REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN

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Peace-Work-Fatherland Paix – Travail – Patrie
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UNIVERSITE DE BAMENDA THE UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA

HIGHER INSTITUTE OF COMMERCE AND MANAGEMENT (HICM)

(The Business and Entrepreneurial School)
Director: Prof. Njimanted Godfrey Forgha
Deputy Director: Prof. Vukenkeng Andrew Wujung
Director of Studies: Prof. Visemih William Muffee
Secretary General: Dr. Adig Mathias

FORMAT FOR WRITING A BUSINESS PLAN IN HICM

A. INTRODUCTION
What Is a Business Plan?
A business plan is a written document that explains in detail what the business idea is all
about, what the company's objectives are and how the entrepreneur plans to achieve its
goals. A business plan lays out a written road map for the company from marketing right
up to the financial standpoints.

HICM is a Business School with the objective of training professionals who will in the
future contribute toward the economic development of the country. These young
professionals are expected to be job creators after graduation and not job seekers. To
facilitate this, HICM came up with the ideal of encouraging students to think of a business
idea which they can execute and set up their own business company after graduation and
then write a Business Plan to show the feasibility of the Business Idea. To ensure this is
accomplished, the students are expected to write a Business Plan which is defended before
a jury upon which a component of the evaluation is done.

B. BASIS OF EVALUATION

The Business Plans written by students will be evaluated as follows:

SN ACTIVITY EVALUATION
1 Presentation and Assessment by a Jury 40 %
2 Content Of The Business Plan 60 %

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 C. Layout of the BUSINESS PLAN
1. PRELIMINARY PAGES
 COVER PAGE: The title can read “A BUSINESS PLAN ON POULTRY FARMING IN
BAFUT MEZAM DIVISION, NORTHWEST REGION OF CAMEROON”. The cover
page should also contain The Name of the business; The Owner /Owners The Contact
Details (Addresses, Phone & email etc)
 DECLARATION PAGE
 CERTIFICATION PAGE: To be signed by the Academic Supervisor and HOD or HOS
 DEDICATION PAGE: Dedicate to one person. No justification to that effect
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PAGE: Acknowledging the contributions of all those who
made the Business Plan writing a reality. It should be written in descending order of
contribution.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS: should contain the titles and subtitles and their page numbers.
 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS: All the abbreviations and acronyms used
should be indicated here and written in full.
2. THE BODY OF THE BUSINESS PLAN
The Business Plan should be written following the headings below;
I. THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
While appearing first in the business plan, the executive summary is a section that is usually
written last as it is a summary of the entire business plan. It provides an overview of your
business including your mission statement and details about what you offer. It's critical that
your executive summary is outstanding, especially if you're seeking funding. Summary of cost
and return should be presented to show ability to make money.
II. COMPANY VALUE
In this section, you should be providing information on the different company value you will
implement in your company, what principles of business ethics will you put in place to ensure
that your company has a good public image?
III. THE BUSINESS DESCRIPTION
Here, you should provide information about the business you are about starting, including what
sort of problem your product or service solves, and who the most likely buyer is. Provide an
overview of the industry that your business will be a part of, including trends, major players in
the industry, and estimated industry sales. This business overview section should also provide a
summary of your business's place within the industry, along with your or your team's expertise
as well as your competitive advantage.
IV. MARKET ANALYSIS
The market analysis is a crucial section of your business plan, as it helps you identify your best
customers or clients. In the market analysis, bring out the primary target market for your
product or service, including geographic location, demographics, your target market's needs and
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how these needs are currently being met. In a nutshell, in this section, you should clearly define
who your target customers are, where you will find them? how you will reach them? and, most
importantly, how you will deliver your product or service to them?. Summarily, you need to
provide a deep analysis of your ideal customer and how your business provides a solution for
them.
V. COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
In the competitive analysis section, you will be explaining who your direct and indirect
competitors are in the marketplace, with an assessment of their competitive advantage and how
you will make your business different from them. It also includes an analysis of how you will
overcome any entry barriers to your chosen market. You will also need to tell the reader how
you will distinguish your business from that of your competitor
VI. SALES AND MARKETING ANALYSIS
The sales and marketing section offers a detailed explanation of your sales strategies, pricing
plan, proposed advertising and promotion activities, and product or service's benefits. This is
where you will need to outline your business's unique selling proposition; describe how you are
going to get your goods and/or services to the market, and how you are going to persuade
people to buy them.
VII. OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS
This section gives an outline of your business's legal structure and management resources,
including your internal management team, external management resources, and human
resources needs. Before anyone invests in your business, they want a complete understanding of
the potential investment. This section should illustrate how your business is organized. It should
list key members of the management team, the founders/owners, board members, advisors, etc.
As you list each individual, provide a summary of their experience and their role within your
company.
VIII. OPERATING ANALYSIS
The operating plan gives information on how your business will be run. This section discusses
the location of your business, as well as required equipment or critical facilities needed to make
your products. Some companies – depending on their business type – may also need to detail
their inventory needs, including information about suppliers.
IX. FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
This is one of the most crucial sections of your business plan. Starting a business is generally
about making a profit, and so having a solid sense of your current finances, funding needs, as
well as projected income is important. The financial plan should include a detailed overview of
your finances. At the very least, you should include cash flow statements, and profit and loss
projections, over the next three to five years. Due to the importance of this section, all the
students should follow the template of financial projection attached below to do an in-depth
financial analysis of their business.
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X. MILSTONE SCHEDULE SEGMENTS OR ACTIVITY ANALYSIS
Here, you are to bring out the various activities of your business, when you plan to execute
them, how you will execute them, who will execute them and the various resources that will be
needed for these activities to be executed. Follow this template to do that:
SN Activity When Where Whom Resource
Needed

