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Business Plan for a Startup Business

Thebusinessplanconsistsofanarrativeandseveralfinancialworksheets.Thenarrative

templateisthebodyofthebusinessplan.Itcontainsmorethan150questionsdivided

intoseveralsections.Workthroughthesectionsinanyorderthatyoulike,exceptfor

theExecutiveSummary,whichshouldbedonelast.Skipanyquestionsthatdonotapply

toyourtypeofbusiness.Whenyouarefinishedwritingyourfirstdraft,you’llhavea

collectionofsmallessaysonthevarioustopicsofthebusinessplan.Thenyou’llwantto

editthemintoasmooth‐flowingnarrative.

Therealvalueofcreatingabusinessplanisnotinhavingthefinishedproductinhand;

rather,thevalueliesintheprocessofresearchingandthinkingaboutyourbusinessina

systematicway.Theactofplanninghelpsyoutothinkthingsthroughthoroughly,

studyandresearchifyouarenotsureofthefacts,andlookatyourideascritically.It

takestimenow,butavoidscostly,perhapsdisastrous,mistakeslater.

Thisbusinessplanisagenericmodelsuitableforalltypesofbusinesses.However,you

shouldmodifyittosuityourparticularcircumstances.Beforeyoubegin,reviewthe

sectiontitledRefiningthePlan,foundattheend.Itsuggestsemphasizingcertainareas

dependinguponyourtypeofbusiness(manufacturing,retail,service,etc.).Italsohas

tipsforfine‐tuningyourplantomakeaneffectivepresentationtoinvestorsorbankers.

Ifthisiswhyyou’recreatingyourplan,payparticularattentiontoyourwritingstyle.

Youwillbejudgedbythequalityandappearanceofyourworkaswellasbyyour

ideas.

Ittypicallytakesseveralweekstocompleteagoodplan.Mostofthattimeisspentin

researchandre‐thinkingyourideasandassumptions.Butthen,that’sthe

valueofthe

process.Somaketimetodothejobproperly.Thosewhodoneverregrettheeffort.And

finally,besuretokeepdetailednotesonyoursourcesofinformationandonthe

assumptionsunderlyingyourfinancialdata.

Ifyouneedassistancewithyourbusinessplan,contactthe

SCOREofficeinyourareato

setupabusinesscounselingappointmentwithaSCOREvolunteerorsendyourplan

forreviewtoaSCOREcounseloratwww.score.org.Call1‐800‐634‐0245togetthe

contactinformationfortheSCOREofficeclosesttoyou.

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