A
detailed guide to establishing a new
business or entrepreneurial venture
within an existing agency
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Executive Summary
Business concept
Products & services description
Target Market
Competitive analysis
Marketing plan
Operations & management plan
Development plan
Financial statements
 Introduction/Business
Plan Goals
• Introduce the entire plan first
• Goals:
 Investment
 Board/staff support
 Additional programs/services
 Expanded offerings
 Basic
details @ business
• Name, location, contact
• DBA – doing business as
• Agency description
 Legal
status
• How is business formed (ie. Sole proprietorship)
• Licensing & distribution agreements
• Trademarks, copyrights, patents
 Company
history, development stages
• History of the agency
 Virginia Theatre
• Values, vision, mission
 Company
history, development stages
• Phase of business development
 Seed company – Basic business concept developed but it has
not been launched and no sales have been made.
 Start-up –Early stages of operation, just begun to sell products
 Expanding – Rapid growth business that wants to increase its
product offerings.
 Stable –Currently in operation with consistent sales & modest
growth.
 Retrenchment –Little or no growth in sales; needs changes to its
product line or organizational structure to attempt to boost sales.
 Company
history, development stages
• What has been accomplished to date
 Secure location
 Develop prototype
 Investors
 Market research
 Industry
analysis
• What the industry is
• What state the industry is in
 North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS)
• What changes, trends & growths it is facing
• SWOT analysis….
• PEST analysis….
Internal
External
Negatives
Positives
Strengths
Weaknesses
internal capabilities,
attributes and
resources that help the
agency to reach its
objectives and/or to
create a competitive
advantage
internal limitations that
impeded the agency
from reaching its
objectives and/or
creating a competitive
advantage
Opportunities
Threats
external factors that
the company may be
able to take advantage
of in order to grow,
increase profits, or
enhance effectiveness
Changes in the
external
environment that
have the potential to
impede the agency’s
performance
Strengths
•Access to national forest land
•Trail system
•Outdoor recreation
•Scenic Views
Opportunities
•Government grants
•Partnerships
Weaknesses
•No community parks
•No community recreation center
•Not enough summer destination
activities for visitors
•Stewardship of our open space
•Trails lack connectivity (regional
and local)
•User conflicts on existing
recreational facilities
Threats
•Environmental
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
S-O Strategies:
Pursue opportunities
that maximize the
agency’s strengths
W-O Strategies:
Overcome weaknesses in
order to take advantage of
opportunities
Threats
S-T Strategies:
Determine ways to use
agency strengths to
minimize threats
W-T Strategies:
Implement strategies that
prevent agency
weaknesses from being
highly susceptible to
external threats
 Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural,
Technology
 Focus
on threats
Political:
* Tax laws & policies
* Labor laws
* Government
regulations
* Environmental
regulations
* Government
intervention
Socio-Cultural:
* Population growth &
changes
* Social issues
* Population health &
education
*Employment
patterns
* Community lifestyle
Economic:
* Economic growth &
stability
* Inflation
* Exchange rates
* Minimum wage
changes
* Interest rates
* Unemployment rates
Technology:
*Technology
advancements
* Technology
changes
* Automation
* Research &
development
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Detailed product description
Detailed facilities description
Potential suppliers
Profit centers
Partnerships
 Detailed
product description
• Crystal Lake Boathouse & concessions
 Open Memorial to Labor day
 Boat rentals, concessions, fishing
 Space for small rentals
• Qualities & benefit to fill niche
 Good product will fill a gap in the market
 Detailed
facilities description
• What you have
• What you want
• Location
• Amenities
• Strengths & weaknesses
 Potential
suppliers
• Directly from manufacturers
 Best info about products
 Solid customer service
• Manufacturer’s representative
 Ie. Reps for Columbia, Patagonia, North Face
 Come to your business to demo products
 Buy in brand bulk
 Potential
suppliers
• Distributors (wholesalers)
 Buy products from many manufacturers
 Warehouse it & resell at wholesale prices
• Trade Shows
 Large selection of manufacturers
 Order equipment for a year
• Internet
 Potential suppliers…what
• Minimum quantity
to ask
• Quantity discounts
• Payment terms
 Net 30
 pay in full in 30 days
 2-10 net 30
 2% discount if paid in 10 days or full amount due in 30 days
• Payment dating
 Delay payment to give more time to sell items
 Potential
suppliers…what to ask
• Pre-season discounts
• Closeout items
• Shipping date
 Est. a shipping date & cancel after that date
 Profit
Centers
• Parts of the business that will generate revenue
• Determine if it adds value & their is demand
• Rentals
 Pros & cons??