XI. SWOT ANALYSIS

The SWOT analysis is all about analyzing you strength, your weaknesses, the opportunities in
your business environment as well as the threats in your business environment. Complete
information; positive and negative, internal and external are very important for every
entrepreneur so that they can hold on their strength, improve on their weaknesses, combat the
possible threats and exploit the opportunities in the right moment by preparing the right
strategies.
Strengths all those internal factors that gives your company an important capability and a
leading edge over the other companies. Weaknesses are the internal factors that can bring about
the downfall of the company. They are your shortcomings which you need to improve upon.
Opportunities are those factors in the external environment that are considered favorable
which you can explore for the growth of the business and Threats are those factors in the
external environment which are hostile to the organization. These factors can cause the
downfall of the company. You should anticipate such possible threats and prepare its strategies
in such a manner that any such threat is neutralized.
XII. CRITICAL RISK ANALYSIS
Here you are expected to analysis the risk associate to your business, the environmental factors
that pose as risks to your business and explain strategies put in place to counteract these risks.
XIII. CONTIGENCY PLAN
Here, you should be able to tell us what your ‘Plan B’ is all about in case what you plan above
does not work according to expectation.
XIV. APPENDICES AND EXHIBITS
In addition to the sections outlined above, at the end of your business plan, include any
additional information that will help establish the credibility of your business idea, such as
marketing studies, photographs of your product etc

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 TEMPLATE FOR FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS
Table 1: Start-Up Expenses

Fixed Assets Amount Depreciation(Years) Notes

Real Estate-Land
Real Estate-Buildings
Leasehold Improvements
Equipment
Furniture and Fixtures
Vehicles
Other
Total Fixed Assets
Table 2: Operating Capital
Operating Capital Amount Notes
Pre-Opening Salaries and Wages
Prepaid Insurance Premiums
Inventory
Legal and Accounting Fees
Rent Deposits
Utility Deposits
Supplies
Advertising and Promotions
Licenses
Other Initial Start-Up Costs
Working Capital (Cash On Hand)
Total Operating Capital
Total Required Funds
Table 3: Sources of Capital
Monthly
Sources of Funding Percentage Totals Payments Notes
Owner's Equity
Outside Investors
Additional Loans or Debt
Commercial Loan
Commercial Mortgage
Credit Card Debt
Vehicle Loans
Other Bank Debt
Total Sources of Funding
Total Funding Needed

Table 4: Payroll
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 JA MA AP MA JU JU SE OC NO DE
N Feb R R Y N L AUG P T V C
Employee Type
Owner(s)
Full-Time Employees
Part-Time Employees
Independent
Contractors
Total Salaries and
Wages

Payroll Taxes and

Benefits
Social Security
Medicare
Worker's
Compensation
Employee Health
Insurance
Total Payroll Taxes
and Benefits

