Table of Contents for Complete Idiot's Guide to Business Plans Plus

Part 1 Getting Started

(40)

1 According to Plan

(12)

Business Owner Basics

(2)

Types of Business Plans

(1)

Securing Financing or Investors

(1)

Strengthening Operations

(1)

Preparing for a Sale

(1)

How Can a Plan Help?

(3)

Establishing a Vision and Direction

(1)

Keeping on Course

(1)

Setting Goals and Benchmarking Success

(1)

Outlining Operations

(1)

Fiscal Fitness

(1)

Checking the Ego

(1)

Thorough Research

(1)

Marketing Plan

(1)

Feasibility

(1)

Future Expansion

(1)

Exit Strategy

(1)

Your Unique Selling Proposition

(2)

Finding Your USP Through Feedback

(1)

Doing It Yourself or Getting Help?

(2)

Finding Free or Low-Cost Help

(1)

Hiring Help

(1)

Getting Soft

(2)

2 Figuring Out the Financing

(16)

Understanding Debt and Equity

(1)

Debt

(1)

Equity

(1)

Money Sources

(5)

Grants

(1)

Personal Resources

(2)

Loans

(2)

Selecting a Lender

(1)

Angel Investors

(1)

Private Equity

(1)

Other Funding Sources

(1)

EDA

(1)

Community Development Centers

(1)

Trade or Business Groups

(1)

Others

(1)

What Lenders and Investors Want

(3)

Capacity to Repay

(1)

Capital to Invest

(1)

Collateral

(1)

Conditions of Use of Money

(1)

Character of Owners

(1)

Credit Rating

(1)

Credit-Reporting Bureaus

(1)

Your Credit Score

(3)

Assessing your Report

(1)

Increasing Your Score

(1)

Beware of Quick Credit Fixes

(1)

3 Business Writing Basics

(10)

Effective Business Writing

(6)

Targeting Your Audience

(1)

Language and Tone

(1)

Grammar

(1)

Cutting the Fluff

(1)

Avoiding Cliches

(1)

Presenting Your Information

(1)

Capitalizing and Punctuating Properly

(1)

Writing, then Rewriting

(1)

Avoiding Writer's Block

(1)

Speaking and Writing Well

(3)

Part 2 Putting Together Your Plan

(146)

4 Ready, Set, Write

(8)

From Dream to Document

(1)

Being Organized

(1)

Knowing Your Stuff

(1)

Supporting Your Claims

(1)

Getting to the Goal

(2)

Managing Well

(1)

Obtaining Financial Assistance

(1)

Attract Business Partners

(1)

Operation Benchmark

(1)

Obtain Assistance

(1)

Iterative Process

(3)

Staying Updated

(1)

Analysis

(1)

Annual Meeting

(2)

5 Getting Down to Business

(16)

Getting Off on the Right Foot

(2)

Title Page

(2)

Table of Contents

(1)

Confidentiality Agreement

(3)

Executive Summary

(1)

Purpose

(2)

Business Description

(1)

Structure

(1)

Owners

(1)

Location

(1)

Hours of Operation

(1)

Season's Greetings

(1)

What Is It?

(1)

We're on a Mission

(5)

Mission Statement

(1)

Vision Statement

(1)

Values Statement

(4)

6 Industry Overview

(16)

Industrial Strength

(1)

Understanding Market Research

(3)

Interviews

(1)

Surveys

(1)

Focus Groups

(1)

Online Focus Groups

(1)

Observation

(1)

Understanding the Industry

(1)

Industry Life Cycle

(1)

Industry Economics and Trends

(1)

Opportunities and Obstacles

(4)

Innovations

(1)

Regulations

(1)

Economic Factors

(1)

Price Comparisons

(1)

Location

(1)

Competition

(4)

Business Performance

(2)

7 Who Are You?

(12)

Internal Assets

(1)

Owners and Partners

(1)

Staffing

(2)

Management Team

(2)

Outsourcing and Consultants

(1)

Employee or Contractor?

(3)

Who Is an Independent Contractor?

(1)

Who is an Common-Law Employee?

(1)

Who is an Employee?

(1)

Statutory Employees

(1)

Statutory Nonemployees

(1)

Organizational Chart

(1)

Salaries

(1)

Strategic Partners

(1)

Professional Resources

(3)

8 Analyzing Your Business in the Market

(20)

Getting Down to Strategy

(1)

Targeting Your Customers

(1)

Demographic Profiles

(1)

Income and Spending Habits

(1)

Personal or Business Characteristics

(1)

Getting Psychographic

(1)

Defining Business-to-Business Customers

100

(1)

Type of Business and Ownership

100

(1)

Sector

100

(1)

Geography

101

(1)

Psychographic Characteristics

101

(1)

Who Is Your Perfect Customer?

101

(2)

CRM Technology Can Help

103

(1)

Why Do They Buy?

104

(2)

Do They Need It or Want It? And Can They Afford It?

105

(1)

What's Important to Them? For Whome Are They Buying?

105

(1)

Who Are Your Customers' Influencers?

105

(1)

Are They Brand Loyal or Price Driven? How Do They Buy?

