Building a Better Business Plan by T.M.

Hoy Before you begin (To write or not to write): Creating a business plan is a major investment of time and energy, requiring a lot of thought, research, planning, calculations, and effort. It's an essential first step on the road to owning your own business. But not everyone needs to write one. First, you need to decide whether your idea is worth pursuing. Before you begin, take a deep breath, step back from your normal, everyday mindset, and look at your business (or business idea) from the perspective of a stranger. Considering that starting your own company requires an enormous amount of physical and mental energy, combined with (usually) every bit of money you can scrape together, this kind of commitment deserves some careful thought before you take the plunge. Ask yourself - Is this idea worth the price you'll pay to bring it to life? Be harshly realistic about the likely outcome, given your best effort. And crucially, what are the alternatives? Imagine where you want to be a year from now, in three years, in five years or whatever your time horizon may be. Create an ideal vision in your mind of what success looks like, then write down the things that would need to happen to make your vision a reality. After this exercise, examine how your business fits (or doesn't) into the picture. Search your feelings, and take your time doing it. A few days is probably a wise minimum period for reflection. If it feels like the right choice of action; if your ideal vision of what you want your life to be merges smoothly with it, and you're energized (rather than drained) by these exercises, then you probably have the motivation you'll need to bring a successful business to life. So, you've decided the pros outweigh the cons, your idea beats working for someone else, it's better than competing ideas and plans, and you're ready to fully commit yourself with all your resources and a lot of hard work. Where do you begin? You start by being clear about why you're writing a business plan. Identify your audience because this will determine the focus of the plan and have a big influence on its contents. If your plan is written to clarify your own ideas, build your confidence, improve your focus on what's needed for success, and to get some concrete strategies and plans on paper your plan doesn't need to be formal or lengthy. It can include or exclude whatever you like, with the proviso that the greater the detail, the greater likelihood you'll catch errors and problems early (and spare yourself grief later). If, on the other hand, your audience is made up of potential investors and lenders, your plan must be thorough, professional, and fairly detailed. If the plan is to impress potential customers or stakeholders (a term roughly including everyone your business will impact or interact with), it can be somewhere between these two positions, i.e. formal versus informal. Of course, once you've written any sort of plan, you can change it later so that it fits a different audience, but it'll save a lot of trouble if you know up front who is most likely to read and need it. Business Plan - 2.) Contents There are many approaches to what a business plan should include, but at its most basic, your plan needs to consider four main factors that will determine whether or not your business will succeed.

These include: 1.) The opportunity an analysis of the market need you're filling, and how attractive that market is. 2.)Critical resources all the assets needed to make the plan succeed cash and monetary assets; human assets such as suppliers, experts on tap, etc. and hard assets like equipment and machinery (in short, how you can bootstrapthe start up - that is, minimize starting costs with existing assets). 3.) The entrepreneurial team the special skills, talents, and experience owners and managers bring to the business. 4.) The financing structure how the business will be funded (debt versus equity), and how the financial risks and rewards will be shared by founders and investors, focusing on a win-win deal for all involved. A thorough business plan includes a lot more than this bare outline, normally containing 10 sections or so. A typical plan contains: a cover page with contact info, and relevant details followed by: An executive overview or summary. An offering or funding request. A description of the company. The product/service (including promotional efforts and development). Market and industry analysis (including competitive strategies). Operations. Management/ownership team (including legal advisors, accounting pros, etc.). A schedule of implementation. Risk assessment and solutions. Financial statements and analysis. The plan must be designed to reveal that the business person who wrote it understands every aspect of their business, and convinces the reader this business will succeed. This perspective will ensure your plan meets its goal namely, gathering the support of readers. This means, above all, it shouldn't be boring! Let your passion and excitement show through. Take your time writing it. Use pictures and images whenever possible to illustrate your ideas, and use your creativity. Make sure the plan shows the scope and size of your business, and your vision of where it's headed and what it will become. Study your competitor's ideas, methods, and marketing, and cherry pickthe best stuff. Combined with your own ideas, you'll be more likely to create a winning plan and strategies. Ideally, each section builds on the one before it like painting a picture or building a house. Make sure the picture you paint is the one you want to create, and one you can achieve. This is harder than it sounds. Keep working at it until you get it right, rather than be forced to follow a plan you don't want! The sections on financial statements and analysis are sufficiently important to require their own article. Please see The Language of Money, after completing this one, for the full details on how to write superb financial statements and financial analysis. A brief description of both are given here, but readers are advised to consult the more in-depth article. Cover Page This gives the company name, tagline, or motto, its logo, and contact info (e-mail address, phone and fax numbers, mailing address, social media contact information, and other details).

