What goes into a business plan?
What does it take to start a business?
What kind of business would you want to start?
 We will talk about what goes into a business plan and
talk about each part of it in depth.
 We will look at real life companies and different
aspects of their business.
 You will get the chance to work alone or in a group to
develop a business plan for a company you will create!
 What will your company
do?
 Sell a product?
 Tom’s Shoes
 Home Depot
 Target
 Wal-Mart
 Apple
 Offer a service?
 Google
 Massage therapists
 Web Design
 You must decide what it
is that your business is
actually going to sell. It
could be one product. It
could be multiple. It
could be several services,
or it could be a blend of
products and services.
 The Best Industries for Starting a Business Right Now
 There are some interesting companies out there…
 eNthem of San Francisco
 I Do Now I Don't
 Lucky Break Wishbone
 Prairie Tumbleweed Farm
 Sarah's Smash Shack
 A company obviously must have a name…
 Some cool company names I’ve come across:
 StumbleUpon
 Pinterest
 Google
 Hulu
 Sew Sew Lovely
 Yoforia
 Any cool names you’ve heard of?
 Business Name Examples
 Tips on Creating a Name
 This company actually comes up with business names for
people
 A logo is just as
important as a
name….it’s something
you put on a website,
business card, business
car or truck, and any
advertisement you use!
 Most companies have a motto or
 5 tips for writing an effective
 “Think Different”
 Apple
 “Have It Your Way”
 Burger King
 “Zoom Zoom”
 Mazda
 “Eat Fresh”
 Subway
 “Live in Your World, Play in
 Slogan Generator
 10 Best Slogans according to
catch phrase
Ours”
 Sony Playstation
 “I’m Lovin’ It”
 McDonald’s
 “You Can Do It. We Can Help.”
 Home Depot
slogan
INC.com
 Every company has both!
 Your mission is what you do best every day,
and your vision is what the founder ultimately
envisions the business to be.
 Mission-daily focused. What’s your
purpose?
 Vision-future focused. How high do we
want to reach?
 Video: what's the difference?
 Mission Statement How To: 5 slides from
Inc.com
 MissionStatements.com-examples of
mission statements from real companies.
 Other examples:
 Mastercard
 PepsiCo
 A vision statement for a new or small firm spells out
goals at a high level and should coincide with the
founder’s goals for the business. Simply put, the vision
should state what the creator(you) ultimately
envisions the business to be, in terms of growth,
values, employees, and contributions to society.
 Then, develop strategies for moving your business
toward that vision.
 Video: Vision Statement How To
 Examples:
 Coca Cola
 Step #1 Write a list of facts about your business. List your goals,
strengths, benefits and so on.
 Step #2 Now write a statement about what you want your business to
become in the future. What does it look like? Is it global? What are you
doing for your customers?
 Step #3 Combine your statement and the items in your list that stand
out, create your vision statement. Remember, this is only an exercise,
you may write and rewrite your vision statement ten times before you
hit on one that resonates with you.
Remember, your vision statement is an essential part of
your business plan. Imagine creating a business without
it. Many do and they’re short lived. Imagine trying to
make a decision about hiring, about your business
model, about marketing without knowing what it is
exactly that you want your business to be and where you
want it to go... You can’t.
 A business strategy encompasses many things. We will
consider questions like:
 Is your company local or global?
 Small or big? Small staff, big staff?
 Who is your target market?
 How will your business meet customer needs and
expectations?
 What is your competitive advantage?
Intro
Strategy!
 Strengths
 Weaknesses
 Opportunities
 Threats
 A firm’s strengths are its
resources and
capabilities that can be
used as a basis for
developing a competitive
advantage.
 Examples:
 Patents
 Strong brand names
 Good reputation among
customers
 Unique, differentiated
product
 Low cost
 Exclusive access to high
quality materials
 The absence of certain strengths
may be viewed as a weakness.
 For example, each of the
following may be considered
weaknesses:
 Lack of patent
 A weak brand name
 Poor reputation among
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customers
Poor customer loyalty
High costs
Lack of access to high quality
materials
What could you potentially
improve?
What could lose you business?
 Unsafe environment
 Unfriendly employees
 The external
environmental analysis
may reveal certain new
opportunities.
 Some examples:
 An unfulfilled customer
need
 Arrival of new
technologies
 Loosening of
regulations
 Removal of
international trade
barriers
 Changes in the external
environment also may
present threats to the
company.
 Examples:
 Shifts in consumer
tastes away from your
company’s product
 Tamagotchi’s anyone?
 Emergence of substitute
products
 Netflix
 New regulations
 Increased trade barriers
 Some Real Examples
 Let’s do a SWOT analysis for Starbucks!
So what do you do with a SWOT analysis?
Answers the questions:
How do we make the most of our strengths?
How do we circumvent our weaknesses?
How do we get the most out of our opportunities?
How do we manage our threats?
 What’s the difference?
 MARKETING is the systematic planning,
implementation and control of a mix of business
activities designed to present products in such a way as
to make them desirable.
 ADVERTISING is the public promotion of something
such as a product, service, business or event in order to
attract or increase interest in it.
 Simply put: Marketing is the umbrella,
and advertising is underneath…
 THE FOUR P’s:
 Product: “Product” refers to the goods and services you
offer to your customers. Apart from the physical product
itself, there are elements associated with your product
that customers may be attracted to, such as the way it is
packaged. Other product attributes include quality,
features, options, services, warranties, and brand name.
 Price: “Price” refers to how much you charge for your
product or service. Determining your product’s price can
be tricky.
 Place: “Place” refers to the distribution channels used to get your
product to your customers. What your product is will greatly
influence how you distribute it. If, for example, you own a small
retail store or offer a service to your local community, then you are
at the end of the distribution chain, and so you will be supplying
directly to the customer. Businesses that create or assemble a
product will have two options: selling directly to consumers or
selling to a vendor.
 Promotion: “Promotion” refers to the advertising and selling part of
marketing. It is how you let people know what you’ve got for sale.
The purpose of promotion is to get people to understand what your
product/service is, what they can use it for, and why they should
want it. You want the customers who are looking for a
product/service to know that yours will satisfy their needs.
 Website
 Business Card:cool cards
 Newspaper
 Commercial
 Radio jingle
 Poster/Flyer
 Facebook
 Twitter
 Every business needs money to get started and to keep
running.
 We will cover what it takes to start up:
 Inventory
 Workers
 Capital
 And other stuff…
 Break-Even Analysis
 What it takes to make a profit
 You will get a chance to create a company and a
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business plan.
Your business plan will require each element that we
cover in class.
I will give you a rubric so you know exactly what you
need.
You can work alone or in a group, and you will have
class time to work on it.
You will present your project to the class.
The most viable business plan will win an award.
And we just might have a class party to celebrate 
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