1. The Venture Plan
Mr. Singh

2. Life Cycle of a Business
3 Stages
Stage 1: Prestart up
Stage 2: Development
Stage 3: Growth, Comfort & Turnaround

3. Prestart up Stage Preparations for launching the business
Generate ideas, initiate research, identify and solve problems
You need to look at your resources and figure out how to allocate them
You begin to write your business plan a.k.a venture plan
Start budgeting and a timeline
Consider the commitments you need to make and decide whether to take your idea to the next level

4. Development Stage
By now your research, business plan, market testing and arrangements to get funds is complete
Your goal for this stage is to reach your break-even point – total monthly revenues = total monthly costs
What are monthly revenues and monthly costs? Discussed in class
One type of monthly cost is fixed over head – rent, telephone bills, etc.

5. Growth Stage
Now we are past the break-even point and we’re making profit
Now we bring in more people, perhaps experts, to share the workload and help the business expand
We might add new products or services
We might add e-commerce or open another location
You might want to add a partner to the business or acquire more financing to grow

6. Comfort Stage
Now you’re company is still growing but slow (say 10% per year)
The company is making money and we’re comfortable with the income and enjoying our life
We have more assets than liabilities
We can’t get too comfortable at this stage, as it can be dangerous if we don’t adapt to changes for growth
Economy is always changing and we need to monitor it

7. Turnaround Stage
If you reach this stage, you’re business is in trouble
You are now losing money for more than 2 years and your competition is taking customers away
This is where you eliminate non-productive people, products and services
This is where people get layoffs happen
Liquidation of some assets may be necessary to get cash.

8. Venture Plan
What is it?
A road map for a running venture – a written plan of what you want to accomplish
1. A mission statement – your vision, objectives
2. Your market research
3. List of financials
4. Operations – how will the business run
5. Plan for raising money to start the business

9. Sections of our Venture Plan
1. Title Page
Title of our plan
2. Executive Summary
One or two page summary of the most important points in your plan
Introduce your business
Capture the attention of the reader
Normally includes a mission statement followed by a description of your business

10. Sections of our Venture Plan
Executive Summary
What makes your business good?
Include your competitive advantage
What makes your business better than your competitors
Who are your competitors?
Explain the type of market chosen
Why is your plan going to be successful
Make predictions based on evidence

11. Sections of our Venture Plan
3. Company Description
This is a subsection of executive summary
Describe your company’s visions and goals
4. Products & Services
Describe the type of product or service you have in detail
You must explain to the reader what you’re product or service is and how it works

12. Sections of our Venture Plan
5. Marketing Plan
How are you going to attract customers?
How are you going to market this product?
How are you going to promote this product?
Where are you going to sell this product?
6. Management & Logistics
How is your company structured?
Who is responsible for what?
How do you run your company?
Day-to-day operation of the company

13. Sections of our Venture Plan
7. Financial Plan
How much will it cost to start the venture?
How much will it cost to keep it going?
Expected costs and revenues for the venture
How much capital will be required and when it will be needed
Anything related to money for your business should be included in your financial plan