It should also include the date the business plan was produced, a disclaimer that the plan is confidential and can't be reproduced without permission if you so desire, and the number of copies made so as to keep track of them. When producing your cover page, remember that this is the first thing your reader will see. Make sure it's visually appealing, and if you can manage it, exciting. 1. Executive Overview/Summary Write this section last (as it encompasses all the changes and new ideas your plan takes on overtime as you work on it) and make sure it focuses on the highlights without the greater details. It should be a short page about 250 words or less. The overview is a slightly longer version of the so-called elevator pitch. This term refers to the 1 2 minute summary of your business idea/plan that you can give to a busy prospect in the length of an elevator ride. It's just enough detail to entice, enough to get them hooked but keeping the trade secrets to yourself (until they're committed or, in this case, committed enough to read your plan). 2.Offering/Funding Request This should be presented in no more than a two-page format giving an investor the basic sales pitch of how much money the company needs, when it's needed, and what's being offered in return. Like the elevator pitch of the executive summary, your focus here is convincing an investor your company deserves funding. Investors are market-oriented, NOT product-oriented, and are a skeptical bunch. Products or services meet a need show the size of the need, and how the company will meet it profitably. Make your financial projections believable more conservative (and less attractive) is far better than grossly overoptimistic, but obviously based on wish fulfillment and fantasy land numbers. Avoid overly detailed projections (the well grounded business person recognizes that uncertainty is the only sure thing), and make your goal to raise enough money for 12 to 18 months of operations. Here are two good formats to follow: Table 1. (a good financial summary format) 3 Quarter Fin. Summary All $'s in M's U.S. 1Q Units Sold 0.5 Revenues (per unit) $0.42 Gross Margin 41.00% EBIT* $.05 Cash Flow $.81 *= Earnings Before Interest & Taxes 2Q 1.7 $1.10 56.00% $.27 $1.77 3Q 3.2 $1.40 63.00% $.32 $2.15

Deciding how much equity to offer and how to value it is your hardest decision. Use your competitor's numbers (both their revenue statistics and their valuations) as a rule of thumb. Close with this offer, and be certain to include the projected ROI percentage (Return On Investment) to show your offering as an attractive alternative to other investments.

The second attractive format is to show at a glance how the money will be obtained and used. Table 2. Offering Sources & Uses Sources: Bank Debt Equity: New Investors Founders Total Sources Uses: Product Development Personnel Costs Working Capital: Cash Accounts Receivable Inventory Machinery Total Uses 3.A Description of the Company Briefly describe the type of organization (whether LLC, Corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.) Mentioning why this type was chosen, followed by the names of the owners and managers, the location of the business, how long it's been in operation, and other relevant details. If possible include pictures it brings your business to life for readers. This section might also include a concise (very concise, preferably like a line or two) mission statement or statements on the purpose of the company. What the company seeks to accomplish, I will will get there, and progress to date on these goals if it can be kept to a short paragraph or two. Be careful not to get too preachy or self-righteous. 4.Product/Service Depending on your audience, this is the heart of your plan. Make your pitch for your businesses product and/or service and inject your enthusiasm into it. Think about what sold you on it. Fit in with your mission statement or company goals and aspirations. Here are some questions you need to answer: what makes your offerings different? How will you compete? How you meet (or preferably exceed) customer expectations? What's your pricing strategy, and why? How will you identify major customers? What are your methods of distribution (do we have your own retail outlet, or do you use wholesalers and distributors, dealers, etc.)? Do you offer a warranty (and why or why not)? Following these answers, promotion should receive detailed attention. Your ideas of what media to use $100K $300K $100K $500K $125K $75K $20K $100K $80K $100K $500K

