Using sample business plans and their structure, along with studying as many business plan examples as you can, will provide you with the necessary framework to consider your business from every possible angle.

Starting or running your business without a business plan is akin to being a human without a skeleton!

Not only will using a sample structure highlight any areas you haven’t fully thought through, but it will also provide you with a good idea of what makes a good business plan, and what doesn’t.

The importance of your business plan as a motivational factor in running or starting your business cannot be underestimated. You will find that your commitment continues to build as you collect information, research and write each section.

Your business plan should always accompany requests for Small Business Loans , and lenders or any kind of angel investor will simply refuse to consider your business proposal without one.

Lenders and investors want to see your plan with the aim of satisfying key questions before they make their decision to grant funding or not.

Once you’ve commenced trading your small business plan will act as a steak in the ground, and help you measure where you expected to be against where you actually are. It will help you take corrective action as necessary.

Sample Business Plan Structure

All plans should include at least the elements listed below, and perhaps additional sections depending on the type of industry.

Executive Summary
Company Background
Products or Service Overview
Unique Selling Proposition and competitive advantages
The Marketplace
Operations
Leadership and management profiles including professional competencies
Professional Support
Risks and Threats assessment
Financial forecasts including key assumptions
Relevant appendices

Collecting the information for all the sections is time consuming and sometimes difficult. The business section of your local library is always a good place to start research. Ask your friendly librarian about how to look up market research reports, and how to investigate competitors.

If you are not familiar with spreadsheet software, constructing the necessary financial forecasts represents a significant hurdle. You have 2 choices:

Pay someone to put part or all of the plan together for you, or a small investment in some business planning software.

The advantage of using a professional is you will receive the benefits of their experience, combined with a professional looking plan.

The disadvantage is that it won’t be easy to make changes, and more importantly, because you will not have been as involved in its preparation, you won’t be as familiar with its contents as you should be. Make sure to learn the contents well.

One final tip though, remember it’s the quality of the information you put into it that determines what comes out.

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Business planning help is help that is structured to help your business in any way that you need it. It can help you to get your ideas worked out. It can help you to find the legal aspects of your business and take care of them. It can even help you make decisions that you are too close to making. Business planning help is a resource that will allow you to move forward without moving back first. That is something that many individuals struggle with.

So, where can you find the business planning help that you need?

? One of the best methods for getting the business planning help that you need is to contact an attorney. Yes, this may be more expensive, but when it comes to setting up and running your business, having someone with a legal edge to it may make it go much more smoothly. Even if you just get some solid advice from them, take advantage of them.

? Don’t forget your software. There are many software programs and applications available to the new business owner. They can do just about every aspect of your planning needs. They will help you get your ideas down, help you to get your ideas moving and allow you to track how well you are doing throughout. Legal, accounting as well as idea management is all included in this type of business planning help.

? Turn to those that you know and trust. There is no better teacher than experience. If you know someone that has begun their own business from the ground as you are doing, in any field, you may want to talk to them. Find out what they did and what they didn’t. Most importantly, find out what mistakes they made and learned from so that you do not go through those same problems yourself.

Business planning help is also available throughout the web a well. Get focused and get motivated to finding and implementing your business plan.

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Ok… so you’ve finally reached that stage in the development of your home business to get started. You’ve done the research, you have a game plan and you’re ready to go except for one small detail… you need money. Whether it comes from a loan or from investors it doesn’t matter but you need a good dose of seed money to put all your hard work and planning into action. However, regardless of who hears your money pitch before they give you a dime they will want see your business plan.

Business Plan – What Is It?
A good way to think of a business plan is that’s it’s a document that provide answers to the type of questions anyone who may provide financing would like to know about your home business. You will not get outside funding without one, because the people giving you the funding will insist on one because it helps them to know that you’ve thought through what you’re proposing to do. A business plan says to them… “I’ve considered this from every angle, and here’s what I’ve come up with”.

Business Plan – What Does It Include?
What is your product or service? This is the first question every business plan should answer. You must explain in the clear, concise language what in the world you plan to produce or what service you plan to provide. You will also want to include why you’ve chosen this particular product or service.

Who are Your Customers? After you’ve explained your product or service, the next step is to identify who you plan to sell your product or service too and why. The demographics (age, sex, language, country, state or city, income, etc.) You need to clearly identify your customers in order to properly target your advertising, packaging, pricing, et.

What Makes You Different? You need to identify the “primary factors” that will make your business different than other businesses you’ll be competing with. What niche are you filling that they are not or what do you plan to do to fill a particular void in the market that you’ve identified?

What are Your Expenses? Your start-up expenses include any equipment that you need before you can get up-and-running, while your day-to-day expenses are staff costs and supplies.

Following is a Simplified Example of Business Plan
This a a simplified and shortened version of a business plan. In the real world… each one of the following sections would be 1 – 2 pages in length. That being said… in most instances it’s better to be as brief as possible. Only add information if your potential backers request it. It’s a bad idea to go into too much detail in your plan. You’re not trying to explain everything down to the nth detail, just the basics of the business and why they should give you the money you need to launch it. And always focus on profit.

Catering Plus
Nature of Business: The business will be a home-based catering company, producing luxury food for special occasions such as birthdays and weddings. We will provide a comprehensive catering service, while specializing in high end customized cakes, which have a higher profit margin than other foods.

