Who Needs a Business Plan? YOU, if you’re: …running a business. A business plan is like a map. Without it you don’t know where you’re going, and you won’t know when you get there! With a plan, you have goals, objectives, and priorities to guide your decision-making.

Who Needs a Business Plan? YOU, if you’re: …applying for a financial loan. Banks and lenders expect to see a summary of your plans, and if you are applying for a large loan, or if you have little experience, they will want many details about your planned business.

Who Needs a Business Plan? YOU, if you’re: …going to have partners. The plan defines the agreements between partners and the expectations of “who” will be responsible for “what.”

Who Needs a Business Plan? YOU, if you’re: …going to have employees who need to understand the businesses’ goals. The plan provides a blueprint for everyone to work by and to use in making decisions.

Your Assignment Identify a business that you would like to start within Raleigh. The following slides will be used as a template for your plan, and include the things you need to research and include in your business preparations.

[Company Name] Business Plan

Mission Statement A clear statement of your company’s long-term mission. Try to use words that will help direct the growth of your company, but be as concise as possible.

The Team List CEO and key management by name Include previous accomplishments to show that these are people with a record of success Summarize number of years of experience in this field

Market Summary This includes: A description of the area that you will be placing your business. A description of your target market demographics. A description of your current competition and anticipated future competition.

Opportunities Problems and opportunities State consumer problems (why do they need your product or service), and define the nature of product/service opportunities that are created by those problems.

Business Concept Summarize the key technology, concept, or strategy on which your business is based

Competition Summarize competition Outline your company’s competitive advantage

Goals & Objectives Five-year goals State specific, measurable objectives. State market share objectives. (What percent of the market do you think you’ll have with wise management of your business. State revenue/profitability objectives. (Based on the cost of renting real estate for your business, costs of employees, costs of your product, and other business costs, how much do you expect to earn in the first five years?)

Financial Plan In a real business plan, you would include the details of your finances, but due to our limited time for research, we will skip this step in the EBT final project.

Resource Requirements Technology requirements Personnel requirements Resource requirements Financial, distribution, promotional, etc. External requirements Products, services, technologies that must be purchased outside the company (for example web design, Certified Public Accountant, legal assistance, etc.)

Risks & Rewards Risks Summarize risks of proposed project Addressing risks Summarize how risks will be addressed Rewards Estimate expected pay-off, particularly if seeking funding

Key Issues (EBT project will skip this step also) Near term List major decisions and “issues” that need to be addressed soon. Long term Isolate issues needing long-term resolution. State consequences of decision postponement. If you are seeking funding, state specifics

Sources used in developing this presentation: Who needs a Business Plan by Tim Berry. Microsoft Office Business Plan Template.

How will you do this?: Brainstorm with your classmates, with your parents, and with other adults in your life – especially those who are entrepreneurs or are business owners. Research costs and other items on the internet.