Business Plan Basics

By Amy Demchak

Getting Started

• Assign employees to work on business plan

– Executive Officers and possibly a few support staff

from the sales/financial departments

• CEO responsibilities

– Create a Google Doc

– Use the VE Written Business Plan Rubric to list all parts

of the business plan

– Assign an employee to each part

– Print Gotham Enterprises example,

available on Portal

Deadlines

• Assign due date for rough drafts

– Allow yourself 1-2 days to read and make comments

– Grade rough drafts taking points off for late

submittals

• Assign due date for final draft that is 2-3 days

prior to VE submittal date

– Grade final drafts taking points off for late submittals

Business Plan Components

• Cover Page

• Table of Contents

• Executive Summary

• Company Summary

• External Environment

• Marketing Plan

• Financial Plan

• Appendix – bank statement, contracts with non-virtual entities, loan amortization, works cited or notes

Optional Additional Components – not required in rubric

• Technology Plan

– Web Plan Summary

– Website Description

– Innovation Research

• Corporate Social Responsibility

Document Format

• 12 point font

• 1 ½ or double spaced

• 20 pages maximum

• Cover page, table of contents, executive summary, and appendix items with up to 5 additional pages of supporting documents will not count towards 20 page limit

• All required financial statements included in 20 page limit

Cover Page

• Branding

• Visually appealing

• Business name and logo

• Optional – address, phone, website, email

Executive Summary

• Overview of plan

– Mission

– Product/service offerings

– Growth goals

– Company strengths

– Financial highlights

• Creative & enticing – tell the story of your

company; engage the reader

Example:

Example:

Company Summary

• Company Overview

– Business description, industry, legal description, location, history (existing company)

• Mission Statement

• Management Functions

– Planning

– Organizing

– Directing

– Controlling

• SWOT Analysis

External Environment

• Economic conditions – employment levels, interest

rates, GDP, inflation/deflation, balance of trade,

exchange rates, etc.

• Industry analysis – real and virtual

– Number of competitors

– Projected profitability/demand

– Financial condition of prospective customers

• Competitive analysis – real and virtual

Marketing Plan

• Target market & market segmentation

– Demographics, geography, psychographics, benefits,

etc.

• Marketing mix

– Product, price, placement, promotion, positioning

• Discussion of business risks

– Identify risks and develop strategies for dealing with

risks

Example:

Example:

Financial Plan

• Break-even analysis

• Income statement

• Balance sheet

• Cash budget

• Financial summary

• Include footnotes explaining assumptions made

and/or methods used

Sales Projections Example

Financial Indicators Example (Helios: Solar Industry Firm)

Feasibility – bonus points

• I would invest in this company (5 pts)

• I would consider investing but need more detail

or further development (2 pts)

• I would not invest in this company (0 pts)

Visuals

• Color scheme – branding

• Borders

• Logo

• Charts/graphs

• Tables

• Maps

Questions?