Epilogue
The Business Plan—Well, Yeah, There Is an Outline, but This Is Not War and Peace
If you perform a web search on the term “business plan outline” or peruse your local book warehouse, you will inevitably come across half a dozen varying outlines. My motto is: Find one that you are comfortable with and then get very comfortable with that outline. Whether you are dusting off the old business plan or starting from scratch, you need to familiarize yourself with a good outline. And remember, this is not War and Peace.
Here is the one I use:
Executive Summary
The Business
Vision and Mission
Strengths and Weaknesses
Legal Structure
Business Description
Product or Service Description
IP Property Description
Location
Management Personnel
Records
Insurance
Security
Litigation
Risk Factors
Major Forecasted Achievements—Milestones and Goals
The Marketing
Markets
Competition
Distribution and Sales
Marketing
Industry and Market Trends
Strategy
The Operational Plan
Organizational Structure
Management and Personnel
Legal Structure
Equipment and supplies
Accounting and Legal
Daily Operations and Processes
The Financials
Uses of Funds
Income Statement
Cash Flow Statement
Balance Sheet
Income Projections
Breakeven Analysis
The Supporting Documents
A Living, Breathing, Implementable Document
In a perfect world, your business plan would sprout arms and operate the cash register, but the truth is, it is probably dead in a drawer somewhere next to an old Kenny Rogers CD that you keep around for ...
