Small Business Plan Basics:
All Plans Must Work Together

A marketing plan must function as an integral part of
the big picture, business plan

Do your plans integrate and grow your business?

Once you have raised the money to start or expand your business, your plan will serve as a road map for your business. It is not a static document that you write once and put away. You will reference it often, making sure you stay focused and on track, and meet milestones. It will change and develop as your business evolves.

Do I need a business plan?

Not everyone who starts and runs a small business begins with a business plan, but it certainly helps to have one. If you are seeking funding from a venture capitalist, you will certainly need a comprehensive business plan that is well thought out and contains sound business reasoning.

If you are approaching a banker for a loan for a start-up business, your loan officer may suggest a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan, which will require a business plan. If you have an existing business and are approaching a bank for capital to expand the business, they often will not require a small business plan, but they may look more favorably on your application if you have one.

Reasons for writing a business plan include:

• Support a loan application
• Raise equity funding
• Define and fix objectives and programs to achieve those objectives
• Create regular business review and course correction
• Define a new business
• Define agreements between partners
• Set a value on a business for sale or legal purposes
• Evaluate a new product line, promotion, or expansion

What's in a small business plan?

A business plan should prove that your business will generate enough revenue to cover your expenses and make a satisfactory return for bankers or investors.

1. Executive Summary--features the highlights of your plan and sells your idea in two pages or less.
2. Company Summary--a factual description of your company, ownership, and history.
3. Products and/or Services--describes your products and/or services and how they stand out from competitive products and services.
4. Market Analysis--provides a summary of your typical customers, competitive landscape, market size, and expected market growth.
5. Strategy and Implementation--describes how you will sell your product, how you will put your plan into action, and establishes milestones.
6. Management Summary--provides background on the management team, their experiences, and key accomplishments.
7. Financial Plan--contains key financials including sales, cash flow, and profits.

What makes a successful business plan?

• A well thought out idea
• Clear and concise writing
• A clear and logical structure
• Illustrates management's ability to make the business a success
• Shows profitability

How do you write a small business plan?

Sitting down looking at a blank computer screen as you prepare to start your business plan can be daunting. You may want to look at some alternatives that will make the process a bit easier.

Buy a Book
There are many good books on the market that will help you to understand what needs to go into a good business plan. You can read Timothy Berry's "Hurdle: the Book on Business Planning".

Use Business Planning Software

A good business planning software package will provide you with an outline for a well-developed, objective-based and professional business plan. Software packages will remove the problem of starting from scratch by structuring your plan for you. The software should ask you the right questions that will pull out the most important underlying concepts within your business idea. Find out more about the leading software package on the market, Business Plan Pro.

Sample Marketing Plans

 Coach Ron's Recommended Resources:

Marketing Planning: Learn From Experts
	Business Plan Pro Save time. Let Business Plan Pro lead you through every step of creating your business plan. The plan may be about the final document for your banker or investor, but for you it is about the process of gathering your ideas and developing and growing your business. Business Plan Pro creates a great looking document for your banker, while helping you to better understand and grow your business. Order now to save time and money!
	Marketing Plan Pro This easy-to-use tool will enable even the most inexperienced marketer to create and implement practical marketing plans to find customers, raise awareness of your business and increase sales. Let Marketing Plan Pro 6.0 walk you through the "ABCs" of marketing planning to quickly produce a professional and complete plan. Click here for your affordable and easy to use marketing plan program!
	Target: The Book on Marketing Plans Practical resources to write a marketing plan are difficult to find. "On Target: The Book on Marketing Plans" offers an excellent solution. "On Target" takes you through the process of writing an effective marketing plan from the initial concept to full implementation. Click here to learn more.
	Industry & Market Research Tool This industry and market research reports provided by our partner Integra Information are the answer to your problems. These reports help entrepreneurs and business managers get the data they need to create successful plans. Click here to learn more.

 

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