Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching

New Ventures
Updated 6th Edition, Global Edition

Chapter 6
Writing a
Business Plan

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What Is a Business Plan?
• Business Plan
‒ A business plan is a written narrative, typically 25 to 35
pages long, that describes what a new business
intends to accomplish and how it intends to accomplish
it.
• Dual-Use Document
‒ For most new ventures, the business plan is a dual-
purpose document that is used both inside and outside
the firm.

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Who Reads the Business Plan—and What
Are They Looking For?
There are two primary audiences for a firm’s business plan

Audience What They are Looking For

A Firm’s Employees A clearly written business plan helps the
employees of a firm operate in sync and
move forward in a consistent and
purposeful manner.

Investors and other A firm’s business plan must make the case
external stakeholders that the firm is a good use of an investor’s
funds or the attention of others.

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Guidelines for Writing a Business
Plan (1 of 5)
• Structure of the Business Plan
– To make the best impression, a business plan should
follow a conventional structure, such as the outline
for the business plan shown in the chapter.
– Although some entrepreneurs want to demonstrate
creativity, departing from the basic structure of the
conventional business plan is usually a mistake.
– Typically, investors are busy people and want a plan
where they can easily find critical information.

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Guidelines for Writing a Business
Plan (2 of 5)
• Software Packages
‒ There are many software packages available that
employ an interactive, menu-driven approach to assist
in the writing of a business plan.
‒ Some of these programs are very helpful. However,
entrepreneurs should avoid a boilerplate plan that looks
as though it came from a “canned” source.
• Sense of Excitement
‒ Along with facts and figures, a business plan needs to
project a sense of anticipation and excitement about
the possibilities that surround a new venture.

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Guidelines for Writing a Business
Plan (3 of 5)
• Content of the Business Plan
– The business plan should give clear and concise
information on all the important aspects of the
proposed venture.
– It must be long enough to provide sufficient information
yet short enough to maintain reader interest.
– For most plans, 25 to 35 pages is sufficient.
• Types of Business Plans
– There are three types of business plans, which are
shown on the next slide.

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Guidelines for Writing a Business
Plan (4 of 5)
Figure 6.2 Types of Business Plans

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Guidelines for Writing a Business
Plan (5 of 5)
• Recognizing the Elements of the Plan May Change
– It’s important to recognize that the plan will usually
change while written.
– New insights invariably emerge when an entrepreneur
or a team of entrepreneurs immerse themselves in
writing the plan and start getting feedback from others.

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Outline of Business Plan
• A suggested outline of a business plan is shown on the
next several slides.
• Most business plans do not include all the elements
introduced in the sample plan; we include them here for
the purpose of completeness.
• Each entrepreneur must decide which elements to include
in his or her plan.

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Section 1: Executive Summary (1 of 2)
• Executive Summary
– The executive summary is a short overview of the
entire business plan.
– It provides a busy reader with everything that needs to
be known about the new venture’s distinctive nature.
– An executive summary shouldn’t exceed two single-
spaced pages.
– Even though the executive summary appears at the
beginning of the business plan, it should be written last.
 The plan itself will evolve as it’s written, so not
everything is known at the outset.

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Section 1: Executive Summary (2 of 2)
Key Insights
• In many instances an investor will first ask for a copy of
the firm’s PowerPoint deck or executive summary and will
request of a copy of the full business plan only if the
PowerPoint deck or executive summary is sufficiently
convincing.
• The executive summary, then, is arguably the most
important section of a business plan.

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Section 2: Industry Analysis (1 of 2)
• Industry Analysis
– This section should begin by describing the industry the
business will enter in terms of its size, growth rate, and
sales projections.
– Items to include in this section:
 Industry size, growth rate, and sales projections.
 Industry structure.
 Nature of participants.
 Key success factors.
 Industry trends.
 Long-term prospects.
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Section 2: Industry Analysis (2 of 2)
Key Insights
• Before a business selects a target market it should have a
good grasp of its industry—including where its promising
areas are and where its points of vulnerability are.
• The industry that a company participates in largely defines
the playing field that a firm will participate in.

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Section 3: Company Description (1 of 2)
• Company Description
– This section begins with a general description of the
company.
– Items to include in this section:
 Company description.
 Company history.
 Mission statement.
 Products and services.
 Current status.
 Legal status and ownership.
 Key partnerships (if any).
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Section 3: Company Description (2 of 2)
Key Insights
• While at first glance this section may seem less important
than the others, it is extremely important.
• It demonstrates to your reader that you know how to
translate an idea into a business.

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Section 4: Market Analysis (1 of 2)
• Market Analysis
– The market analysis breaks the industry into segments
and zeroes in on the specific segment (or target
market) to which the firm will try to appeal.
– Items to include in this section:
 Market segmentation and target market selection.
 Buyer behavior.
 Competitor analysis.
 Estimate of the firm’s annual sales and market
share.

