SEÑOR TESORO COLLEGE, INC

Diversion Road, San Miguel

Calasiao,Pangasinan
Email Address: senortesorocollege.2018@gmail.com
(075)522-4928/ (+63)9175035204

Course Guide

for

EC210- BUSINESS PLAN PREPARATION

DINO SORIANO DIZON

Course Instructor/BSE-Program Coordinator

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storing , distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting in any form or by any means ,
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 SEÑOR TESORO COLLEGE, INC
Diversion Road, San Miguel
Calasiao,Pangasinan
Email Address: senortesorocollege.2018@gmail.com
(075)522-4928/ (+63)9175035204

Introduction

You're excited about an idea for a new business. But when you mention it to a friend
who's also a business owner, she says, "You'll need to prepare a business plan." While
the business idea sounds great, sitting down and writing some cold, formal document is
not exactly your idea of fun, and you wonder if it is really necessary. Atter all, we know
an entrepreneur who started and successfully grew a company based on an idea
developed on the back of a napkin over dinner at a local restaurant. And it is true that
the founders of such notable companies like Microsoft, Dell Computers, Calvin Klein,
National Book Store, Bench, Robinsons and SM all started their businesses without
business plans?

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, the students should be able to:

 Explain the purpose and objectives of business plan,

 Give the rationale for writing (or not writing) a business plan when starting a new
venture,
 Describe the preferred content and format for a business plan,
 Offer practical advice on writing a business plan,
 Explain the concept and process for developing a firm's business model,
 Identify available success of assistance in preparing a business plan; and,
 Maintain the proper perspective when writing a business plan.

List of Contents

Creating a Business Plan

 Overview of Business Plan

 How Much Planning?
 Preparing a Business Plan?
 Contents of Business Plan
 Elements of Business Plan
 Resources for Business Plan Writing

Study schedule

This document is a property of and for the exclusive use of Senor Tesoro College ( STC) , Reproduction,
storing , distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting in any form or by any means ,
electronic , mechanical , photocopying, recording or otherwise of any part of this document , without
the written permission of STC, is strictly prohibited.
 SEÑOR TESORO COLLEGE, INC
Diversion Road, San Miguel
Calasiao,Pangasinan
Email Address: senortesorocollege.2018@gmail.com
(075)522-4928/ (+63)9175035204

TOPIC
WEEK LEARNING OUTCOMES ACTIVITIES
Day 1 Orientation  Familiarize the STC Mission,
Vision, Goals and Objectives
 To discuss the school
disciplinary rules and course.
 Self –introduction through
Google meet / Zoom
meeting.

Day 2- Creating a Business Plan Engage: Video clips regarding

4 Introduction of Business Planning
 Overview of Business
Plan https://youtu.be/FIoGLHT4wGE
 How Much Planning?
Explore: Multiple Learning modes,
 Preparing a Business
Interactive discussions thru Google
Plan?
meet.
 Contents of Business
Plan Explain: Explain what is a business
 Elements of Business plan, the importance and how to
Plan write one.
 Resources for Business
Plan Writing
Elaborate:

1. Describe what entrepreneurs

mean when they talk about a
business plan.(250 words)

2. When should you write a

business plan? When might it not
be necessary or even advisable to
write a plan?(250 words)

Evaluate: Students must Answer

the Guide Questions.

This document is a property of and for the exclusive use of Senor Tesoro College ( STC) , Reproduction,
storing , distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting in any form or by any means ,
electronic , mechanical , photocopying, recording or otherwise of any part of this document , without
the written permission of STC, is strictly prohibited.
 SEÑOR TESORO COLLEGE, INC
Diversion Road, San Miguel
Calasiao,Pangasinan
Email Address: senortesorocollege.2018@gmail.com
(075)522-4928/ (+63)9175035204

Discussion

An Overview of the Business Plan

To answer the questions ot whether or not you should write a business plan, you
will need to first understand its purpose and objectives. Will help you examine the
reasons for writing (or not writing) a business plan for your venture. Then we'll look at
the two basic forms a plan might take.

The Purpose of a Business Plan

There is no one correct formula for a business plan. After all, no sinol plan will
work in all situations. But, in general, a business plan is a document that outlines the
basic concept underlying a business and describes hr that concept will be realized -
specifically, what problem will be solved business plan is an entrepreneur's game plan;
it crystallizes the dreams and hopes that motivate an entrepreneur to take the startup
plunge. The business plan should lay out your basic idea for the venture and include
descriptions of where you are now, where you want to go, and how you intend to get
there. John Mullins, the author of The New Business Road 1est, offers three key
elements that should be in every business plan:

 A logical statement of a problem and its solution,

 A significant amount of cold, hard evidence,
 Candor about the risks, gaps, and other assumptions that might be proved
wrong.

No better words of advice could be given.

David Gumpert, who for years headed up the MIT Enterprise Forum, offers a
concise and practical definition of a business plan, focusing on how it should lead to
action. "It's a document that convincingly demonstrates that your business can sell
enough of its product or service to make a satisfactory profits and to be attractive to
potential backers.

For Gumpert, the business plan is essentially a selling document used to

convince key individuals, both inside and outside the firm, that the venture has real
potential. Equally important, writing a business plan is an opportunity to Convince
yourselt, the entrepreneur, that what appears to be a good idea is also a good
investment opportunity, both financially and in terms of your personal goals, The issue
of your personal aspirations deserves careful thought: If the business does not align
with your personal goals, you are not ike to Succeed and you certainly will not enjoy the
This document is a property of and for the exclusive use of Senor Tesoro College ( STC) , Reproduction,
storing , distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting in any form or by any means ,
electronic , mechanical , photocopying, recording or otherwise of any part of this document , without
the written permission of STC, is strictly prohibited.
 SEÑOR TESORO COLLEGE, INC
Diversion Road, San Miguel
Calasiao,Pangasinan
Email Address: senortesorocollege.2018@gmail.com
(075)522-4928/ (+63)9175035204

journey. So be sure to think about where you want to go in life and the personal costs of
starting a business before becoming immersed in that special business opportunity.

For the entrepreneur starting a new venture, a business plan has three basic
objectives:

1. To identify the nature and the context of the business opportunty that is,
why does such an opportunity exist?
2. To outline the approach, the entrepreneur plans to use to exploit the
opportunity.
3. To recognize factors that will determine whether the venture will be
successful.

Stated differently, a business plan is used to provide a statement of goals

and strategies to be used by company 11siders and to aid in the development of
relationships with outsiders (investors and others) who could help the company
achieve its goals. The first group consists of the internal users of the plan: the
entrepreneur and the new firm's management and employees. The second group
consists of outsiders who are critical to the firm's success: its prospective
customers, suppliers, lenders, and investors. The business plan also goes by
other names, depending on its intended audience. Presented to a banker, it may
be called a "loan proposal". A venture capital group might call it the "venture
plan" or "investment prospectus". Other audiences might be potential partners or
top managers, suppliers and distributors, lawyers, accountants, and consultants.

Do You Really Need a Business Plan?

The justification often used for not writing a business plan goes something
like this. "Companies that start up based on business plans are no more
successful than those that do not." It is true that studies attempting to measure
the success of entrepreneurs with business plans against the success of those
without them have produced mixed results. Some findings suggest a relationship,
others find some. Given what we know about Apple, Calvin Klein, Bench and
other businesses started without business plans, having such a plan is clearly not
an absolute prerequisite for success.

