Client Business Plan Template
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Executive Summary
The Executive Summary is the doorway to your business plan. The summary should emphasize your plan’s main points. In addition to text, you should include a chart that illustrates profits or return on investment To begin the Executive Summary, write a paragraph or two introducing the subheadings: Objectives and Mission. Keep this section short, preferably one page. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Objectives
Setting your objectives, such as market share, sales, and profit, will determine your business goals. Make sure your objectives are concrete and measurable. They should
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Small Business Pack Business Plan indicate a level of sales or profits, a percentage of gross margin, a growth rate, or a market share you plan to attain. Avoid using vague objectives like “being the best” or “growing rapidly.” 1. ____________________________________________________________________________________ __ 2. ____________________________________________________________________________________ __ 3. ____________________________________________________________________________________ __ 4. ____________________________________________________________________________________ __
Mission
A mission statement expresses the higher goals of your company, such as providing services to unique industries, spreading new technologies, or improving education. If your company has a mission, state it simply and in one paragraph. If you do not have a mission statement, you can develop one or continue to the next section. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Company
Summarize company-related information by briefly explaining what your company sells, through what channels, and to whom. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Company Ownership
Describe the ownership of your company. Is it a partnership, sole proprietorship, or corporation? Is it publicly traded or privately owned? _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
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Small Business Pack Business Plan _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Company History
Indicate when your company was founded, by whom, and with what purpose. How has it progressed since being founded? When did you relocate offices, expand product lines, or otherwise change substantially? Remember to include information about sales, products, and markets serviced as well as how these items have changed over time. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Product Lines
Introduce and briefly describe your company products (or services). If your company provides only services, then change the heading from Product Lines to Services. Keep in mind that you will use the Product section to expand on the information you present below. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
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Company Location and Facilities
Briefly describe the offices and locations of your company, the nature and function of each, square footage, lease arrangements, and other facilities information. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Product
This paragraph is a summary of the product section (Product Description, Important Product Features and Comparison, Product Literature). It should be a clear and concise single paragraph that can be merged into the Executive Summary. Answer the question: What do these products do and for whom? _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Product Description
List and describe the products or services, or both, that your company sells. Your description should demonstrate how the products or services fill the market demand and supply what the customers need. Replace each product line placeholder with one of your company’s product or service lines, followed by a description. Delete extra placeholders.
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Product line 1
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Product line 2
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Product line 3
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Important Product Features and Comparison
Describe the important competitive features of your products or services, or both. Why do people buy yours instead of others? Do you offer better features, price, quality, or service? _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Product Literature
Identify literature, such as advertisements, brochures, and catalogs, that you use to market your company. Include copies of these materials as attachments at the back of the printed business plan. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
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Market Analysis
Discuss your company’s position as it relates to other businesses within your market niche. Highlight key elements, including your market size and growth-rate projections. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Industry Analysis
The information you provide here will set the scene for the Market Forecast section. Identify and describe the market segments which affect your business. Use standard information sources to produce an evaluation of current market trends that affect your company’s marketing plan. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Keys to Success
Identify unique or “key” selling points that are needed to succeed in your market. These key factors, such as quality, price, or selection, determine your success in business. Replace each placeholder with one competitive factors, and explain how these selling points relate to your specific target audience..
Competitive quality 1
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Competitive quality 2
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Competitive quality 3
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Market Forecast
Develop a summary paragraph which indicates anticipated growth within the market. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Business Strategy and Implementation
Introduce your company’s overall strategic thrust and describe how you will implement an effective business program. Determine if your strategy is based on a new technology, product, or product features; or if its focus is on better marketing, distribution, or services. (Present only one business strategy.) _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Marketing Strategy
When describing strategy, emphasize what makes your company special. For example, your marketing strategy might focus on a specific market segment. Or, it might depend on special ways to distribute the product; on new products that are new solutions to existing problems; or on new ways to promote products or services. What will your company do to be better than other businesses?
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Small Business Pack Business Plan _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Sales Plan
Describe how you sell your products. For example, retail, wholesale, discount, mail order, or phone order. Do you maintain a sales force? How are salespeople trained, and how are they compensated? _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ Use the Sales Forecast spreadsheet in the Financial section at the end of the plan to produce a sales forecast. The Business Plan includes a monthly forecast for the first year and a quarterly forecast for the subsequent two years. Divide your sales forecast into logical divisions for product lines and products.
Strategic Alliances
Explain how co-marketing, co-development, commission, and cooperative arrangements are handled by your company. Can you link your promotion or distribution strategies to other companies in a way that improves your company’s position? _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Service
Explain how you propose to service the products you sell. If your company offers only services, change the heading to Follow-Up Service and describe how you intend to provide customer support. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
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Small Business Pack Business Plan _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Organization
Indicate the number of employees and management personnel within your company. Also, specify the number of company founders. Briefly describe how your products are manufactured and how sales and marketing are organized. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Organizational Structure
Write a paragraph or two that describes the structure of your organization. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Management Team
List the members of your management team. Include summaries—brief resumes—of their backgrounds and experience and describe their functions within the company.
Name, Position
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Name, Position
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Name, Position
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Name, Position
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Management Team Gaps
Identify skills the team does not possess and discuss how the company plans to fill these needs. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
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Other Management Team Considerations
Describe other criteria that affect your company’s business operations. For example, do any managers or employees have “noncompete” agreements with competitors? Identify the members of your board of directors and discuss contributions they make to the business. In addition, list your major stockholders and describe their roles in management. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Financial Analysis
Discuss your company’s most significant financial attributes, such as projected cash flow and net profit for the next four years; return on investment; or internal rate of return. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Financial Plan
Along with pro forma projections, you’ll need to summarize the important points of your financial plan or strategy. Specify how you intend to finance your business. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________________________________________ ___
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Notes:
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Start-Up Costs and Capitalization
This section includes the Start-Up Costs and Capitalization tables. Summarize the information in these tables in an introductory paragraph. Highlight the total cost required to start your business, identify your major assets, and/or list your owners and their investments. Note: If yours is an ongoing business, disregard this section.
Start-Up Costs
Item
Cost
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Total Notes:
$
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Financial Statements
These charts must be filled out in order to effectively complete your business plan.
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Small Business Pack Business Plan Year 1 Sales Forecast Month Product 1 Product 2 Product 3 January February March April May June
Month Product 1 Product 2 Product 3
July
August
September
October
November
December
Year 2 Sales Forecast Quarter Product 1 Product 2 Product 3
Year 3 Sales Forecast
First
Second
Third
Fourth
Quarter Product 1 Product 2 Product 3
First
Second
Third
Fourth
Estimated Expenses
Item Average Expense (Circle the appropriate term)
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Small Business Pack Business Plan Advertising Bad debts from sales or services Car and truck expenses Commissions and Fees Depletion Depreciation Employee benefit programs Insurance (other than health) Interest : Mortgage Interest : Other Legal and Professional Services Office Expense Pension and profit-sharing plans Rent or lease : Vehicles, equipment, etc. Rent or lease: Other business property Repair and maintenance Supplies Taxes and licenses Travel, meals, and entertainment Utilities Wages Other expenses (please specify)
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
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(month/quarter/year)
Other expenses (please specify) Other expenses (please specify) Other expenses (please specify)
$ $ $
per
(month/quarter/year) per
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