Total Salaries and

Related Expenses
Table 5: Sales Forecast
Ja Ma Ju Au Se No
n Feb Mar Apr y n Jul g p Oct v Dec
Product
1 Quantity
2 Quantity
3 Quantity
1 Price/u
2 Price/u
3 Price/u
1 total
2 total
3 total
1 cost of goods sold
2 cost o goods sold
3 cost of goods sold
1 margin
2 Margin
3 Margin
Total Margin

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Table 6: Operating Expenses
Ja Fe Ma Ma Ju Au Se No
n b r Apr y n Jul g p Oct v Dec
Expenses
Advertising
Contract Labour (Not included in payroll)
Insurance (other than health)
Legal and Professional Services
Licenses
Office Expense
Rent or Lease -- Vehicles, Machinery,
Equipment
Rent or Lease -- Other Business Property
Repairs and Maintenance
Supplies
Utilities
Miscellaneous
Total Expenses
Table 7: Cash Flow
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Beginning Balance
Cash Inflows
Cash Sales
Accounts Receivable
Total Cash Inflows

Cash Outflows
Investing Activities
New Fixed Asset Purchases
Additional Inventory
Cost of Goods Sold
Operating Activities
Operating Expenses
Payroll
Taxes
Financing Activities
Loan Payments
Owners Distribution
Line of Credit Interest
Line of Credit Repayments
Dividends Paid
Total Cash Outflows
Net Cash Flows

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Operating Cash Balance
Line of Credit Drawdown
Ending Cash Balance
Line of Credit Balance
Table 8: Projected Profit / Loss Statement
Ja Apri Ma Jun Jul Au Sep Oc No De
n Feb March l y e y g t t v c
Revenue(Sales)
(Products 1, 2, 3)
Less Cost of Goods Sold
(product 1,2,3)
Gross Margin
Gross Margin % (Gross
Margin/Sales)
Less operating expenses
-Selling Expenses
-General Expenses
-Administrative Expenses
Operating Profit (EBITDA)
Less Depreciation and
Amortisation
Operating Profit 2 (EBIT)
Less Interest on Loans
Profit Before Taxes
Less Taxes
Net Income/Net Loss
Table 9: Projected Balance Sheet
Ma Ju
Jan Feb r Apr May Jun l Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
ASSETS
Current Assets
Cash
Accounts Receivable
Inventory
Prepaid Expenses
Other Initial Costs
Total Current Assets

Fixed Assets
Real Estate -- Land
Real Estate -- Buildings
Leasehold Improvements
Equipment
Furniture and Fixtures
Vehicles
Other
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 Total Fixed Assets
(Less Accumulated
Depreciation)
Total Assets

LIABILITIES &
EQUITY
Liabilities
Accounts Payable
Commercial Loan Balance
Commercial Mortgage
Balance
Credit Card Debt Balance
Vehicle Loans Balance
Other Bank Debt Balance
Line of Credit Balance
Total Liabilities
Equity
Common Stock
Retained Earnings
Dividends
Dispersed/Owners Draw
Total Equity
Total Liabilities and
Equity
Table 10: Break-Even Analysis
Gross Margin % of Sales
Gross Margin
Total Sales
Gross Margin/Total Sales (%)
Total Fixed Expenses

Payroll

Operating Expenses
Operating + Payroll

Gross Margin % of Sales

Total Fixed Expenses

Monthly Breakeven Amount

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 Table 11: Financial Performance METRICS
Ja Ap Ma Ju Au Se Oc De
n Feb Mar r y Jun l g p t Nov c
Ratios
Liquidity
Current Ratio
Quick Ratio
Safety
Debt to Equity Ratio
Debt-Service Coverage
Ratio - DSCR
Profitability
Sales Growth
COGS to Sales
Gross Profit Margin
SG&A to Sales
Net Profit Margin
Return on Equity (ROE)
Return on Assets
Owner's Compensation to
Sales
Efficiency
Days in Receivables
Accounts Receivable
Turnover
Days in Inventory
Inventory Turnover
Sales to Total Assets

3. The Appearance of Your Business Plan

The business plan is a formal document, so it should look like one. Every aspect of your
business plan should impress your potential funding source.
Pay attention to margins and formatting; make sure it's spell checked and grammatically sound.
Let your copies to be submitted for evaluation be professionally printed and bound. As always,
looking successful is half the battle.
Your business plan should follow this format;
Front size: 14
Spacing: 1.5
Front Type: Times New Roman

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