our vital . Will you use all or some of the traditional methods, namely newspapers, radio, TV, billboards, Yellow Pages, direct mail, specialty ads, trade shows, magazines, catalogs, displays, contests, coupons, direct sales, door-to-door? Describe the type and nature of your business advertising strategy, and compare it to the competition. It's also vital to have an online presence and promotional strategy. Whether using targeted Google ads, getting your business listed in online directories for markets, setting up a fully interactive e-commerce website, and making use of social media such as Google +, linked in, Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, and others you need to use the power of the Internet to boost your business. You need to engage with your customers; be responsive to their needs and desires, and the Net and social media are an easy and essential way to do that. If you can sell your product or service online with companies (check out affiliate ads with companies like Amazon and click bank) do it, and understand this is an extremely efficient way of reaching new markets as well as interacting with your regular target market. Research the cost and the effectiveness of your media/promotional strategy, and discuss how you've made your choices. Point out the various reasons your business is superior. Focusing on integrity and ethics is an excellent perhaps the best of all possible selling points, when combined with a commitment to quality. This is part of your brandingstrategy (please see Brand/Anti-brand) though be careful to only commit to what you can authentically create. There's nothing worse than getting a rep as a faker or a poser. A lowcost way to do this is to join civic and quality control organizations such as your local Chamber of Commerce, the Better Business Bureau, sign up for ISO (international standards organization) certification, and with similar entities. Display these icons of your membership prominently on your website with links to the organizations, in the windows of your business, on business cards, etc. This will reassure customers are your trustworthiness and establish a positive image. Finally, one way to really set your business apart is to reach out your businesses stakeholders and the community, with a plea for making it a better place. Choosing a local charity to support, or setting up your own campaign to improve the neighborhood (however that applies to your business) can be a powerful strategy. Making your business green, sustainable, and concerned with social and environmental justice are all hot buttonissues with consumers and incorporating aspects of these ideas into your business can give you invaluable local Goodwill, high visibility and free media attention and radically increased sales. 5.Market &Industry Analysis This section lays the groundwork for how you conduct your operations giving the details on why you're operating the business in the manner you've chosen. The basic questions of these analyses are common sense: who's your target market? What's the size the market and is it enough to sustain your business? Where'd you get your info (revealing the depth and quality of your research)? Aie that in with market trends, the characteristics of your markets, the geographic area and its demographics, and so on. How is your business affected by the economy (local and national, and/or international)? What are social and public attitudes toward your business? What is the regulatory (government) environments like? Describe your use of technology (new and existing) and similar issues. This ties in neatly with industry and competitive analysis what's the current profitability of the industry as a whole? Who are your direct and indirect competitors (and in particular, the major competitors your business faces)? What are the barriers to entry into your market? Try and include data

on the sales, growth, profits, market share, and strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, and how you'll deal with them. This info reveals your businesses likely prospects in a concrete and convincing way. Cherry pick the best ideas of the competition and also make use of industry best practices and guidelines learn from their mistakes to boost your own chances of success. 6.Operations Describe the nuts and bolts of how your business works. Start with your building/plant/office/shop is it adequate? Do you rent, lease, or are you purchasing? Lay out the costs (maintenance, taxes, utilities, etc.), and how the site is a benefit -or, if it's a drawback how you'll overcome it. Do vendors deliver there, and are there zoning issues? What are your expansion plans, and how will this affect your current location? Detail your equipment (models, types, prices of each, etc.) And how it helps the business and/or adds value. How do you assure quality control? Discuss your vendors their payment policies (credits or cash only), why you've chosen them, and related issues. Similarly, discuss your employees, their numbers, positions, salaries, and so forth, and give an overview of your employment policies and practices, training and retention strategies, and how you'll ensure good customer service. Some modern tools to help your business include business management software (which supplies the template for for operating your business, streamlines it and solves many operational issues), and doing a thorough online search for alternative sources of products/services, finding other companies that can aid yours, and up-to-the-minute, cutting-edge advice, resources, and technologies. 7.Management/Ownership List your board of advisors lawyers and other professionals helping your team along with everyone in management and that has an ownership interest in the business. This is your brain trust your business team. For your business to succeed you need dependable, competent management. Describe the team with mini-biographies (a paragraph each, figure about 150 words or less and don't forget those pics !), what you're paying them, and what talents and skills they bring to your business. Who's on your Board of Directors (if you have one)? Do you have outside advisors? Mentioning the professionals your company uses can raise your credibility so name your lawyers, bankers, accountants, insurance agents, ad agencies, etc. which all assist in building the profile of your company. 8.Implementation Schedule & Plan of Action It's best to be as realistic (and as generous with time) as possible when creating your timetable. Setting goals high can inspire employees and motivate you to excel, but it can also create deep disappointment and turn off investors if you fail to meet them. Give a brief description of your goals, how you decided to set the timetable you've created, and how

you intend to achieve the main goals. A fill-in the blanks list is easy to understand and effective format with several headings. Task time periods to achieve them (wks., months, or quarters)

