How To Prepare A Business Plan That Guarantees Big Profits

It is always said "If you Fail to Plan, you Plan toYou might want to break this chapter down into
Fail"sections such as..publicity and promotions,
advertising plans, direct sales force, and dealer
Success in business comes as a result of planning.distributor programs. Each section would then be
You have to have a detailed, written plan thatan outline of your plans and policies.
shows what the ultimate goal is, the reason for
the goal, and each milestone that must be passedMoving into the next chapter on competition,
in order to reach your goal.identify who your competitors are--their
weakness and strong points--explain how you
A business plan is written definition of, andintend to capitalize on those weaknesses and
operational plan for achieving your goal. You needmatch or better the strong points. Talk to as
a complete but success tool in order to definemany of your "indirect" competitors as
your basic product, income objectives and specificpossible--those operating in different cities and
operating procedures. YOU HAVE TO HAVE Astates.
BUSINESS PLAN to attract investors, obtain
financing and hold onto the confidence of yourOne of the easiest ways of gathering a lot of
creditors, particularly in times of cash flowuseful information about your competitors is by
shortages--in this instance, the amount of moneydeveloping a series of survey questions and
you have on hand compared with the expensessending these questionnaires out to each of them.
that must be met.Later on, you might want to compile the answers
to these questionnaires into some form of
Aside from an overall directional policy for thedirectory or report on this type of business.
production, sales effort and profit goals of your
product--your basic "travel guide" to businessIt's also advisable to contact the trade
success--the most important purpose yourassociations and publications serving your
business plan will serve, will be the basis orproposed type of business. For information on
foundation of any financial proposals you submit.trade associations and specific trade publications,
Many entrepreneurs are under the mistakenvisit your public library, and after explaining what
impression that a business plan is the same as ayou want ask for the librarian's help.
financial proposal, or that a financial proposal
constitutes a business plan. This is just aThe chapter on management should be an
misunderstanding of the uses of these twoelaboration on the people operating the business.
separate and different business success aids.Those people that actually run the business, their
job, titles, duties, responsibilities and background
The business plan is a long range "map" to guideresume's. It's important that you "paint" a strong
your business to the goal you've set for it. Thepicture of your top management people because
plan details the what, why, where, how and when,the people coming to work for you or investing in
of your business--the success planning of youryour business, will be "investing in these people" as
company.much as your product ideas. Individual tenacity,
mature judgement under fire, and innovative
Your financial proposal is a request for moneyproblem-solving have "won over" more people
based upon your business plan--your businessthan all the AAA Credit Ratings and astronomical
history and objectives.sales figures put together.
Understand the differences. They are closelyPeople becoming involved with any new venture
related, but they are not interchangeable.want to know that the person in charge--the guy
running the business knows what he's doing, will
Writing and putting together a "winning" businessnot lose his cool when problems arise, and has
plan takes study, research and time, so don't trywhat it takes to make money for all of them>
to do it all in just one or two days.After showing the "muscle" of this person, go on
to outline the other key positions within your
The easiest way to start with a loose leafbusiness; who the persons are you've selected to
notebook, plenty of paper, pencils, pencilhandle those jobs and the sources as well as
sharpener, and several erasers. Once you getavailability of any help you might need.
your mind "in gear" and begin thinking about your
business plan, "10,000 thoughts and ideas perIf you've been in business of any kind scale, the
minute" will begin racing thru your mind...So, it's anext chapter is a picture of your financial
good idea when you aren't actually working onstatus--a review of your operating costs and
your business plan, to carry a pocket notebookincome from the business to date. Generally, this
and jot down those business ideas as they comeis a listing of your profit & loss statements for
to you--ideas for sales promotion, recruitingthe six months, plus copies of your business
distributors, and any other thoughts on how toincome tax records for each of the previous
operate and/or build your business.three years the business has been an entity.
