November 3, 2014
and
November 5, 2014
A business plan for a potential venture reveals
the business’ ability to
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Create or add significant value to a customer or end user
Solve a significant problem, or meet a significant want or
need for which someone will pay a premium
Have robust market, margin, and moneymaking
characteristics
Fit well with the founder(s) and management team at the
time, in the marketplace, and with the risk-reward balance
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Segment the information
Create an overall schedule
Develop a task list with due dates
Conduct research and perform analysis
Write sections of the plan
Compile and revise the plan
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Executive Summary
Business Description and Vision
Products and / or Services
Organization and Management
Marketing and Sales Strategy
Financial Analysis
This section should:
Be written last,
Provide an enthusiastic snapshot of your
company, explaining who you are, what you do
and why,
 Summarize the important information covered
in the plan,
 Be 1-2 pages in length.
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Be sure to include the following:
 Target market and projections
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Competitive advantages
The team
The offering
Financial summary
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The industry
The company and the concept
Entry and growth strategy
Exit strategy
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Describe in-depth your products or services
Detail what gives your company a
competitive advantage
Outline the pricing, fee, or leasing structures
of your products or services
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Organization Structure
Key management personnel
Management compensation and ownership
Supporting professional advisors and services
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Developing effective strategy requires clear
understanding of the competitive
environment, including but not limited to:
 The industry
 Competitors
 Customers
 Regulatory agencies
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Many resources exist:
 Industry magazines
 Industry associations
 Research firms
 Newspaper and magazine articles
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As a student, our library provides access
included in the cost of tuition
As an alumni, joining the alumni association
may allow you some continued access to the
library
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Use the online portal
 Demo
▪ First Research industry report for the catering Industry
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How large is the market?
Is the market dominated by a few companies
or fragmented?
Is the market growing, stable or shrinking?
What is the typical size of a business in my
industry?
What does the typical Income
statement/balance sheet look like in the
industry?
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Understand the basics of the industry you are
considering entering
Understand the competitors in your
immediate market
Understand the customer in an in depth
manner
Use all of the above to create a strategy that
will differentiate your business
The following are the minimum questions that
must be answered to effectively develop
strategy
1. Who is my target customer?
2. When my target customer is buying a product
or service like ours, what factors do these use to
determine who to buy from?
3. Who are our competitors (direct and indirect)?
4. What are our competitors doing (well or poorly)
to satisfy the factors identified in question 2)
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 Who will our core target market
be?
 Demographics
 Psychographics
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Is this a big enough market?
Will there be more than one target?
 When our target market is
deciding who to buy from, what
factors drive their decision?
 Examples: Price, selection, location,
turnaround/order time, service,
quality, expertise, reliability, hours,
reputation, company size, distribution
channels, etc.
 Who are our competitors?
 Direct
 Indirect
 Local
 Online
 What are our key competitors
doing to satisfy the factors that
determine where our target
market buys?
 Strengths?
 What is missing?
 How will we compete?
 Can we beat them?
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If the competitor is a local brick and mortar
store, visit them in person
Look at their advertising, print, online, social
media
Look at their customer reviews
(Yelp, Google + , Angie’s List)
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Given what research revealed, is this the
right target? Product? Service?
Do we need to adjust our target?
Do we need to change our competitive
strategy?
If we make changes, do we need to look at a
different group of competitors or factors?
Identify and describe your market – who your
customers are and what the demand is for your
products & services. This includes the industry
outlook.
 Describe your channels of distribution.
 Explain your sales strategy, specific to pricing,
promotion, products and place (4Ps).
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The findings from your market analysis
should drive all of these
This section should include the following
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Discussion of the following
• Estimate of start-up costs.
• Projected balance sheet (1 year forward).
• Projected income statement (1 year forward).
• Projected cash flow statement (1 year forward).
• Breakeven Analysis
• Total capital needed and projected sources of the capital.
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Fixed Assets
 Buildings (Rent)
 Equipment
 Furniture and Fixtures
 Vehicles
 Other Fixed Assets
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Operating Capital
 Pre-Opening wages
 Pre-paid insurance premiums
 Inventory
 Legal and Accounting Fees
 Rent Deposits
 Utility Deposits
 Supplies
 Advertising and Promotions
 Licenses
 Other $
 Working Capital (Cash on hand)
Fixed Costs
• Occur even if you don’t make any sales
• Examples: Rent, administrative salaries,
phones, insurance
• Variable Costs
• Occur only if you make sales and vary
depending on how much you sell
• Examples: Direct labor, direct materials, sales
commissions
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BREAKEVEN ANALYSIS
CASH PROFIT
$
$160,000
$140,000
$120,000
Dollars
$100,000
Fixed Costs
$80,000
Variable Costs
Sales Revenues
$60,000
$40,000
$20,000
$0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
Units Sold
6000
7000
8000
9000
10000
Bruce Sparks
bruce.sparks@csulb.edu
Office: CBA301
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Limited to a total of 20 pages.
– No more than 15 pages of text (typed, double-spaced, times
new roman, font 12, and 1 inch margins on all sides),
including the executive summary, financial data summary,
pictures and graphics. Detailed spreadsheets and
appropriate appendices should follow the text portion and
are limited to 5 pages. Plans with fewer than 5 pages of
appendices may not use the remaining pages to increase the
size of their text portion business plan beyond 15 pages. In
total, the maximum number of pages is 20.
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For judging purposes, the mentor’s name must not
appear anywhere on the document
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Financial data should include a projected cash flow
statement, income statement, and balance sheet.
Project annual financials for at least three years
along with a monthly plan for year 1.
Summarize this data in the main section of the
business plan.
Final written plan should be sent online to:
innovate@csulb.edu
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On or before 5:00 p.m. PST on Friday, February 27, 2015.
The plan must be in .PDF format
The plan must be approved by your mentor
Teams not meeting the deadline or guidelines will not be
considered for this year's competition.
The written plans will be posted on a password
protected site.
Letters of Intent now being accepted until December
9, 2014
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Should be included to support the findings,
statements, and observations in the plan.
The text portion of the plan (15 pages) must contain
all pertinent information in a clear and concise
manner.
All appendices must fall within the 5 page limit; any
pages over this limit will not be posted or otherwise
provided to the judges.
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Each finalist team will make a 15 minute
presentation at the Awards and Recognition
ceremony on April 9, 2015, 4:00 p.m.
The presentation will be followed by a 10 minute
Q&A session.
The presentation must use Microsoft PowerPoint,
and the number of slides is limited to 10, not
including the title slide.
Business Plan Criteria (For All Business Plans
Submitted)
1. Team has clearly identified customer needs/
requirements
2. The solution/approach to address the customer
need is innovative
3. Company's solution is better than anything offered
by competitors and is defensible.
4. Business concept and revenue model are clearly
articulated and reasonable
5. Marketing and sales approaches are appropriate for
the business.
6. Team has a reasonable financial plan.
7. Existing and/or planned team has the resources (or
plan to acquire the resources) to credibly implement
the business plan.
Weight
(%)
Poor
Fair
Good
Very Good
Outstanding
15
0
5
10
15
20
15
0
5
10
15
20
10
0
5
10
15
20
15
0
5
10
15
20
15
10
0
0
5
5
10
10
15
15
20
20
10
0
5
10
15
20
5
0
5
10
15
20
15
0
10
15
25
30
Verbal Presentation Criteria (For Finalists Only)
1. Presentation was professionally prepared and
delivered.
2. The overall business plan presented is credible and
would appear to attract investors.
Thank You!
Questions?