SIMPLE BUSINESS PLAN OUTLINE TEMPLATE
TITLE PAGE
• Company name and contact information
• Website address
• Presented to: (Company or Individual Name)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Executive Summary
2. Company Overview
3. Products and Service Offerings
4. Competitive and Market Analysis
5. Sales and Marketing Plan
6. Ownership Structure and Management Plan
7. Operating Plan
8. Financial Plan
9. Appendix
1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• Company background and purpose
• Mission and vision Statement
• Management team
• Core product and service offerings
• Briefly describe target customers
• Describe the competition and how you will gain market share
• Define your unique value proposition
• Summarize financial projections for the first few years of business operations
• Describe your financing requirements, if applicable
2: COMPANY OVERVIEW
• Describe your business and how it operates in the industry.
• Explain the nature of the industry (e.g. trends, external influences, statistics).
• Historical timeline of your business
3: PRODUCT AND SERVICE OFFERINGS
• Describe your product or service and the problem it is solving
• List current alternatives
• Describe the competitive advantage (or unique value proposition) of your product in comparis
on
to the alternatives
4: COMPETITIVE AND MARKET ANALYSIS
• Define the estimated size of the market
• Describe your target market segment(s)
• Outline how your offering provides a solution to your segment(s)
• Estimate the number of units of your product or service target buyers might purchase, and how the
market might be affected by external changes (e.g. economic, political).
• Describe your projected volume and value of sales compared to competitors
.
• Discuss how will you differentiate yourself from competitors
5: SALES AND MARKETING PLAN
• Describe your pricing strategy for your offerings
• List the various methods you will use to get your message to prospects (marketing channels)
• Detail the market materials will you use to promote your product, including an approximate budget
• Describe how you will distribute your offerings to customers (distribution methods)
6: OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT PLAN
• Describe the legal structure of your business
• List the names of founders, owners, advisors, etc.
• Detail the management team’s roles, relevant experience, and compensation plan
• List out the staffing requirements of your business, including if external resources or services are needed
• Detail any training plans you will put in place for employees and management
7: OPERATING PLAN
• Describe the physical location(s) of your business
• Detail any additional physical requirements (e.g. warehouse, specialized equipment, facilities)
• Describe the production workflow
• Describe materials needed to produce your product or service, and how you plan to source them
8: FINANCIAL PLAN
• Demonstrate the potential growth and profitability of your business
• Create a projected income statement
• Create a projected cash flow statement
• Create a projected balance sheet
• Provide a breakeven analysis
9: APPENDIX
• Attach supporting documentation, which can include:
o Charts and graphs
o Market research and competitive analysis
o Information about your industry
o Information about your offerings
o Samples of marketing materials
o Professional references
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