 Profit
Centers
• Small scale manufacturing
 Make own equipment
 Most common w/ outdoor outfitters
• Food & beverage
 Permits & licenses
 Partnerships, AKA…
• Agreements
• Cooperative ventures
• Joint arrangements
• Alliances
• Collaborations
• Interagency Cooperation
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A relationship between two or more parties for the
purposes of addressing a common challenge
 Constitution Trail
• NPRD, BPRD, Friends of Constitution Trail
 Naperville
Ribfest
• NPD, City, Naperville Exchange Club
 Provena
St. Joseph Inwood Athletic Club
• Joliet Park District, Provena St. Joseph Medical
Center
 Strong
target market
• Definable
 Identify specific
characteristics of
potential customers
• Meaningful
 Characteristics directly
relate to purchasing
decisions
 Strong
target market
• Sizable
 #’s large enough to
sustain business
• Reachable
 Effectively market to
them ($$$)
 Geography
• City, county, region
• Type of areas – urban, rural, suburban
• Travel distance
 Demographics
 Purchasing patterns
• Who makes purchasing decisions?
• How often do they buy?
• Advanced purchases?
• Concerns of customers (price, quality,
convenience)
 Market size
• Use demographic variables & characteristics
• Other factors that influence
 Market
trends
• Growing/shrinking population
• Competitors
• Economy
 Competition faced
• If you have a market, you have competition
• Direct
 Offers products much like yours that customers perceive
as acceptable alternatives
 McDonald’s vs Burger King
 Hyatt vs Hilton
• Indirect
 Offers products different from yours that meet the same or
similar need
 Customers can substitute your competitors’ offerings for
yours
 Children’s Discovery Museum vs Chuck E. Cheese
 Train vs air travel
 Competition
faced
• Develop strengths & weaknesses list for
competitors
• What attributes do they have that would inhibit
you from competing?
 Well known brand
 Continued growth
 Longevity
 Name recognition
 Competition faced
• Examine customer perception factors
 What customers can see
 What attributes make competition attractive to the
customer
 Price, quality, service, social consciousness, reputation
• Examine internal operational factors
 What customers can’t see
 Factors that put your customer at a stronger or weaker
position
 Labor costs, marketing budget, expertise, location, access to
suppliers, partnerships
 Competition
faced…Dick’s Sporting Goods
What specific businesses do you consider to be your direct competition?
Fill in the information requested for each.
Competitor
Strengths
Weaknesses
Other Attributes
Wildcountry
Outdoor expertise;
Customer service;
Limited product
lines;
Caters to more
serious outdoors
people; limited
advertising
budget; classes
draw potential
customers
 Market
share distribution
• Market share = agency’s sales/total market sales
• Sources of information
 Trade associations
 Annual reports
 Business publications
 Independent research firms
 IBIS World database…
 Competitive
position
• Rank order competition based on market share,
strengths, weaknesses
• Demonstrates understanding of strength of
competition
Rank competitors from strongest to weakest citing reasons for each
ranking.
Rank
Competitor
Reason for Ranking
1
Wildcountry
Outdoor product niche;
strong expertise
2
MC Sports
Similar product line;
large market share
 Competitive edge
• Concrete examples
• Show how competition’s weaknesses are your
strength
• Examples:
 Price
 Product features
 Convenience
 Marketing
 Well known brand
 Operational efficiencies
 Barriers
to entry into the market
• Patents & trademarks
• High start up costs
• Hard to find technical or industry expertise
• Market saturation
• Restrictive licensing requirements
• See what IBIS World says