This simply tells us that the business plan is not the business. It may well
be that some entrepreneurs spend hours writing a 60- page business plan with
another 50 pages of appendixes but are not effective at executing the plan. In
This document is a property of and for the exclusive use of Senor Tesoro College ( STC) , Reproduction,
storing , distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting in any form or by any means ,
electronic , mechanical , photocopying, recording or otherwise of any part of this document , without
the written permission of STC, is strictly prohibited.
 SEÑOR TESORO COLLEGE, INC
Diversion Road, San Miguel
Calasiao,Pangasinan
Email Address: senortesorocollege.2018@gmail.com
(075)522-4928/ (+63)9175035204

such cases, we can say confidently that writing the plan wasa waste of time.
What matters is not writing a plan, but implementing it. If the plan is not going to
lead to action, don't bother to write it. Only if you execute the business plan does
it have a reasonable chance of making a difference. Thomas Stemberg, the
founder of Staples, who later became a venture capitalist, says it well:

In my experience, entrepreneur often confuse envisioning what a business will be

with laying the foundation for what it could be. So they dream big dreams and construct
detailed business plans, which is fine. But its nowhere near as important as puting in
place as early as humanly possible the people and systems that will carry them through
their journey, no matter what unexpected directions changing markets or technology
force them to take. O me, business plans are interesting chiefly as indications of how an
entrepreneur thinks. Here at Highland Capital Partners, the venture capital firm Tm part
of now; we spend most of out time talking about what really matters; management' and
markets. If you have the right management team and an exciting market, the rest will
take care of itself.

Thus, an entrepreneur must find the right balance between planning and
becoming operational. No matter how well your plan has been thought out, unexpected
events will happen. One of the key attributes of a successful entrepreneur is
adaptability, regardless of what the business plan says to do. So, it you have to choose
between planning and action, go for action- but its' even better if you can do both. Vinay
Gupta of Ann Arbor, Michigan, spent six months attending conferences, meeting with
consultants, and writing a 60-page business plan before launching an outsourcing
consulting firm for mid-sized businesses.

But soon after he started the business, it became clear that far fewer mid-sized
firms actually sought outsourcing help than his research had suggested. So he
scrapped his original idea and developed outsourcing management software geared
toward companies with annual revenues of more than $1 million. While the planning
helped Gupta learn about the industry, it hadn't pointed out the fundamental flaw in his
original idea there were not enough customers willing to buy his services. The benefits
of a business plan also depend on the individual circumstances surrounding the startup.

Consider the following possibilities:

 For some startups, the environment is too turbulent for extensive planning
to be beneficial. Entrepreneurs in new fields may find that there is not
enough information to allow them to write a comprehensive plan. In this

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storing , distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting in any form or by any means ,
electronic , mechanical , photocopying, recording or otherwise of any part of this document , without
the written permission of STC, is strictly prohibited.
 SEÑOR TESORO COLLEGE, INC
Diversion Road, San Miguel
Calasiao,Pangasinan
Email Address: senortesorocollege.2018@gmail.com
(075)522-4928/ (+63)9175035204

instance, an entrepreneur's ability to adapt may be more important than a

careful plan for the future.
 Planning may also pose a problem when the timing of the opportunity a a
critical factor. In some cases, becoming operational as quick possible may
have to take priority over in-depth planning, but be as careful not to use
timing as an easy excuse not to write a business plan. .
 A business may also be so constrained by a shortage of capital that
planning is not an option. In a study of firms identified capital -magazine
as the fastest-growing firms in the United States, Amar Bhide concluded
that a lack of planning may make sense for some companies. "Capital-
constrained entrepreneurs cannot afford to do much prior analysis and
research. The limited profit potential and high uncertainty of the
opportunity they usually pursue also make the benefits low compared to
the costs.

Writing a detailed business plan is not a guarantee of success, but most

entrepreneurs need the discipline that comes with the process. The path of an
enterprise started without adequate preparation tends to be haphazard. In the words of
Thomas Carlyle, the Scottish mathematician and writer, "Nothing is more terrible than
activity without insight." This is particularly true for a complex proc3ess like initiating a
new business.

Although planning is a mental process, it should go beyond the realm of

speculation. Thinking about a proposed new business must be more thorough for rough
ideas to come together. A written plan based on good research helps to ensure the
necessary systematic and complete coverage of factors important in starting a new
business. Frank Moyes, a successful entrepreneur who for many years has taught
courses on business planning at the University of Colorado, offers the following
observation:

Perhaps the most important reason to write a business plans is that it requires
you to engage in a rigoro1us, thoughtful and often painful process that is essential
before you start a venture. It requires you to answer hard questions about your venture.
Why is there a need for your product/service? Whom is your target market? How is your
product/service different than your competitor ? What is your competitive advantage?
How profitable is the business and what to are the cash flows? How should you fund the
business?

