Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- General Company Description
- Products and Services
- Marketing Plan
- Operational Plan
- Management and Organization
- Personal Financial Statement
- Start up Expenses and Capitalization
- Financial Plan
- Appendices
- Refining the Plan
1. Executive Summary
- Write this section last.
- We suggest that you make it two pages or fewer.
- Include everything that you would cover in a five-minute interview.
- Explain the fundamentals of the proposed business: What will your product be? Who will your customers be? Who are the owners? What do you think the future holds for your business and your industry?
- Make it enthusiastic, professional, complete, and concise.
- If applying for a loan, state clearly how much you want, precisely how you are going to use it, and how the money will make your business more profitable, thereby ensuring repayment.
2. General Company Description
- What business will you be in? What will you do?
- Mission Statement: Many companies have a brief mission statement, usually in 30 words or fewer, explaining their reason for being and their guiding principles. If you want to draft a mission statement, this is a good place to put it in the plan, followed by:
- Company Goals and Objectives: Goals are destinations—where you want your business to be. Objectives are progress markers along the way to goal achievement. For example, a goal might be to have a healthy, successful company that is a leader in customer service and that has a loyal customer following. Objectives might be annual sales targets and some specific measures of customer satisfaction.
- Business Philosophy: What is important to you in business?
- To whom will you market your products? (State it briefly here—you will do a more thorough explanation in the Marketing Plan section).
- Describe your industry. Is it a growth industry? What changes do you foresee in the industry, short term and long term? How will your company be poised to take advantage of them?
- Describe your most important company strengths and core competencies. What factors will make the company succeed? What do you think your major competitive strengths will be? What background experience, skills, and strengths do you personally bring to this new venture?
- Legal form of ownership: Sole proprietor, Partnership, Corporation, Limited liability corporation (LLC)? Why have you selected this form?
3. Products and Services
- Describe in depth your products or services (technical specifications, drawings, photos, sales brochures, and other bulky items belong in Appendices).
- What factors will give you competitive advantages or disadvantages? Examples include level of quality or unique or proprietary features.
- What are the pricing, fee, or leasing structures of your products or services?