Part Two of Preparing A Business Plan That Guarantees Profits

On the very first page, which is the title page, put down the name of your business - ABC ACTION - with your business address underneath.

Now, skip a couple of lines, and write in all capital letters: PRINCIPAL OWNER - followed by your name if you’re the principal owner. On your finished report, you would want to center this information on the page, with the words “principal owner” offset to the left about five spaces.

Example: ABC ACTION
1234 SW 5th Ave. Anywhere, USA 00000
PRINCIPAL OWNER: Your Name
That’s all you’ll have on that page, except the page number… -1-

Following your title page is the page for your statement of purpose. This should be a simple statement of your primary business function, such as: We are a service business engaged in the business of selling business success manuals and other information by mail.

The title of the page should be in all capital letters across the top of the page, centered on your final draft - skip a few lines and write the statement of purpose. This should be direct, clear, and short - never more than two (2) sentences in length.

Then you should skip a few lines, and from the left hand margin of the paper, write out a subheading in all capital letters, such as:

EXPLANATION OF PURPOSE. From, and within this subheading, you can briefly explain your statement of purpose, such as: Our surveys have found most entrepreneurs to be “sadly” lacking in basic information that will enable them to achieve success. This market is estimated at more than 100 million persons, with at least half of these people actively “searching” for sources that provide the kind of information they want, and need.

With our business, advertising and publishing experience, it is our goal to capture at least half of this market of information seekers, with our publication, MONEY MAKING MAGIC! Our market research indicates we can achieve this goal, and realize a profit of $1,000,000 per year within the next 5 years…

The above example is generally the way you should write your “explanation of purpose,” and in subtle definition, why you need such an explanation. Point to remember: Keep it short. Very few business purpose explanations are justifiably more than a half page long.

Next comes your table of contents page. Don’t really worry about this one until you’ve got the entire plan completed and ready for final typing. It’s a good idea though, to list the subjects (chapter titles) as I have, and then check off each one as you complete that part of your plan.

By having a list of the points you want to cover, you’ll also be able to skip around and work on each phase of your business plan as the idea or the interest in organizing that phase, stimulates you. You won’t have to make your thinking or your planning conform to the chronological order of the “chapters” of your business plan - another reason for the loose leaf notebook…

In describing your business, it’s best to begin where your statement of purpose leaves off. Describe your product, the production process, who has responsibility for what, and most importantly, what makes you product or service uniquely different - what gives it an edge in your market. You can briefly summarize your business beginnings, present position and potential for future success, as well.

Next, describe the buyers you’re trying to reach - why they need and want or will buy your product - and the results of any tests or surveys you might have conducted.

Once you’ve defined your market, go on to explain how you intend to reach that market - how you’ll alert these prospects to your product or service and induce them to buy.

You might want to break this chapter down into sections such as… publicity and promotions, advertising plans, direct sales force, and dealer/distributor programs. Each sect ion would then be an outline of your plans and policies.

Moving into the chapter on competition, identify who your competitors are their weaknesses and strong points - explain how you intend to capitalize on those weaknesses and match or better the strong points. Talk to as many of your “indirect” competitors as possible - those operating in different cities and states.

One of the easiest ways of gathering much useful information about your competitors is by developing a series of survey questions and sending these questionnaires out to each of them. Later on, you might want to compile the answers to these questionnaires into some form of directory or report on this type of business.

It’s also advisable to contact the trade associations and publications serving your proposed type of, business. For information on trade associations and specific trade publications, visit your public library, and after explaining what you want, ask for the librarian’s help.

The chapter on management should be an elaboration on the people operating the business. Those people that actually run the business - their job titles, duties, responsibilities, and backfilled resume’s. It’s important that you “paint” a strong picture of your top management people because the people coming to work for you or investing in your business, will be “investing in these people” as much as your product ideas. Individual tenacity, mature judgement under fire, and innovative problem-solving have “won over” more people than all the AAA Credit Ratings and astronomical sales figures put together.

Part: 1 2 3 4

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Tagged: Advertising, Business, Goals, Money, Preparing a Business Plan, Program