So the business plan becomes a model that helps the entrepreneur and the
management team focus on important issues and activities or the new venture.
This document is a property of and for the exclusive use of Senor Tesoro College ( STC) , Reproduction,
storing , distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting in any form or by any means ,
electronic , mechanical , photocopying, recording or otherwise of any part of this document , without
the written permission of STC, is strictly prohibited.
 SEÑOR TESORO COLLEGE, INC
Diversion Road, San Miguel
Calasiao,Pangasinan
Email Address: senortesorocollege.2018@gmail.com
(075)522-4928/ (+63)9175035204

How Much Planning?

For most entrepreneurs, the issue is not whether to business plan but how to
engage in effective planning, given the situation. Prepare a As already observed,
different situations lead to different needs and, situation. thus, to different levels of
planning.

The issue, then, goes beyond answering the question "Do I plan?" It is more
about deciding how much to plan. At the extremes an entrepreneur has two basic
choices when it comes to writing a business plan: the dehydrated plan or the
comprehensive plan.

The Dehydrated Plan

As noted earlier, extensive planning may be of limited value when there is a great
amount of uncertainty in the environment or when timing is a critical factor in capturing
an opportunity. A dehydrated plan is a short form of a business plan, presenting only the
most important issues and projections for the business. Focusing heavily on market
issues, such as pricing competition, and distribution channels, the dehydrated plan
provides little in the way of supporting information.

This type of plan will often be adequate for seeking outside financing from banks,
especially if it includes past and projected financial results. In fact, it is so rare for an
entrepreneur to provide any form of a plan when requesting a loan that a dehydrated
plan will probably make a favorable impression on a banker. Furthermore, a dehydrated
plan may be helpful in trying to gauge investor interest and to determine whether writing
a full-length plan would be worth the time and effort.

The Comprehensive Plan

When entrepreneurs and investors speak of a business plan, they are usually
referring to a comprehensive plan, a full business plan that provides an in-depth
analysis of the critical factors that will determine a firm's success or failure, along with all
the underlying assumptions. Such a plan is beneficial when you are describing a new
opportunity (startup), facing significant change in the business or the external
environment (changing demographics, new legislation, developing industry trends), or
explaining a complex business situation.

Why Write a Business Plan?

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 SEÑOR TESORO COLLEGE, INC
Diversion Road, San Miguel
Calasiao,Pangasinan
Email Address: senortesorocollege.2018@gmail.com
(075)522-4928/ (+63)9175035204

Arguments can be made for and against writing a business plan. However, if the
new venture is looking for financing from an outside source, it must have a plan. Writing
a plan is not without its costs and sacrifices, but Overall, the benefits far outweigh the
costs.

The Costs of Planning

Entrepreneurs are often characterized as "doers", individuals who prefer action

to planning and who let their deeds speak for themselves. One of the costs of writing a
business plan is that the entrepreneurs must sit still long enough to do it. Hiring
someone to write the plan is not an acceptable substitute; entrepreneurs should
undertake the task personally. Although outsiders - consultants, accountants, and
lawyers - should be tapped for their advice and expertise, the founder or the initial top
management team should be responsible for the writing. By personally writing the plan,
the entrepreneurs ensure that they are familiar with all the details, for they will have to
make decisions about the new venture and the responsible for those decisions.
Moreover, investors expect the founders to be involved in and knowledgeable about the
proposed enterprise.

Developing and writing the plan takes time, money and energy. In launching the
new venture, the entrepreneurial team may believe that actually working in the business
is the best use of these resources. For short periods of time, that may be true. Over the
long haul, though, the new venture team is the most valuable, rare, and unique resource
the company has. The task of the entrepreneur. is the task of the leader. The leader is
the architect of organizational purpose.