and so on. Alternatively, you can list your goals with bullets a la PowerPoint presentation style, and give your estimate of when each will be achieved. Whether in chart or list format, put put the goals in order of importance, and give dates for their completion. Seeing how closely you've adhered to the schedule later will give you an excellent scorecard on how well you (and your team) have done, and how realistic you been. 9.Risks/Problems (& Solutions) This section, when all pretense is stripped away, addresses how the business will pay back investors if it fails. However, it is also an opportunity to show readers that you've prepared to deal with most (if not every) contingency, and overcome every obstacle to success. The list of risks and problems to be addressed varies quite a bit from industry to industry, as well as how exhausted the list should be. A good rule to follow comes from the courts and the standard for personal liability in lawsuits. If a risk or problem should have been foreseen by a reasonable and prudentperson as being a potential source of danger (and dealt with accordingly), then that person or company is liable when something goes wrong. This is a decent standard to use for what to include in this section, enter prepare solutions and backup plans for worst-case scenarios. Some obvious areas to cover or consider for inclusion are the risks of lawsuits or changes in laws and regulations concerning your product or service; competitive risks relating to the marketplace, that is how you'll deal with sudden shifts in consumer behavior, the industry and other competitors especially regarding prices; the safety of your product/service and any health issues; issues on the availability of capital and credit; dealing with the sudden downturn in the economy or industry; crises that might occur with various stakeholders; any other problems specific to your business. Try to be thorough about the potential risks your business faces without being tedious. This is a difficult task but not impossible (think about how disaster movies can entertain, with yourself as the hero/heroine).

10.Financial Statements & Analysis If you intend to raise money with your business plan, your financial statements analysis of the most important part of the plan. Accounting is the language of money, and your financial statements send clear messages to lenders and investors. You therefore need to know how to speak that language at least the basics of it. This vital knowledge deserves an in-depth discussion. Please read the article

following this one (The Language of Money - Financial Statements & Analysis). What's given here is only the briefest of overviews, and needs to be supplemented by further reading. A business plan's financial statements should include (at a minimum) a funding request, and owners investment and personal financial statement, a borrowers collateral sheet, an income statement, a balance sheet, a cash flow statement, a sales and earnings forecast (and the assumptions made in calculating these numbers), followed by a section on financial analysis, including standard investment ratios and an appendix with any supporting documents, such as market research reports, tax returns, current capital structure, and related documents. There are crucial items/entries within each of these statements that investors and lenders focus on. It is vital you know which one, and what message is sent by each. It speaks to the lenders of your understanding of money management and reveals your understanding of investor concerns. Financial statements are, unfortunately, made difficult to understand because the jargon and terminology they use. Obscuring easy understanding of the subject using arcane language is, of course, standard tactic of the elites and professions through the ages, meant to keep outsiders from gaining access to the treasury. Boiled down to its essence, financial statements are simple pictures of the value of a business at the moment a picture is taken (when the statements were prepared). The big three are the balance sheet, the income statement, and the cash flow statement. Their purpose is also simple to examine the profitability of a company, identify the source of that profitability, and show how the profits are being managed. A balance sheet is a summary of business assets and debt. The basic formula is: Total Assets = Debt + Ownership Equity. It shows the company's assets, sources of financing, and its debts. The income statement (formerly called the profit/loss statement) summarizes whether or not the business earns a profit. The basic formula is: Sales (Revenues) - Expenses = Profits (Income). It breaks down a business's expenses and shows whether it earns more than it spends. The cash flow statement tracks inflows and outflows of cash. The formula is: Beginning Cash + Total Cash Receipts - Total Cash Disbursements = Ending Cash Balance. It shows when cash enters and exits the business, and how operations affect your cash flows. These three, plus a sales and earnings forecast, given investor and/or lender enough information to decide whether or not your business is a potentially good investment/credit risk. Sample financial statements are included here, though there are different kinds of items and entries that very from industry to industry. For example, banks balance sheets and income statements are often complex and highly detailed, whereas most retailers and service industry businesses tend to have very simple statements. A brief description of what each financial statement in your business plan should include follows here. Owner's investment and personal financial statement. This is the capital brought to the business by the owner, and his personal financial statements (these may not always be included if the lender requires your personal guarantee, then yes, otherwise no).

Borrowers collateral sheet. These are the assets free of obligation that can be used to secure funds and pay off investors if necessary. This includes fixed assets like equipment, land, buildings, cash on hand, accounts receivable, stocks and bonds, etc. Income statement. The income statement gives the total income of the business, minus all expenses, yielding the profit/loss after everything has been deducted (the income statement was referred to as the profit/loss statement for this reason). It shows how the firm spends its income, and whether it is operating successfully. It gives the income from sales and revenues (inflow of cash), followed by costs of goods sold, general and administrative expenses, other expenses like wages, benefits, office supplies, insurance, repairs/maintenance, utilities, interest expense, taxes, etc., then gives the gross profit, the operating profit (gross margin minus administrative and selling expenses), net profit before tax, after-tax, and finally the net profits (or loss). Balance sheet. This provides a picture of a company's resources, obligations, and solvency at a given point in time. It has three parts assets, balancedagainst liabilities and owners equity. It is generally broken down into the categories of current assets (cash on hand, accounts receivable, inventory, and things that can be turned into cash on short notice); long-term/fixed assets (property, plant, equipment, depreciation allowances, and other long-term assets), and 'other' assets such as prepaid expenses, insurance, goodwill, and fungible things not included in the other two categories. This is followed by liabilities, divided into current liabilities (accounts payable, notes payable, payroll, and items that require immediate payment); long-term debt such as loans, bonds, and debt stretched out over time or requiring payment in the future. The last section owners equity includes capital stock, retained earnings, and the net worth of the company to the owner after all debts are paid. The two sections assets versus liabilities, should match, hence the term balance sheet. Cash flow statement. This tracks the flow of cash into and out of your business, and reveals whether cash comes in and goes out in a way that sustains your business. It includes beginning cash balance, followed by cash receipts, cash sales, and collection of accounts receivable, for total cash receipts followed by cash disbursements (the cost of goods sold, expenses, payment of salaries, general and administrative expenses, taxes, equipment, rents, insurance, etc.), capital expenditures, dividends and withdrawals, and ends by yielding a figure for total cash disbursements, followed by the cash surplus (or deficit), minimum cash requirement, loan requirement, loan (s) repaid, and then the ending cash balance. Sales and earnings forecast. This may be based on your competitors numbers, or industry 'best practices' numbers, or on current sales and your estimates of growth. It shows where the cash comes from the schedule of when it arrives. In this respect, it is very similar to a cash flow statement, the difference being that it projects cash flow into the future. It includes goods sold, interest income, and those entries found in the cash flow statement. Assumptions. This is where you describe how you arrived at the numbers. What figures were used and why? How did you estimate labor, cost of goods, and other expenses? Give explanations as to sources and the nature of payments on borrowed money, if allowances were made for unforeseen events and

problems. Make a list of categories and assumptions that show how the numbers were arrived at, and why they are reliable and accurate. Financial Analysis This section can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it. But at a bare minimum, you should evaluate the company's performance in four areas: its ability to pay debt as it comes due; the company's profitability from its assets (that is, a good rate of return on assets [ROA]); the amount of debt the company is using, and the rate of return on owner's equity (the investor's return). The measures used by investors are ratios; these are given below. Make sure you discuss how you arrived at these figures, with references to your financial statements and assumptions. Liquidity (the ability to pay debt using cash on hand): called the current ratio = current assets divided by current liabilities. This number should be at least a two (where assets are equal to two times the amount of current liabilities). Profitability (using company assets): there are three standard measures, return on assets [ROA] = operating profits divided by total assets; operating profit margin = operating profit divided by sales; total asset turnover = sales divided by total assets. Amount of Debt (the company uses): debt ratio = total debt divided by total assets. The debt ratio should be limited; ideally, less than 50% of financing should be from debt (the rest should come from equity that is, investment by owners). Total debt should be less than 50% of assets. Rate of Return (earned by the owners on their equity): return on equity [ROE] = net profits divided by owners equity. Return on assets [ROA] = operating profits divided by total assets = operating profits divided by sales multiplied by sales divided by total assets. A few notes on all this are in order. Compare your numbers with those of your industry's standards. Average financial statements for most industries can be obtained through Dunn and Bradstreet (www.dnb.com), Robert Morris Associates (www.rmahq.org), trade and industry associations, and other organizations that compile such data. To attract financing, you need to focus on short-term profit, and sacrifice things like maximizing sales and longer-term profits to show you'll be able to pay back debt quickly. Whatever your situation, make sure to obtain sufficient financing. Over 50% of all business failures within the first three years of operation occur due to insufficient capitalization. Further, each industry has its own standards for asset requirements. These are very useful for seeing how your company matches up against your competition. The more assets your company needs to reach profitability, the greater your need for financing. Some examples: grocery stores average 20% assets to sales; oil and gas companies average 65%. This is called the 'percentage of sales technique'. Thus, with a grocery store if sales are $1 million = .2 x $1,000,000. = $200,000. Is needed in assets. Finally, do as much research as possible! The more you know about your competitor's finances, investor and lender expectations, industry standards and best practices, etc. the more prepared and professional you will be.

Good luck ! If you liked this article, you can check out a lot more great info by visiting my website: http://www.smallbusinessfinancingonline.com