106

(1)

Creating Profiles

106

(3)

Innovators

106

(1)

Thinkers

107

(1)

Achievers

107

(1)

Experiencers

107

(1)

Believers

108

(1)

Strivers

108

(1)

Makers

108

(1)

Survivors

109

(1)

Why You Shouldn't Service Every Customer

109

(1)

Evaluating Market Segments

110

(1)

Defining Your Market Strategy

110

(1)

The SWOT Approach

111

(1)

Strengths and Weaknesses

111

(1)

Opportunities and Threats

112

(1)

Predicting Market Share

112

(3)

9 Getting the Word Out

115

(16)

Positioning Your Business in the Market

115

(1)

Explaining Your Marketing Strategy

116

(9)

Price

117

(1)

Place (Distribution)

117

(1)

Promotion

117

(8)

Putting Together the Marketing Plan

125

(6)

Being Clear About Goals

126

(1)

Planning the Action

126

(1)

Budgeting Your Resources

127

(1)

Creating a Marketing-Cost Matrix

128

(1)

Timing Your Projects

128

(3)

10 Sales Plan and Forecast

131

(10)

Selling Yourself

131

(1)

Your Channels

132

(1)

Direct Selling and Affiliate Programs

132

(1)

Manufacturer's Representatives and Wholesale Distributors

132

(1)

Retailers and Catalogs

133

(1)

Selling Online

133

(1)

Sales Tools

133

(1)

Database and Technological Tools

134

(1)

Trade Shows

134

(1)

Territories

134

(1)

Finding Prospects

135

(1)

Referral Systems and Expanding Existing Customers

135

(1)

Working Your Contacts

135

(1)

Offering a Better Price

136

(1)

Sales Cycles and Strategies

136

(1)

AIDA

136

(1)

Sales Cycle

137

(1)

Sales Forecast

137

(4)

11 Operation Success

141

(12)

Business Operations

141

(1)

Equipment

142

(1)

Technology Needs

143

(1)

Equipment Leases

144

(1)

Building Leases

144

(2)

Price

144

(1)

Length of Lease

145

(1)

Location and Traffic

145

(1)

Potential for Growth

145

(1)

Utilities and Services

146

(1)

Production/Service Provision Methods

147

(1)

Quality Control

147

(1)

Inventory and Supply

148

(2)

Managing Inventory

148

(1)

Purchasing Policies

149

(1)

Suppliers

149

(1)

Handling Orders and Deliveries

149

(1)

Vendor Agreements or Letters of Intent

150

(1)

Customer Service Policies

151

(2)

12 Money, Money

153

(18)

Start-Up Costs

154

(1)

Creating an Operating Budget

155

(1)

Source and Use of Funds

156

(2)

Managing Cash Flow

158

(1)

Creating a Cash-Flow Statement

158

(2)

Understanding Profit-and-Loss Statements

160

(2)

Understanding the Balance Sheet

162

(2)

Determining Profitability with Financial Tools

164

(2)

Are You Profitable?

164

(1)

Break-Even Point

164

(1)

Outlining Repayment/ROI

165

(1)

Analysis of Financial Facts

166

(1)

Determining How Much Financing Is Needed

166

(1)

How Much Owners Are Investing

167

(1)

Insurance Needs

167

(4)

Cover Me

168

(1)

Prove It

169

(2)

13 Show Your Documents

171

(10)

Back Me Up

171

(1)

Resumes or Bios

172

(2)

Personal Financial Statements and Tax Returns

174

(1)

Business Structure (Articles of Incorporation)

174

(1)

Loans

175

(1)

Credit Reports

175

(1)

Franchise or Acquisition Agreements

176

(1)

Leases or Mortgage

176

(1)

Licenses

176

(1)

Letters of Intent

177

(1)

Market Analysis

178

(1)

Other

178

(3)

14 Executive Summary

181

(6)

In Summary

181

(1)

What's in the Executive Summary

182

(1)

Selling in Your Summary

183

(2)

Company Overview

183

(1)

Operations Overview

183

(1)

Market Overview

184

(1)

Financial Overview

184

(1)

Paring It Down

185

(1)

What Not to Put in the Executive Summary

186

(1)

Part 3 Putting Your Plan to Work

187

(42)

15 Financing Considerations to Include in Your Plan

189

(14)

The Money Plan

190

(1)

Who's Got the Cash?

190

(2)

What Lenders Want to See

192

(1)

Knocking a Lender's Socks Off

193

(1)

Negotiating Your Financing

194

(1)

Types of Loans

194

(2)

Transaction Loan

194

(1)

Line of Credit

195

(1)

Term

195

(1)

Government-Secured Loans

195

(1)

Lease

196

(1)

What to Expect During the Loan Process

196

(2)

Finding Investors

198

(1)

Money Online

199

(1)

What Investors Want

199

(1)

Other Financial Uses for the Plan

200

(3)

16 Using Your Plan as a Management Tool

203

(16)

Planning to Run

204

(1)

Planning Findings

204

(2)

Solidifying Your Philosophy

204

(1)

Developing a Strategic Vision

205

(1)

Identifying Improvements

205

(1)

Preventing Distractions

205

(1)

Avoiding Misunderstandings

206

(1)

Implementing Your Plan

206

(2)

Providing Strong Leadership

206

(1)

Stating Clear Expectations

207

(1)

Creating Actionable Steps

207

(1)

Being Ready for Barriers

207

(1)

All Aboard

208

(4)

Creating an Advisory Board

208

(2)

Identifying and Building Relationships

210

(1)

Strategic Partners

211

(1)

Staffing Up

212

(4)

Keeping Them Motivated

213

(1)

Creating Employee Incentives

213

(2)

Getting Employees Onboard with Your Plan

215

(1)

Managing the Future

216

(3)

17 Keeping Your Plan Current

219

(10)

Keeping It Going

219

(1)

Measuring Your Company's Success

220

(1)

Getting Information

221

(2)

Your Financial Statements

221

(1)

Your Customer Database or Sales Figures

221

(1)

Your Employees

222

(1)

What Do Customers Really Think?

223

(1)

Using the Information You Find

224

(1)

When It's Time to Go, It's Time to Go

224

(2)

Going Forward

226

(3)

Appendixes

A Business Terms Glossary

229

(6)

B Sample Plans

235

(162)

Index

397