Business Plan Draft 3
Complete sections 6 and 7 and answer or complete the points for the appropriate section.
Section 6 Operations
The Operations section outlines how you will run your business and deliver value to your customers. Operations is defined as the processes used to deliver your products and services to the marketplace and can include manufacturing, transportation, logistics, travel, printing, consulting, after-sales service, and so on.
Operations Strategy
In this subsection, describe how you will fulfill your marketing strategy using operations:
- If product – how will I produce OR procure my products
- How will I deliver my product/service?
- If a service – who will deliver my services?
Location
- How many square feet and cost per square foot? Include a sample floor plan if a retail business
- If office or retail – why will this location be successful?
- If you are a consultant with a virtual location, please discuss the reason you made this choice?
Staff
- What kind of people will I need to hire?
- How many employees will I need?
- What skills must they have?
- Will my employees be full-time or part-time?
- Will I pay salaries or hourly wages?
Risks
- What are the risks in running this business?
- How will I mitigate these risks?
- Will my legal structure help protect my personal assets?
- What insurance do I need for the business?
Development Strategy
- What factors need to come together to make my concept work?
- What am I doing to bring them together?
- What work remains to launch my company and products?
- THIS CAN ALL BE SUMMARIZED IN A LAUNCH TIMELINE
Exit Strategies
- What is your preferred exit strategy if the business goes well? Go public? Sell out?
- What is your exit strategy if the business does not develop as you hope? How can you get out?
Section 7 Management
Investors often assert that there are three attributes important for a successful start-up business: management, management, and management. Many investors claim they will invest in a strong management team with a mediocre idea, but will decline to fund a weak management team with a great idea. The purpose of the Management section therefore is to convince the reader that you have a great management team to complement a great business concept. This is not the place for modesty or self-depreciation. Be honest, but highlight your accomplishments and your capabilities while mitigating any obvious shortcomings or weaknesses. For example, if you are young and inexperienced, accentuate your energy, capacity for hard work, and willingness to learn, while downplaying your lack of experience. When readers are finished with this section, you want them to be confident that your venture is in good hands and will be competently managed – by you!
Company Organization
BUILD AN ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
- How will the business be organized?
- What are the management roles?
- What is the ownership structure of my company?
Management Team
Describe the founders and principal managers who will run your firm, including yourself.
You
- What is my business background?
- How does my background/business experience help me in this business?
- What management experience do I have? Do I have managerial experience acquired elsewhere-whether in totally different kinds of business, or as an offshoot of club or team membership, civic or church work, etc.?
- What growth opportunities do I have and how will I compensate for them, i.e., will I hire employees or pay consultants who have management abilities/expertise that I don’t have?
- What education do I have (including both formal and informal learning experience) which have bearing on my managerial abilities or knowledge of the industry?
- If you don’t have the needed experience now, how will you acquire this experience before launching your venture?
- Why am I going to be successful at this venture?
Other Managers
- Who are the key managers?
- What will be their duties and responsibilities?
- What unique skills do they bring to the venture?
- How will they be compensated?
- Who does what? Who reports to whom? Where do final decisions get made?
- What additions to the management team do I plan? When?
- What additional resources have I arranged to have available to help me (accountant, lawyer, etc.).
