1. The Ohio Small Business Development Center at the Summit Medina Business Alliance Presents...

2. The Business Plan

3. What is its purpose? Forces owners to think through the details Makes the case that the business idea can be suc- cessful to the owner and other stakeholders Provides lenders and investors with information needed to evaluate investment quality Provides the owner with self-evaluation tool

4. ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL Technology / New IP Common vs. Unique Business Model Amount of Capital Required Potential Market Size

5. Professionalism Not overly graphic No fill-in-the-blank forms No hand written sections No software imposed format Write in 3 rd person It is OK to be redundant where information is relevant to more than one section of the plan

6. Think Resume for the Business

7. The Cover Page

8. Table of Contents for longer plans only

9. Executive Summary Placed first, but written last Extrapolated from key points made in the body of the plan

10. Business Description

11. The Marketing Plan Industrial Analysis Target Market Competitive Analysis Marketing Plan / Sales Strategy / Brand Image

12. Product Development & Intellectual Property

13. Operations Section

14. Key People & Key Roles

15. Legal & Compliance Considerations

16. Financial Information Significant accounting practices Loan or Investment Need Financial History Financial Projections

17. The Appendix

18. Small Business Development Center Summit Medina Business Alliance, Inc. 526 S. Main Street, Suite # 813 Akron, Ohio 44311 330-375-2111 info@akronsbdc.org Web Site: www.akronsbdc.org