Hyperlocal Biz Plan Sample
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I.
Table of Contents
I.
Table of Contents
2
II.
Executive Summary
3
III.
General Company Description
4
IV.
Products and Services
7
V.
Marketing Plan
8
VI.
Operational Plan
8
VII.
Management and Organization
10
VIII. Startup Costs and Financial Plan
16
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II.
Executive Summary
A compelling summary of the sections that follow.
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III. General Company Description
Mission Statement:
Describe your sites mission. This should be a public facing statement for external use.
Goals and Objectives
Goal: SAMPLE: Become the go-to news site, and a trusted source of information, for residents of (fill in the
blank)
Objective: SAMPLE: Cover the stories that matter to the community and present a comprehensive and
unbiased look at the issues.
Goal: SAMPLE: Serve as a forum for engaging community conversation and information.
Objective: SAMPLE: Provide a place for readers to voice opinions, whether through comments or blog
posts, and foster a spirited but respectful ongoing dialogue.
Goal: SAMPLE: Be an asset to the local business and non-profit communities.
Objective: SAMPLE: Provide a robust and interactive business directory, an interactive events calendar, and
an advertising and social media platform.
Goal: SAMPLE: Be fully optimized for mobile devices.
Objective: SAMPLE: Have this built into site by developer.
Goal: SAMPLE: Sell enough ads and sponsorships to support the business’ launch and fund its growth.
Objective: SAMPLE: Hire a highly effective ad sales representative who will work on commission and,
therefore, be incentivized to sell.
Goal: SAMPLE: Grow the business annually, reaching a minimum of $200,000 in gross revenues by Year 3
of business.
Objective: SAMPLE: Have a specific business plan, advertising sales revenue plan, and diverse revenue
sources — with reasonable goals — to support the company’s growth.
Business Philosophy:
Describe your core operating values. Industry Outlook
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A brief overview of the landscape nationally and in NJ, focus on complementary examples and potential
competitors.
Experience and Connections
Discuss why you and your partners are well suited to run this site and make it a success.
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IV. Products and Services
Discuss the broad range of products and services you plan to provide to different sectors/stakeholders:
For example:

Journalistic local news coverage

Your website and newsletters.

Sponsorship and advertising opportunities

Community forum, community calendar, etc…
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V.
Marketing Plan
INTRODUCTION.
WHO WE’RE SERVING:
Include detailed information about your community and the local flavor/personality.
Town by Town Statistics
Population:
Households:
Other relevant stats:
Success Factors
Why will you succeed where others have failed?
Customers

SAMPLE: Our reader customers will be the people who have moved to the towns for the special
benefits they bestow: good schools, public safety, a sense of community, a diverse and artistic
populace, and quick access to NYC.

SAMPLE: Our advertising customers will include local businesses and civic and arts associations, as
well as regional businesses such as healthcare providers and banks. We aim to attract service
advertisers as well as retailers.
Competition
The following should show the current competitive landscape and how your site will be different than its
competitors. Include print, TV, online, nontraditional info providers, etc…
Niche
What sets you apart?
Marketing Strategy
Promotion
We aim to get the word out to customers through social media, face-to-face meetings and emails with
major “influencers”, through events, flyers and - through some minimal advertising on other media,
(below describe each of the above if you choose to pursue them, or others you might try)
Social Media:.
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Influencers:
Events:
Promotional Budget
Pricing
How will you price your products?
Operational Plan
Production
Sample:
We are spending approximately $X on development startup costs for buying a domain name, renting space
on a server, and having a developer create a customized website on a free Word Press-theme software,
Blargo. We are budgeting $X monthly for web development support. In addition, we have identified an ad
designer who will create ads at the rate of $X. We will build this cost into the ad fees that will be charged. We
will pay MailChimp a small monthly fee for our newsletter service.
Our production will be divided into two major areas: editorial/publishing and ad sales (describe the key parts
to each below).

Editorial content will be produced on our Word Press-theme Blargo site. We will also produce a
daily newsletter from top stories powered by MailChimp software. We will produce 5-10 pieces of
original editorial content per day. Etc…

Ad sales content will be produced through the Broadstreet Ads network which is integrated with
our Blargo site. Etc…

We will provide customer service through face-to-face interactions. Etc….

Quality control will be monitored by the co-founders who will provide fact-checking and
proofreading for articles posted as well as ad content. Etc….
Legal Environment

Where have you incorporated?

Will you be obtaining media and liability insurance?

Do you need a legally binding partnership agreement?

Have you retained the services of a local attorney?
Management and Personnel (Sample below)
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
The co-founders will run the company and take payments to owners in lieu of salaries. Ad sales will
be on commission. We will use legal, bookkeeping, accounting, development and other services on a
retainer/fee for service basis.

We have gathered a group of freelance journalists to help with writing and photography. We have
approximately 5-10 steady freelancers available, all with substantial portfolios and experience.

The co-founders and freelancers will be directed to review resources and training for editorial
standards.
Payment/Collection

We will be booking ad sales through Broadstreet Ads, which accepts all credit cards.

We will also invoice advertisers through our QuickBooks software. For those who pay through
invoicing, we will implement a payment protocol as recommended by our bookkeeper.

We will be paying freelancers, ad sales commissions and other vendors on a monthly basis. We will
issue 1099 forms by March 1 each year.
Managing Accounts Payable/Receivable
We will be utilizing QuickBooks and the services of a bookkeeper to manage our accounts
payable/receivable.
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VI. Management and Organization
Professional and Advisory Support
The co-founders and all of our vendors and contractors are local residents with extensive professional
and social networks and stellar reputations in the towns.

The site will be managed on a day-to-day basis by co-founders – describe the working
relationship, meetings, decision making process, etc…

Our attorney is

Our accountant is

We are contacting NAME for Media & Liability insurance.

We are approaching NAME for our banking.

Other vendors will include (bookkeeper), (ad design), (graphic design), (web development). Our ad
sales contractor is ….

List advisors.
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VII. Startup Expenses and Financial Plan
COSTS
Startup Costs: $7,000-$8,000
Legal $500-1,000
Design $750- 1,000
Website development $1,000
URL purchase $45
WPEngine hosting $150 (5 months for build-out and soft launch)
Media and liability insurance $1,500-$2,500/year
Marketing $1,000
Direct Operating Expenses (gas, office supplies, cell phones, printing, T&E) $500
Ongoing monthly costs:
WPEngine $29
Bookkeeping, legal $300/month
Developer $200/month
Freelance $800-1,000/month
Direct Operating Expenses $500/month
Payment to Owners (based on revenues)
Ad Sales commission (to be determined; projecting 20-25% of ad sales revenue)
MailChimp or FeedBlitz ($0) newsletter software
Quick Books $10.36/month
Ongoing annual costs:
Gandi site name fee: $15.00
Accounting $500-700
Media and liability insurance $1,500-2,500/year
REVENUE
Describe each Revenue Stream and Goals for Each
Four-Year Projection
Monthly Revenue
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Partial Year 1 — 2014 - $6,000/month (July through December)
Year 2 — 2015 - $10,000/month
Year 3 — 2016 - $13,000/month
Year 4 — 2017 - $18,000/month
Projected Cash Flow and Opening Day Balance
Our cash flow will be centered around monthly payments and accounts receivable.
We expect to have at least $10,000 in revenues (from grant awards and investors/sponsors) but also plan to
pay $6,000 to $7,000 in startup costs at that time, for an opening day balance of $3,000-$4,000.