Articles by Business Woman - Jan B. King |
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Jan
B. King
Business Woman
Jan
B. King currently leads a consulting practice
primarily devoted to helping traditional
publishers, writers, and educators with
content development and curriculum design
for print publications and innovative
web sites. In addition she teaches small
business management topics and writes
and speaks extensively on employee-ownership
and participative management. |
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Home> Business
Articles> Author
Jan B. King> Business
Plans Part 1> Jan B. King |
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Top 10 Questions about Business Plans Answered
(part2) - Jan B. King |
Continued
from Part 1..
Part
1 - 10 Business Plan Questions
6.
How will I know what information to put
into my business plan?
There is a standard format for a business
plan. It generally includes the following,
in this order:
• Cover sheet
• Table of contents
• Executive Summary (1-3 pages)
• Business Concept or Description (including
major business goals) (2-4 pages)
• Product/Service Description (4 pages)
• Management Team (4 pages)
• Industry Analysis (2-5 pages)
• Market Strategy and Tactics (3-5
pages)
• Financial Projections (5-10 pages,
including basic spreadsheets)
• Operations (5 pages) (Manufacturing
Plan, if applicable)
• Appendices (supporting documents)
7.
Where will I get the information for my
business plan?
Much of the information you need will come
from your own thoughts, but you must also
validate your thinking with hard facts about
your business environment to make a convincing
argument about why you should open your
business.
Look around and pick up all the written
material you can about the types of business
you want to start: their ads, brochures,
and web site information. Write down everything
you already know in the worksheets that
follow, and then set up a plan to find the
rest of the information you need to round
out your plan. Don't forget to check the
telephone book to find your competition.
Besides local data, you will need both marketing
data and financial data for your industry.
We will cover where to find that in detail
in the marketing segment of this course.
For an existing business you will also use
your own business records (financial statements,
operational reports, and sales reports).
8.
What financial documents will lenders and
venture capitalists expect me to provide
as part of my Business Plan?
New businesses:
.. Proforma Balance Sheet (snap shot of
the day you open for business)
.. Proforma income projections (income/profit
and loss statements) for three years. Give
detail by month the first year and by quarter
the 2nd and 3rd year)
.. Breakeven analysis
.. A List of assumptions and other notes
.. Personal Financial Statement
Existing businesses:
.. Balance Sheet (3 years)
.. Income statements (3 years)
.. Cash flow
.. Breakeven Analysis
.. Income Tax Returns (3 years)
.. Capital equipment list
.. Personal Financial Statement
9. If I have a great business plan can I
be certain of getting funding through the
SBA or investors or a bank? And how quickly
can I get funded once I have a business
plan?
You can't be sure of getting funding no
matter how well you do your business plan,
but one thing is for sure: you are virtually
guaranteed that you will not get funding
if you don't do a business plan.
In doing a business plan you may find that
you are not ready to become an entrepreneur
yet, that you need to save more money to
be sure that you can be successful, that
you need additional training or preparation,
or that the timing just isn't right to start
your company and that you may need to wait
a year or two. These are not bad things!
Much better to wait and be successful than
face disappointment and financial problems
for starting too soon.
The SBA and your bank will look first at
your personal credit. If your credit history
is good, it will still take a bank about
two months to approve or disapprove your
application. It can take many months to
get venture capital financing. Expect several
interviews over this time, and many questions
about how you will make the business succeed.
KEY MISTAKE: Appearance counts. Make
your business plan easy to read and understand,
but most importantly, make it look professional.
Typos make you look as if you didn't take
the time to do the job right, and might
give others the indication that your work
is done halfway as well.
10.
What are the steps to start the business
planning process?
This is NOT in the order that it will appear
in your business plan, but approaching these
issues
step-by-step is the best way to develop
your plan.
Business Description
Setting Goals and Objectives for your Business
Product or Service Description
Management Team
Industry and Market
Marketing Strategy
Financial Projections and Considerations
Operational Considerations
Wrapping it all up with an Executive Summary
Continued
from Part 1..
Part
1 - 10 Business Plan Questions
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::: Business
Motivation Home> Business
Articles> Author
Jan B. King> Business
Plans Part 1> Jan B. King
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Jan
B. King , views on business and
on publishing have been widely quoted in
Working Woman Magazine, the American Bar
Association’s Bar Leader magazine,
Small Business USA, Business Finance, the
Los Angeles Business Journal, and on business
web sites such as webhire.com, office.com,
ybn.com, portera.com. She has also appeared
on Making It! a small business television
program on KTTV Los Angeles, The Economic
Journal, a PBS business program, as well
as on numerous nationally syndicated business
radio programs.
Additional information on the author can
be found at www.janbking.com. |
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Jan B. King |
Business Author &
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