Business Plan
Michael Antwi
Four Factors Critical to the Success of Every
New Venture:
(The Framework)
 The people;
– Prior Experience
– Connections
 The opportunity;
– Market siz
 The context;
– Industry structure
 Risk and reward;
– Assessment of everything that can go wrong or right
– Clear logical mitigation plan
Generic Outline of a Business Plan
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Executive summary;
General company description;
Product and Services;
Marketing Plan;
Operational plan;
Management and organization;
Financial statements; and
Appendix.
General Company Description
 Mission statement;
– A brief statement usually in thirty words or fewer
 Company goals and objectives;
– Where you want the company to be
– Progress markers along the way to goal achievement
 Business philosophy;
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What is important to you in business
To whom will you market your product
Brief industry description
Discuss most important strengths and core competence
 Legal form of ownership;
– Sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or limited liability
Products and Services
 In depth description of your product and
services;
– Factors that will give you competitive
advantages and disadvantages
– Pricing, fee, or leasing structures of your
products or services
Marketing Plan
 Economic facts about your industry;
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Total market size
Market demand
Market trends
Market growth potential
Barriers to entry
Environmental factors affecting the market
 Products and, or services;
– Thorough product description from customers’
perspective
Marketing Plan
 Promotion;
– Advertising: form of media
 Promotional budget;
– Startup? (numbers normally goes into budget)
– Ongoing? (numbers normally goes into operating plan
budget)
 Pricing;
– Brief explanation of pricing strategy
 Distribution channels;
– How do you intend to sell your products or services
Operational Plan
 Production;
– How and where your products or services will be
produced or delivered
 Location;
– Type of location – example, physical requirements,
access to ports, freeways and proximity to suppliers and
customers
 Legal Environment;
– Address any environmental concerns - example,
licensing requirements and trademarks or any
copyrights or patents issues
 Personnel;
Operational Plan
 Inventory;
 Suppliers;
 Credit policies;
– Managing account recievables and payables
Management and Organization
 Questions and issues to discuss;
– Who will manage the business
– What experience does the person bring to the
business
– Is there a plan for continuation of the business if
this person is lost or incapacitated
– Professional and advisory support
Financial Statements
 Start-up expenses and capitalization;
 Start-up expenses and capitalization;
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12-month profit and loss statement
4-year profit and loss statement
Cash-flow projection
Projected balance sheet
Break-even analysis
 Appendixes
Executive Summary
 Best practice is to limit to two pages;
– Include everything you would cover in a fiveminute interview
– Make it enthusiastic, professional, complete,
and concise
“Elevator Speech”
 What is an “elevator speech”?
– Short description of what you do, or point you want to
make, presented in the time it takes an elevator to go
from the top to the first floor or vice versa
 Where and when to use an “elevator speech”?
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An event
Conference
Convention
Meetings with networking opportunities
Suggested Ingredients to Effective
“Elevator Speech”
 Determine your niche market;
 The needs of your niche market;
 The services you’ll provide to solve the
needs of the market;
 What makes you unique; and
 A short story to illustrate a successful
outcome that you have produced.
Key Lessons
 Having a great product does not ensure
survival;
 Competition will be there faster than you
think—must correctly have the good
management team;
– “Invest in the jockey, not the horse”
 Long-term strategy must drive short-term
decision making.