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Section 4: Market Analysis (2 of 2)
Key Insights
• Most start-ups do not service their entire industry. Instead,
they focus on servicing a specific (target) market within the
industry.
• It’s important to include a section in the market analysis
that deals with the behavior of the consumers in the
market. The more a start-up knows about the consumers
in its target market, the more it can tailor its products or
services appropriately.

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Section 5: The Economics of the
Business (1 of 2)
• The Economics of the Business
– This section addresses the basic logic of how profits
are earned in the business and how many units of a
business’s profits must be sold for the business to
“break even” and then start earning a profit.
– Items to include in this section:
 Revenue drivers and profit margins.
 Fixed and variable costs.
 Operating leverage and its implications.
 Start-up costs.
 Break-even chart and calculations.
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Section 5: The Economics of the
Business (2 of 2)
Key Insights
• Two companies in the same industry may make profits in
different ways. One may be a high-margin, low-volume
business, while the other may be a low-margin, high-volume
business. It’s important to check to make sure the approach
you select is sound.
• Computing a break-even analysis is an extremely useful
exercise for any proposed or existing business.

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Section 6: Marketing Plan (1 of 2)
• Marketing Plan
‒ The marketing plan focuses on how the business will
market and sell its product or service.
‒ Items to include in this section:
 Overall marketing strategy.
 Product, price, promotions, and distribution.
 Sales process (or cycle).
 Sales tactics.

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Section 6: Marketing Plan (2 of 2)
Key Insights
• The best way to describe a start-up’s marketing plan is to
start by articulating its marketing strategy, positioning, and
points of differentiation, and then talk about how these
overall aspects of the plan will be supported by price,
promotional mix, and distribution strategy.
• It’s also important to discuss the company sales process.

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Section 7: Product (or Service) Design
and Development Plan (1 of 2)
• Design and Development Plan
‒ If you’re developing a completely new product or
service, you need to include a section in your business
plan that focuses on the status of your development
efforts.
‒ Items to include in this section:
 Development status and tasks.
 Challenges and risks.
 Projected development costs.
 Proprietary issues (patents, trademarks, copyrights,
licenses, brand names).
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Section 7: Product (or Service) Design
and Development Plan (2 of 2)
Key Insights
• Many seemingly promising start-ups never get off the
ground because their product development efforts stall or
the actual development of the product or service turns out
to be more difficult than thought.
• As a result, this is a very important section for businesses
developing a completely new product or service.

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Section 8: Operations Plan (1 of 2)
• Operations Plan
‒ Outlines how your business will be run and how your
product or service will be produced.
‒ A useful way to illustrate how your business will be run
is to describe it in terms of “back stage” (unseen to the
customer) and “front stage” (seen by the customer)
activities.
‒ Items to include in this section:
 General approach to operations.
 Business location.
 Facilities and equipment.

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Section 8: Operations Plan (2 of 2)
Key Insights
• Your have to strike a careful balance between adequately
describing this topic and providing too much detail.
• As a result, it is best to keep this section short and crisp.

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Section 9: Management Team and
Company Structure (1 of 2)
• Management Team and Company Structure
‒ The management team of a new venture typically
consists of the founder or founders and a handful of
key management personnel.
‒ Items to include in this section:
 Management team.
 Board of directors (if you have one).
 Board of advisors (if you have one).
 Company structure.

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Section 9: Management Team and
Company Structure (2 of 2)
Key Insights
• This is a critical section of a business plan.
• Many investors and others who read the business plan
look first at the executive summary and then go directly to
the management team section to assess the strength of
the people starting the firm.

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Section 10: Overall Schedule (1 of 2)
• Overall Schedule
‒ A schedule should be prepared that shows the major events
required to launch the business.
‒ The schedule should be in the format of milestones critical
to the business’s success.
‒ Examples of milestones:
 Incorporating the venture.
 Completion of prototypes.
 Rental of facilities.
 Obtaining critical financing.
 Starting production.
 Obtaining the first sale.
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Section 10: Overall Schedule (2 of 2)
Key Insight
• An effectively prepared and presented schedule can be
extremely helpful in convincing potential investors that the
management team is aware of what needs to take place
to launch the venture and has a plan in place to get there.

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Section 11: Financial Projections (1 of 2)
• Financial Projections
– The final section of a business plan presents a firm’s
pro forma (or projected) financial projections.
– Items to include in this section:
 Sources and uses of funds statement.
 Assumptions sheet.
 Pro forma income statements.
 Pro forma balance sheets.
 Pro forma cash flows.
 Ratio analysis.

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Section 11: Financial Projections (2 of 2)
Key Insights
• Having completed the earlier sections of the plan, it’s easy
to see why the financial projections come last.
• They take the plans you’ve developed and express them
in financial terms.

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