If you have any questions feel free to ask.
You are to prepare in a Word Document, which you will then submit as an attachment, the following business plan components:
Select a product or service that you would like to market (it should be the one you identified in Application Assignment #1 & #2). The business idea, product/service must be legal and viable in the United States.
In Part 1 you will be asked to provide information related to the following sections of the Business Plan:
Business Description - A typical business description section includes:
a. Mission statement & Value Proposition - The discussion of your company should begin with your mission statement - a two or three sentence description of the purpose of your business and to whom your product or service is targeted. Not being clear in your mission statement indicates that you are not clear about the purpose of your company. A well-thought out, well-articulated statement can help you become a success with customers or anyone else. It will elicit additional questions and comments and get the ball rolling with prospects. It will show that you understand your business, are clear with its purpose, and know who your customers are. You should be clear about how you will provide value to the customers, what the value proposition is for the business.
b. Business description - Whether you're looking for money or simply creating an internal document, you must be able to present a clear portrait of what your company does. Your business description is your corporate vision, and includes: who you are, what you will offer, what market needs you will address, and why your business idea is viable. It should describe exactly what you will be selling, and why people or businesses will buy it. How is your product different from similar items already on the market? Compare your product to similar products on the market. Why is yours better? The business description section should include: Name, Type of Business, Legal Structure, Location, Product Description and Positioning, each component is described below, as well as on the attached document:
i. Business Name - Make your name memorable. A creative, distinctive name will not only be entitled to a high level of trademark protection; it will stick in the minds of your customers. Forgettable names are those of people (like O'Brien Web Design), those that include geographic terms (like Westside Health Foods) and names that literally describe a product or service (like Appliance Sales and Repair, Inc.). Remember, you want to distinguish yourself from your competitors. Your name should be appealing and easy to use.
ii. The type of business - Here you should provide the audience with the type of business you're planning to enter - Your business should fall in one of several categories. Is your business retail, wholesale, service, manufacturing, construction, professional, or import and export?
iii. Product description - The product description statement should be complete enough to give the reader a clear idea of your intentions. You may want to emphasize any unique features or variations from concepts that can typically be found in the industry. Be specific in showing how you will give your business a competitive edge. For example, your business will be better because you will supply a full line of products; competitor A doesn't have a full line. You're going to provide service after the sale; competitor B doesn't support anything he sells. Your merchandise will be of higher quality. You'll give a money-back guarantee.
iv. Position - Position is your identity in the marketplace: how you want the market and your competitors to perceive your product or service. While your USP is based on features of your product or service, your positioning is based on your customers and competition. Federal Express positioned itself as a reliable and dependable overnight delivery service for businesses. MTV and VH1 play many of the same music videos, but MTV is positioned as the choice for young, hip viewers, while VH1 is considered the station for more mature viewers. If you run a dry cleaning business you can be the fastest, the most dependable, the cheapest, or the business providing the best service. A mail-order gift business can emphasize price, convenience, a flexible returns policy, unique products, or some combination of these. A hairdresser may be positioned as hip, traditional, pampering, inexpensive, or convenient. You may think that positioning is based on image.
v. Legal structure - Here you would describe the legal structure of the business and why - There is no one legal structure that's best for all small businesses. Whether you're better off starting as a sole proprietor or choosing one of the more complicated organizational structures such as a partnership or a corporation usually depends on several factors, including the size and profitability of your business, how many people will own it and whether it will entail liability risks not covered by insurance. Use class notes to make this decision.
vi. Management Ownership - A short section on who owns and controls your company will help readers derive a better understanding of who will be making decisions. Potential lenders, many of whom will require a significant stake in the company in exchange for funds, will also be interested in what portion of the company's equity is available.
vii. Team Description - Create a description of each member’s contribution to the venture including the responsibilities and expertise of each person. Many lenders and venture capitalists base their investment decisions on the strength of the company's principals. Demonstrating that your management team possesses, or will possess, an array of complementary skills will help convince investors that your business has a bright future. For positions you have yet to fill, detail who you will need to hire to achieve the goals set out in the product development schedule. Describe the talents this person needs to possess and how the addition of that person will help the company meet its objectives.
viii. SWOT Analysis - Describe key success factors which will help bring profitability to the business. Strengths & Weaknesses are internal to the business - those things that you/business partners and/or the business itself has as strengths/weaknesses. Opportunity & Threats are part of the external environment, such as changes in the economy, technology, legal/regulatory area, social/cultural landscape. These are items that may be outside of the business's control, but that may impact the business positively or negatively and that you will need to understand how to address them.