The venture is created to achieve the vision of the entrepreneur. The best use of the
entrepreneur's time and energy, therefore in creating, refining, and pursuing that vision.
Because every business plan must deal with economic uncertainty and the risks that the
firm faces, one of the costs of writing a business P is the psychological strain of
admitting everything that can go wrong Entrepreneurs are optimists, and they believe in
the power of their own efforts. They believe they will succeed. The serious business
plan, however, the possibilities that can lead to failure.

The Benefits of Business Planning

The business plan can personally benefit the entrepreneurial team. Founding a
new business can be enormously fulfilling and exhilarating, but it is also an anxiety-
ridden and tense experience. Usually a great deal of money is at stake, and the
consequences of poor decisions can affect many people for a long time. In developing
and writing a business plan, the entrepreneurial team reduces these anxieties and
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storing , distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting in any form or by any means ,
electronic , mechanical , photocopying, recording or otherwise of any part of this document , without
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 SEÑOR TESORO COLLEGE, INC
Diversion Road, San Miguel
Calasiao,Pangasinan
Email Address: senortesorocollege.2018@gmail.com
(075)522-4928/ (+63)9175035204

tensions by confronting them. By projecting the risks of the new venture into the future,
the team comes to grips with potential negative outcomes and the possibility of failure.
The knowledge that comes from this experience can reduce the fear of facing an
unknown future.

Conflicts

Also on a personal level, the entrepreneur is potentially in conflict with the new
business demands that he or she may find imposing. The entrepreneur may desire
wealth and increased income, high esteem, a period of stability once the venture is off
the ground, or more time for leisure and recreation. Each of these motivations, however,
is impeded by the demands of the organization.

Planning and Performance.

The firm also benefits from the planning process. Research shows there is a
positive relationship between planning and performance in new and small firms. That
is, firms that plan perform better are more likely to succeed than firms that do not. There
are our reasons why this is so.

1. Comprehensiveness. The business plan has to fully and completely Cha

treat all the major issues facing the new venture. It should leave nothing of importance
out..

2. Communication. The business plan is a document for communicating to

various audiences the business s concept and potential.

3. Guidance. The business plan sets goals and milestones for the new
venture. It lays out the intentions or the entrepreneurial team and the values the
founders wish to preserve in their organization. Therefore, the plan can be referred to
repeatedly to guide decisions of the firm's managers and employees.

4. The planning process. The process of putting together a business plan,

consulting it frequently, and reviewing and revising it periodically can improve the
venture's performance even though some aspects of the plan may become obsolete
before the ink is dry. This improvement is brought about by collecting information,
sharing analysis, developing norms for decision making within the organization, publicly
enunciating the values of the organization's leaders, reviewing objectives and linking
these with action - all elements of highly effective organizations.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS

This document is a property of and for the exclusive use of Senor Tesoro College ( STC) , Reproduction,
storing , distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting in any form or by any means ,
electronic , mechanical , photocopying, recording or otherwise of any part of this document , without
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 SEÑOR TESORO COLLEGE, INC
Diversion Road, San Miguel
Calasiao,Pangasinan
Email Address: senortesorocollege.2018@gmail.com
(075)522-4928/ (+63)9175035204

Participation in discussion at the beginning of each module during google meet, video
chat or messenger chat or by writing opinions, experiences, observations and
reflections.

EVALUATIVE ASSESSMENTS

Quizzes, Individual Activities and Exams

1. Describe what entrepreneurs mean when they talk about a business plan.(250 words)

2. When should you write a business plan? When might it not be necessary or even
advisable to write a plan?(250 words)

Technological Tools

Social networking thru messenger, google classroom, online teaching, class blogs and
wikis, podcasting, interactive whiteboards, and mobile devices like Desktop, Laptop, Wi-
Fi connection.

Grading System

Midterm Grade

Final Grade

References

Flores, M (2017). Business Plan. OBE Approach. Unlimited Books Library Services and
Publishing.

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storing , distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting in any form or by any means ,
electronic , mechanical , photocopying, recording or otherwise of any part of this document , without
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