1. 4-1 Chapter Four Introductory Material, Executive Summary, and Description of the Business Dr. Bruce Barringer University of Central Florida

2. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall4-2 Introduction Review: What is a business plan? Written document that carefully explains every aspect of a new business venture 25 to 35 pages long Provided to an investor or interested party Describes why the business is starting Describes why the business will make money

3. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall4-3 Cover Page  Name of the company  Street address  E-mail address  Phone number  Date  Contact information  Website address

4. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall4-4 Table of Contents Follows cover page Main sections Subsections Appendices

5. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall4-5 Executive Summary  Short overview of entire plan  Provides reader with everything that needs to be known about new venture  No more than 2 pages long

6. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall4-6 Company Description  Company history  Mission statement  Products and services  Current status  Legal status and ownership

7. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall4-7 Company History  Brief explanation of where the idea for the company came from

8. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall4-8 Mission Statement  Defines why a company exists and what it aspires to become  Should articulate the mission or purpose of the company in as few words as possible

9. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall4-9 Products and Services  Explanation of your product or service  Describe how product is unique and how it will be positioned in the marketplace relative to its rivals

10. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall4-10 Current Status  How far along the company is in its development  Current composition of management team  Early customer reaction to product or service  Company’s financial status

11. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall4-11 Legal Status and Ownership  Who owns the business  How the ownership is split  Founder’s agreement Written document Relative split of equity among the founders of the firm How the individual founders will be compensated How long the founders will have to remain with the firm for their shares to be vested

12. Small Business Legal Structures Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall4-12 Sole Proprietorship General Partnership Limited Liability Company (LLC) C-Corporation (C-Corp) S-Corporation (S-Corp) Limited Partnership (LP) Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Non-Profit Charitable Corporation - 501(c)(3) A Nonprofit corporation, however, can not issue shares and cannot pay dividends. In addition, under the Federal Tax code Section 501(c)(3), a tax-exempt corporation cannot pay dividends AND, upon dissolution, must distribute its remaining assets to another nonprofit group

13. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall4-13 Selecting a Name for the Business  Customer-driven companies  Product- or service-driven companies  Industry-driven companies  Personality- or Image- driven companies  Legal issues

14. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. Copyright ©2009 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall