Business Plan Writing By:  Faridath DIBOUSSE  Sylvia ABUDEI  Yoshiko ISOBE  Yingchao SHEN

Section 1 Organizational Steps

View Samples of Business Plans  Viewing good business plan samples help to get a general idea of how to write a business plan  View samples that are related to the market your adhering to  Sample Links: Canada BusinessSmall Business BC Business PlansUniversity of Calgary

 Know the entrepreneur’s goal and objectives  Set a time table that the process should be according to  Know your potential readers (i.e. investors, bankers, government officials)  Determine who needs to be involved in the process and their level of participation Organize the Process

 Decide which type of business plan you need to create for your purposes (external, start-up, internal)  Define specific areas and levels of improvement (if business already in function)  Decide strategies to obtain the goal and objectives  Establish performance standard for each dimension in the management department Determine Objectives and Strategies

Section 2 Business Plan Sections

 Cover sheet  Table of contents  Executive summary  Management  Marketing plan  Production assessment  Financial assessment  Supporting documents  Appendix For an overview of each section Key Sections of Plan

SWOT Analysis Analyze and present the  Strengths  Weaknesses  Opportunities  Threats of the business

 Know the market, customer needs  Describe the product/services your business will offer  Who are your targeted buyers and how will you fulfill their needs  Market analysis / Identification of competition Market Assessment

Production Assessment  How will the production process occur  Quality requirements  location & physical plant  details of machinery and equipment

 Review the capital structure  Compute the money needed to finance the business  Make the balance sheet & profit/loss statement  Forecast cash flow  List the details of loan collateral and repayment proposal Financial Assessment

 Have supporting documents to supplement your content  Details of management biographies  Evaluation of assets  Financial statement  List of major contract Prepare Additional Documents

 Determine who needs to be involved in the process and their level of participation  Establish performance standard for each dimension in the manage department Write an Executive Summary

Write Executive Summary  This section of your business plan is arguably to most important  This section is usually 2-3 pages in length and is when the entire plan is complete  It is a summary of key elements of the business plan  Needs to capture the interest of the reader  Needs to be well-written and thoughtful

 Review the final draft of the plan  Proof read: spelling, grammar, content  Check all documents  Make sure to have a clean, professional plan Final Revision

Bibliography Betkoski, Dinae and Lynne Ometer. "Documenting your future: How to write a business plan." Journal of THE AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION (2000): Griffin, Rickey W, Ebert J. Ronald and Starke A. Frederick. Business. Boston: Peearson Custom Publishing, 2005.