.1   Target Customers

6.2   Competition

7.0   Market Potential

7.1   Current Trade Area

7.2   Market Size and Trends

7.3   Market Potential

8.0   Marketing Strategies

8.1   Packaging

8.2   Public Relations

8.3   Advertising

9.0   The Financial Plan

9.1   Projected Income Statement

9.2   Projected Balance Sheet

9.3   Projected Statement of Cash Flows

9.4   Summary of Financial Needs

10.0            Appendix

10.1            Income Statement

10.2            Balance Sheet

10.3            Statement of Cash Flows

1.0           Executive Summary

              This is a place to make a summary of the key points of your business plan. Use this section to draw people's attention. It is easiest to write this section last.

2.0          Mission, Goals and Objectives

2.1   Mission Statement

                  What is the purpose of your company, and how will you be a better choice to your target customers. Keep it short and simple.

2.2 Goals and Objectives

1.  
2.  
3.  
4.  

3.0 The Industry

                3.1 Background Industry Information

                     Simple overview of the current market size for your product or service. This takes a little bit of research, but is not all that hard with Google. Ex. (How many _____ are sold each year?)

    3.2 Current and Future Trends

         Is the industry growing, what is effecting the growth? How do you predict this market to grow or decline in the future?

                3.3 Background of my Business

When were you started? What was the reason that you started your business? 

4.0 Organizational Matters

                4.1 Business Structure

                     Are you the sole owner, do you have partners, or is it a corporation?

4.2 Management

                  Who is in charge and what do they bring to the table?

4.3 Outside Services

                  What outside services are you currently using to help start your business? For me, it would be the Small Business Development Center, and the Rollins Center at BYU.

5.0 The Marketing Plan

                5.1 Product Description

                 

               

                5.2 Features and Benefits

                5.3 Product Growth Description

                      Do you plan on creating add-ons, or developing new products down the road?

6.0 The Market Analysis

                6.1 Target Customers

    6.2 Competition

7.0             Market Potential

7.1   Current Trade Area

                   Where do you plan on selling your product??

7.2   Market Size and Trends

      How much do people spend on your type of product, and is the market growing?

7.3   Market Potential

                  How much of the market do you think you can reasonably take?

8.0             Marketing Strategies

8.1   Packaging

             

8.2   Public Relations

8.3   Advertising

9.0             The Financial Plan

9.1   Projected Income Statement

9.2   Projected Balance Sheet

9.3   Projected Cash Flow Statement

9.4   Summary of Financial Needs

10.0       Appendix

10.1 Income Statement

10.2 Balance Sheet

10.3 Projected Cash Flow Statement

Feel free to check out my other blog at http://munk-isip.blogspot.com/

                               

How in the World do You Start Your Own Business?

I know it can often be tricky to start your own business. There are so many things to accomplish and at least for me, I had no idea where to start. My whole life I have been entrepreneurial minded and enjoy creating something from nothing (Or making things in a new and better way).

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to many entrepreneurial events for Brigham Young University's 'E-Week.' It was fantastic! I really enjoyed listening to people present about their unique ideas, and to hear from veterans who have successfully started multiple companies. The event that ended up helping me the most was on the last day. It was more of a social networking event where different organizations had their booths set up. Briana and I met with all of them. We learned about tons of different opportunities right here in Provo to help young entrepreneurs get started.

I want to share about one of these organizations, the Small Business Development Center. There are a ton of them in Utah with the closest (To BYU) being right by Wal-Mart in Orem.

I had researched for hours about the products that I want to create, I researched about competition and other factors. I came fairly prepared to learn and ask questions about what my next steps should be.

I met with Eddy, he was incredibly helpful. The questions he answered for my business are not the questions that you will need answered so I will not go into too much detail. After we had discussed my plans and goals he gave me five things to focus on in the coming weeks to prepare myself to progress and reach my goals.

 He broke down the work I needed to do in the short term into two categories, legal and management.

1. Legal, this is the simple and straightforward part. It is actually pretty easy to reserve your company name, and register your business online. This will provide you with a Certificate of Organization and a business number. This can be fairly costly, the SBDC helps students with the financial side of starting a new business. At this point you can apply for a business license and see if you will need (if it would be beneficial) to have business insurance. The next step would be to set up a separate business bank account. He recommended using a credit union over a bank.
2. Management is the more difficult part. This includes creating a business plan and a marketing plan. I will share a helpful resource in creating a business plan here in a bit. The marketing plan consists of determining solutions aka products and services that your business will create to solve customer pains and problems. It is important to identify a target market, to figure out who will be potentially purchasing your product and what features are important to them. It is really easy to come up with an idea that you think it great, but it is not always perceived that way by the consumer. It can be difficult to determine what to do in order to find information that will help you develop the right product. The first step would be to research online and see what it already out there, and then get out and talk to people! (Preferably random people, friends and family tend to tell you what you want to hear not what you need to hear).

Eddy gave me specific things to do, first to check out www.Google.com/patents. This contains a database of patents, it will let you know if someone else is already working on your idea. 

He suggested that I get started right away on my business plan, and to detail it the best I could in my early phase. An amazing resource available is www.bplans.com, they have many different examples and a format that you can download to get started. I would also recommend this guide: http://articles.bplans.com/how-to-write-a-business-plan/. 

And last but not least, Eddy encouraged me to continue researching, to always ask questions and seek out answers. 

I highly recommend the Utah SBDC as a starting point for those who want to be entrepreneurs. It has helped me go in the right direction. I have figured out what I want to do and how I want to execute. I have the chance to build a model and present in front of investors this month, I still do not know much, nothing really. I do believe in myself and am willing to work to make it happen. Just living the dream.

Check out my other blog at http://munk-isip.blogspot.com/

The Magical Goal Poster

Setting goals is a very important aspect of our lives. Goals help us to stretch ourselves and achieve more than we normally would. I personally find it easy, and I think many people as well, to get excited and write down a bunch of goals and work on them for a short period of time. It is easy to lose sight of your goals, it is also very easy to lose the piece of paper you wrote your goals on!

I have determined a solution that is helping me focus on my goals and achieve them. It is easier to show you than to talk about it:

This is my first draft/rendition of the world's most awesome goal poster (Really it is just one sheet of paper, and 4 sticky notes).

There are many ways to break down this poster. Let's start with the left hand side.

You can name the poster whatever you would like, something that motivates you or is just awesome. 

I have mine broken down into sections, Education, Experience, Physical, Business, and the ever exciting More category.

Some addition suggestions could be Financial, Travel, Giving, Skill-Sets or Influence. Make it personal to you!

The right hand side is a little bit different, but it is the best part! Often our goals remain the same for a long period of time, but the actions that we take to reach those goals change pretty constantly. I do not make any kind of commission on sticky notes, but I recommend going through quite a few of these guys. Keeping them organized so you can look back at the things you have done is something that I find helpful. 

As I thought and prayed about my goals I received inspiration that has helped guide me to know the different things I need to focus on personally. I recommend to you the same process, prayer is a powerful tool, I believe that God knows our potential better than we do. 

I have been told that everything you write down on your goal poster will be accomplished, I believe that to be true! I am taking full responsibility for my goals, I am going to accomplish them. Each one will be followed by a small victory dance, and a new goal to pursue.

Take a look at my other blog at http://munk-isip.blogspot.com/