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Developing A Business Plan - Quick Overview

Developing A Business Plan - Quick Overview

A business plan should be neat, not fancy, and should include:

Cover Page: List the business name, address, mailing address, telephone number and the name of the owner(s). Identify your primary goals and
objectives.

Business Description: Include an accurate and concise description of the business.

A.   What is the principal activity? Be specific. Give product or service descriptions.
B.   How will the business be started?
C.   Why will it succeed? Promote your idea.
D.   What experience do you bring to the business?

Reference: One Page Business Plan

Marketing is the core of your business. Carefully think about these questions:

A.   Can you market your business from home?
B.   Who and what is your market?
C.   What pricing and sales terms are you planning?
D.   How will you be competitive?

Reference: Duct Tape Marketing

The Financial Plan

Money is what fuels all businesses. With a little planning you'll find that you can avoid most financial difficulties.

When you're drawing up a financial plan, don't worry about using estimates. The process of thinking through these questions helps develop your business skills and leads to solid financial planning.

Start-up Costs: To estimate your start-up costs, include all initial expenses such as fees, licenses, permits, telephone deposit, tools, office equipment
and promotional expenses. Business experts say you should not expect a profit for the first eight to 10 months, so be sure to give yourself enough cushion.

Projecting Operating Expenses: Include salaries, utilities, office supplies, loan payments, taxes, legal services and insurance premiums. Don't forget to
include your normal living expenses.

Projecting Income: It is essential you know how to estimate your sales on a daily and monthly basis. From the sales estimates, you can develop projected
income statements, breakeven points and cash flow statements. Use your marketing research to estimate initial sales volume.

Cash Flow: Cash pays your bills, not profits. Even though your assets may look great on the balance sheet, if your cash is tied up in receivables or equipment, your business is technically insolvent. Or to put it in layman's terms, you're broke.

Start-up Consultant: Business901

Make a list of all anticipated expenses and projected income for each week and month. If you see a cash flow crisis developing, cut back on everything but the necessities.Remember, preparation is the foundation of success. Talk to home-based business people, join a home-based professional association or "moonlight" at a similar business. Learn how to use business resources to strengthen your home-based business. Success doesn't just happen, you have to make it happen





Developing A Business Plan Quick Overview - To learn more about this author, visit Joe Dager's Website.

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John Power
John Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website

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With nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website


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Joe Dager
(Visit Joe's Website) Joe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: B usiness901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter

Joe Dager is a Platinum author on EvanCarmichael.com
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Business901 - Business901 provides practical, information-rich, immediately applicable direction that profoundly impacts the success of small and mid-sized businesses. We have designed our services and product offerings so that they are implementable systems that work in the real, not enough time, not enough people world we operate in. Tools that simplify the marketing process, not complicate it.
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