Later, when you're actually working on yourThe chapter on the explanation of your plans for
business plan, you can take out this "ideathe future growth of your business is just
notebook" evaluate your ideas, rework them,that--an explanation of how you plan to keep
refine them, and integrate them into the overallyour business growing--a detailed guide of what
"big picture" of your business plan.you're going to do, and how you're going to
increase your profits. These plans should show
The best business plans for even the smallestyour goals for the coming year, two years, and
businesses run 25 to 30 pages or more, so you'llthree years. By breaking your objectives down
need to "title" each page and arrange theinto annual milestones, your plan will be accepted
different aspects of your business plan intoas more realistic and be more understandable as
"chapters." The format should pretty much run asa part of your ultimate success.
follows:
Following this explanation, you'll need to itemize
Title Page Statement of Purpose Table ofthe projected cost and income figures of your
Contents Business Description Market Analysisthree year plan. I'll take a lot of research, an
Competition Business Location Managementundoubtedly a good deal of erasing, but it's very
Current Financial Records Explanation of Plans Forimportant that you list these figures based upon
Growth Projected Profit & Loss/Operating Figuresthorough investigation. You may have to adjust
Explanation of Financing for Growthsome of your plans downward, but once you've
Documentation Summary of Business & Outlookgot these two chapters on paper, your whole
for The Future Listing of Business & personalbusiness plan will fall into line and begin to make
Referencessense. You'll have a precise "map" of where
you're headed, how much it's going to cost, when
This is a logical organization of the informationyou can expect to start making money, and how
every business plan should cover. I'll explain eachmuch.
of these chapters titles in greater detail, but first,
let me elaborate upon the reasons for properNow that you know where you're going, how
organization of your business plan.much it's going to cost and how long it's going to
be before you begin to recoup your investment,
Having a set of "questions to answer" about youryou're ready to talk about how and where you're
business forces you to take an objective andgoing to get the money to finance your journey.
critical look at your ideas. Putting it all down onUnless you're independently wealthy, you'll want to
paper allows you to change, erase and refineuse this chapter to list the possibilities and
everything to function in the manner of aalternatives. Make a list of friends you can
smoothly oiled machine. You'll be able to spotapproach, and perhaps induce to put up some
weakness and strengthen them before theymoney as silent partners. Make a list of those
develop into major problems. Overall, you'll bepeople you might be able to sell as stockholders in
developing an operating manual for youryour company--in many cases you can sell up to
business--a valuable tool which will keep your$300,000 worth of stock on a "private issue"
business on track, and guide you in the profitablebasis without filing papers with the Securities and
management of your business.Exchange Commission. Check with a corporate or
tax attorney in your area for more details. Make
Because it's your idea, and your business, it's verya list of relatives and friends that might help you
important that YOU do the planning. This is YOURwith an outright loan to furnish money for the
business plan, so YOU develop it, and put it alldevelopment of your business.
down on paper just the way YOU want it to
read. Seek out the advice of other people; talkThen search out and make a list of venture
with, listen to, and observe, other people runningcapital organizations. Visit the Small Business
similar businesses; enlist the advice of yourAdministration office in your area--pick up the loan
accountant and attorney--but at the bottom line,application papers they have--read them, study
don't ever forget it has to be YOUR BUSINESSthem, and even fill them out on a preliminary
PLAN!basis--and finally, check the costs, determine
which business publications would be best to
Remember too, that statistics show the greatestadvertise in, if you were to advertise for a
causes of business failure to be poorpartner or investor, and write an ad you'd want
management and lack of planning--without a planto use if you did decide to advertise for
by which to operate, no one can manage; andmonetary help.
without a direction in which to aim its efforts, no
business can attain any real success.With listing of all the options available to your
needs, all that's left is the arranging of these
On the very first page, which is the title page, putoptions in the order you would want to use them
down the name of your business-ABCwhen the time come to ask for money. When
ACTION--with your business address underneath.you're researching these money sources, you'll
Now, skip a couple of lines, and write it all in capitalsave time by noting the "contact" deal with when
letters: PRINCIPAL OWNER--followed by youryou want money, and whenever possible, by
name if you're the principal owner. On yourdeveloping a working relationship with these
finished report, you would want to center thispeople.
information on the page, with the words "principal
owner" off-set to the left about five spaces.If your documentation section, you should have a
credit report on yourself. Use the Yellow Pages or
Examples: ABC ACTION 1234 SW 5th Ave.check at the credit department in your bank for
Anywhere, USA 00000the nearest credit reporting office. When you get
your credit report, look it over and take
whatever steps are necessary to eliminate any
negative comments. Once these have been taken
PRINCIPAL OWNER: Your Namecare of, ask for a revised copy of your report
and include a copy of that in your business plan.
That's all you'll have on this page except the page
number -1-If you own any patents or copyrights, include
copies of these. Any licenses to use someone
Following your title page is the page for yourelse's patent or copyright should also be included.
statement purpose. This should be a simpleIf you own the distribution, wholesale or exclusive
statement of your primary business function,sales rights to a product, include copies of this
such as: We are a service business engaged indocumentation. You should also include copies of
the business of selling business success manualsany leases, special agreements or other legal
and other information by mail.papers that might be pertinent to your business.