Target Market: Our catering business will be aimed at middle-class customers who desire a top-of-the-line catering but must operate on a budget. Our initial market area will consist of Mytown and the affluent area of Theretown.

Key Factors: We will only use commerical grade ingredients purchased from wholesalers and provide top quality design and service. This will allow us to provide food that looks tastes great, while keeping costs as low as possible.

Expenses: Beause I will be using my kitchen and making the food myself, there are only two real expenses: The purchase of an industrial grade mixer and then the day-to-day cost of supplies. I’ve attached a suppliers’ letter listing prices. Our research has shown that this supplier offers the best value for start-ups.

To wrap it up, you should include a breakdown of both projected profit and loss per month (in graph form)for the first year in business. Show one-time and day-to-day expenses versus projected profit to indicate how you will pay-off your loan. Your business plan should show you making enough of a profit each month to live on ? if it doesn’t, then it may be considered unfeasible.

Study a Few Real-World Business Plans
The best way to get a real a feel for the dos and do nots of a business plans is to find real-world plans that have already been approved and study them. A good place to start is the internet. Once you’ve studied a few, you will get a better feel for how much work will be involved in putting your business plan together. Remember, until your business exists for real, the business plan is the only tool you have to sell prospective backers on how great your business is going to be.

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A business plan is a management tool. Do you need a business plan? Yes if you:

You Need To Decide Whether To Start A Business.

This plan will help you improve your chances for success and avoid making serious mistakes. You may be the only one who reads this plan, although you should have input from a number of other people with business experience. You need to ask yourself the following questions and incorporate the answers in your business plan:

? What does it take to succeed in this type of company?

? Do you have the skills and background necessary?

? Can you afford to take the risk? What effect would the business’ failure have on you?

? What is the growth potential for the business? Can it meet your financial expectations and requirements?

? Is there a large enough market for your products/services?

? Will you enjoy owning and managing the business?

A business plan is an important ingredient to the success of a start-up business.

You Want to Jump Start Your Business

Whether you’re an entrepreneur doing business on the Internet, a stay-at-home Mom with an arts and crafts company, or a writer trying to break into publishing, a business plan acts as a guide to success. Developing your business plan helps determine your objectives and focuses you on the strategies and action plans necessary to accomplish those objectives.

If you’re looking to boost your business it’s time to answer a few questions in your business plan.

?What are your skill levels and talents?

?What are goals for each month’s sales?

?What are your resources, time available, advertising and promotional budget, website?

?Do you have the necessary equipment? If you don’t, how will you obtain the equipment?

?What barriers do you face?

You Want To Better Organize Your Company or Improve Its Operations.

This is a time and task oriented plan for use internally. It suggests actions that need to be taken and assigns responsibility. Questions that need to be answered:

?How does our company compare to leaders in its industry?

?What are our management weaknesses? How can we make improvements?

?How can we increase sales, serve the customer better, improve manufacturing efficiency, increase the gross margin?

?Do we have the necessary resources to make the above improvements? If not how will we obtain the resources? Do we need a bank loan or line of credit?

You Are Seeking A Bank Loan.

This plan is used to inspire confidence in your banker and convince her/him that your business is a good credit risk. It is written very logically, with an emphasis on the financial projections and presentation of historical financial results. Bankers who make bad loans get fired, so they like to err on the side of caution. A banker is looking for safety and a demonstration that the company can generate sufficient cash flow to pay the interest and the principal. Bankers are not looking for a huge return on their money. They don’t want to take part in the management of your company or sit on the board of directors. Your business plan will need answers to these questions:

? Will the company’s cash flow be stable enough to make the payments on the loan?

? Are the long term prospects of the business favorable?

? Does the company have a reasonably good track record?

You Need An Investor/Partner.

The plan must demonstrate considerable upside potential for the business. The banker was content to get his money back plus, say 10% interest. The investor may want a return of 30% to 50% or more. This plan must be written in an interesting manner and keep the reader’s attention. Your business plan is competing with all the other plans submitted to the investor. Make sure you address the following questions:

? Can the company grow rapidly?

? Are the margins attractive?

? Have you succeeded in other business ventures?

? Is this a market that is emerging, with a large and bright future?

? How much of the company are you willing to give up, both in equity and management control?

You Want To Sell Your Business

You must prove to a potential buyer that your company is worth paying a premium for. Sometimes this can be called a marketing presentation, offering memorandum, or valuation. It is not strictly a valuation, as you are trying to establish your sales price for the business, not determine a value. Usually a valuation is completed by an objective third party. You’re likely to be asked:

? Is there untapped potential for the business that a new owner could take advantage of?

? If the new owner had more capital, could the business grow more rapidly?

? Are there new markets that could be entered?

? Could costs be reduced and therefore profits increased?

Every business should have a business plan. It’s the road map to success. But a well thought out business plan is critical if your company is seeking financing.

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Budgeting, goal setting, business planning – all are business objectives in the fourth quarter of the year. As businesses plan for 2006, I’d like to challenge all decision makers to not only think about the big-picture changes they want to make, but to also add one more item to the list – real estate.
Whether your organization owns it or leases it, let us challenge you to make your corporate real estate a top priority next year. more…

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