Class Project: Creating a Business Plan 3 Pages
One of the most important things you’ll have to do in your career, if you decide to open a business or manage a business, is to write or update a Business Plan. A Business Plan is a document that guides you through the process of opening or expanding a Business but it also analyses the feasibility of the project and business concept. In other words, it tells you if it is worth opening or expanding a business. You have to do important research such as identifying effective marketing strategies, proper permits/licenses, determining the ideal legal structure, personnel requirements, analyzing market research reports to determine trends (similar to the report you reviewed in the beginning of class) etc.
We start with a Business Plan template (attached) so you can see what a Business Plan outline looks like. These reports are sometimes categorized as informational reports but also formal proposals if you are looking for investors. Think of a business you would like to start or grow and complete the following:
Your assignment is to complete the following 3 sections ONLY: 3 Pages
- The Executive Summary Section – 1 – 2 pages to include a summary of your business or a potential business you’d like to open or manage in the future. The summary should explain your business concept (how you plan to make money and the need you are satisfying), what products you plan to sell and/or services you plan to offer, your marketing strategies, the people involved and their experience in the field.
- Under Strategic Direction – The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis section (1-2 pages). Analyze your own individual strengths and list them, as well as your weaknesses. It is a good idea to list things you plan to do to offset those weaknesses like hiring a bookkeeper if you are not good with numbers or a sales person if you do not like to deal with customers etc. Opportunities relate to opportunities in the market such as including healthy options in your restaurant menu because now more than ever people are worried about their health etc. and a threat might be using the same health conscious example we used but applied to the fast food industry and how people are avoiding fatty and high calorie foods.
- Under Marketing Mix – The Promotion section (1 page). This section describes the tactics you will use to market your product/service. There are several ways to promote your business such as print advertising, social media, online marketing via pay per click ads like Google/Facebook/Instagram Ads etc, radio, tv etc. Select the ones that better make sense for your Business. If you are doing B2B (Business to Business), then your marketing strategy will probably be a sales/business development strategy to reach business owners or large organizations using a sales force etc.