The title of the page should be in all capital lettersIn conclusion, write out a brief, overall summary
across the top of the page, centered on yourof your business- when the business was started,
final draft--skip a few lines and write thethe purpose of the business, what makes your
statement of purpose. This should be direct, clearbusiness different, how you're going to gain a
and short--never more than (2) sentences inprofitable share of the market, and your
length.expected success during the coming 5 years..
Then you should skip a few lines, and from theThe last page of your business plan is a "courtesy
left hand margin of the paper, write out apage" listing the names, addresses and phone
sub-heading in all capital letters, such as:numbers of personal and business
EXPLANATION OF PURPOSE.references--persons who have known you closely
for the past five years or longer--and companies
From, and within this sub-heading you can brieflyor firms you've had business or credit dealings
explain your statement of purpose, such as: Ourwith during the past five years.
surveys have found most entrepreneurs to be
"sadly" lacking in basic information that will enableAnd, that's it--your complete business plan. Before
them to achieve success. This market isyou send it out for formal typing, read it over
estimated at more than a 100 million persons,once a day for a week or ten days. Take care of
with at least half of these people activelyany changes or corrections, and then have it
"searching" for sources that provide the kind ofreviewed by an attorney and then, an accountant.
information they want, and need.It would also be a good idea to have it reviewed
by a business consultant serving the business
With our business, advertising and publishingcommunity to which your business will be related.
experience, it is our goal to capture at least halfAfter these reviews, and any last-minute changes
of this market of information seekers, with ouryou want to make, I'll be ready for formal typing.
publication. MONEY MAKING MAGIC! Our market
research indicates we can achieve this goal andType and print the entire plan on ordinary white
realize a profit of $1,000,000 per year within thebond paper. Make sure you proof-read it against
next 5 years...the original. Check for any corrections and
typographical errors--then one more time--read it
The above example is generally the way youthrough for clarity and the perfection you want of
should write your "explanation of purpose," and init.
subtle definition, why you need an explanation.
Point to remember: Keep it short. Very fewNow you're ready to have it printed and published
business purpose explanations justify more than afor whatever use you have planned for
half page long.it--distribution amongst your partners or
stockholders as the business plan for putting
Next comes your table of contents page. Don'ttogether a winning financial proposal, or as a
really worry about this until you've got the entirebusiness operating manual.
plan completed and ready for final typing. It's a
good idea though, to list the subject (chapterTake it to a quality printer in your area, and have
titles) as I have, and then check off each one asthree copies printed. Don't settle for
you complete that part of your plan.photo-copying..Have it printed!
By having a list of the points you want to cover,Photo-copying leaves a slight film on the paper,
you'll also be able to skip around and work onand will detract from the overall professionalism
each phase of your business plan as an idea orof your business plan, when presented to
the interest in organizing that particular phase,someone you're trying to impress. So, after going
stimulates you. In other words, you won't have toto all this work to put together properly, go all the
make your thinking or your planning conform toway and have it duplicated properly.
the chronological order of the "chapters" of your
business plan--another reason for the loose leafNext, stop by a stationery store, variety store or
notebook.even a dime store, and pick up an ordinary,
inexpensive bind-in theme cover for each copy of
In describing your business, it's best to beginyour business plan. Have the holes punched in the
where your statement purpose leaves off.pages of your business report to fit these binders
Describe your product, the production process,and then slip each copy into a binder of its own.
who has responsibility for what, and most
importantly, what makes your product or serviceNow, you can relax, take a break and feel good
unique--what gives it an edge in your market. Youabout yourself..You have a complete and detailed
can briefly summarize your business beginnings,business plan with which to operate a successful
present position and potential for future success,business of your own. A plan you can use as a
as well.basis for any financing proposal you may want to
submit..And a precise road-map for the attainment
Next, describe the buyers you're trying toof real success...
reach--why they need and want or will buy your
product--and the results of any tests or surveysYou just complete one of the important steps to
you may have conducted. Once you've definedfulfill of all your dreams of
your market, go on to explain how you intend toJulia Tang publishes Smart Online Business Tips, a
reach that market--how you'll these prospects tofresh and informative newsletter dedicated to
your product or service and induce them to buy.supporting peoplelike you!