Format

A total of TWO (2) hard copies of your StartUP! Business Plan must be submitted and one (1) electronic copy on CD. One copy must be bound and one copy unbound with no staples, tape or other fasteners. The Business Plan should be no longer than 20 pages, this does not include financial statements and/or and Appendix.

 The Business Plan must contain the following:

1.      Cover Page with the name of the applicant, street address, telephone number, and email address of the entrant.

2.     Team entries must include the names of all team members, and the street address, telephone number, and email address of one designated entrant.

3.     A Table of Contents, one-page Executive Summary, page numbers throughout the plan.

4.     Financial projections for three years, including income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements the statements should be Monthly for years 1-2 and quarterly for year 3. The financials should also include the sources & uses plan, break-even analysis and the financial assumptions.

A sample business plan outlined is below:

SAMPLE BUSINESS PLAN OUTLINE

What is a Business Plan?
The Business Plan is perhaps the most important document an entrepreneur can create. The business plan helps guide the direction of the company's first several years in business, as well as giving potential investors an idea of the company structure, goals and future plans. Companies at all levels of success create business plans. It is a working document that should be updated on quarterly or yearly basis.

What are the parts of a Business Plan?

Section 1 - The Executive Summary
The purpose of the executive summary is to capture the interest of the investors/lenders/partners so they will want to find out more about the venture. These readers are likely to spend no more than 3 to 5 minutes before making a preliminary decision about your proposal. Therefore, this section is first, and in some ways is most important. This section should emphasize key issues and be no longer than 2 to 3 pages. The Executive Summary summarizes the entire business plan so it is the last component of the plan that you should create.

Section 2 - Business Description
This section of the business plan should provide the reader with a more detailed overview of the company and the nature of the product/service offering. It should include the following:

 Business Description
-  Legal name and form of business entity

-  History behind the idea or current business (if operational)

-  Nature of the product/service being offered

-  Mission Statement and Objectives
-  Location and Geographical Information
-  Companies Development stage and current financial position  
-  Achievements to date

Section 3 – Industry & Market Analysis
The main objective of this section is to convince the reader that an explosive market opportunity exists, and that the entrepreneur understands it well enough to capture a share large enough to support the new venture. The entrepreneur can do this by addressing the following areas:

Industry Analysis
-  Description of the industry
-  Industry current size & growth potential

-  Factors that affect the industry including seasonal, technological and regulatory challenges
-  Barriers to entry

Market Analysis

-  Market size and trends

-  Targeted market research including: demographics, psychographics, purchasing patterns,
-  Market Research
-  Factors that affect the market including seasonal, technological and regulatory challenges
-  Barriers to entry

Section 4 – The Competitive & Strategic Position and Risk Assessment

This section of the business plan assesses who the current players are in the industry and how you will compete with them. It gives you the opportunity to plan how you will enter the market and differentiate yourself from the current players. There are also risks or barriers to entering a market and this portion of the plan should explain how those risk and barriers are managed in your business.

Competitive Position

- Competitive Analysis

- Market Share and Distribution

- Barriers to entry

- Potential / Future Competitive challenges

Strategic Position & Risk Assessment

- Companies Strengths

- Market / Industry opportunities

- Definition of strategic position

- Risk Assessments

Section 5 – Sales & Marketing Plan

The sales and marketing plan details what marketing activities that business will put in place to generate sales and lays out the cost associated with each activity. Remember, the purpose of marketing for a new business is to create awareness and drive sales and the sales and marketing plan should concisely explain how your business will achieve those goals.

- Company marketing strategy

- Marketing Vehicles

- Strategic Partnerships

- Marketing tactics and how they create sales

- Sales Force & Structure

- Sales Assumptions

Section 5 - Operations & Technology
This section should provide an overview of the strategy for the day-to day implementation of the business model. The objective here is for the entrepreneur to demonstrate that he/she has an understanding of how the daily operations of the business will work. It’s important to discuss any needed technology that will help manage processes. Also, this section will help the entrepreneur focus on relevant costs associated with implementing the plan. The entrepreneur must remember to incorporate the assumptions made in this section into the assumptions in the financial section of the business plan. Depending on the type of business, the entrepreneur should address the following key areas (If the business is not manufacturing or producing a product some of these items may not apply, but even a service business should have a detailed plan of operations):

-  Production Plan
-  Personnel / variable labor needs
-  Customer Support

-  Management information systems

-  Inventory management

-  Supply, distribution and order fulfillment

-  Research and development

-  Quality control

-  Safety, health and environmental concerns

-  Shrinkage

Section 6 –  The Management Team
The strength of the management team plays a key role in investors' and lenders' decision to fund a venture. The objective of this section is to convince the reader that the entrepreneur has a management team that can effectively manage the product/service into the market place and make the venture a success. The key areas to cover are:

-  Background and primary responsibilities of the management team
-  Organizational structure
-  Board of Directors/Advisors
-  Business Ownership

Section 7 – Growth & Exit Strategy

The growth and exit strategy outlines methods that will take the business through each stage of development. When a company gets to a certain point the owners may look at removing themselves from the operation. The exit strategy details two things – First, the owners(s) participation or lack of participation in the business at some future point in time.  Second, the exit strategy details how any and all investors that are involved in the business get their money back i.e. do you sell the company and pay them off? How will it happen?

- Long term company goals

- Growth plan

- Milestones

- Exit Plan

Section 8 - The Financial Projections
The purpose of the financial section of the plan is to convince the reader that the venture makes sense from a financial standpoint. The entrepreneur must be able to translate the idea into a plausible set of financial projections which address procurement, allocation, return on investment, and cash management. If your business has not had any sales yet should include 3 years of projected financials (Performa statements). If your business has had some sales you should include 1 year of historical financials along with the 3 years of projections.  For existing and new companies, this section will include the following:

-  Balance Sheet                      Monthly (Years 1-2), Quarterly (Year 3)

-  Income Statement                 Monthly (Years 1-2), Quarterly (Year 3)

-  Statement of Cash Flows       Monthly (Years 1-2), Quarterly (Year 3)

-  Break-Even Analysis

-  Financial Assumptions
-  Proposed Sources & Use of funds

Section 9 - Appendix (Not to exceed five pages)
The purpose of the appendix is to provide additional documentation that supports the business plan. This section gives potential investors the option of looking at more detailed information if they so desire. At a minimum you should make sure that you include in the appendix all information referenced in the plan. The following is a list of items that should be included.

-  Details explaining the tax advantages associated with the proposed structure of the new venture
-  Copies of patents, trademarks or copyrights that have been completed
-  Reviews by independent firms, publications, consultants or outside agencies
-  Letters expressing an interest to buy the product or service
-  Questionnaires used to collect data as part of your marketing research
-  Detailed results of marketing studies that support your marketing assumptions
-  Non-compete agreements signed by the management team and key contributors, particularly if they  play a key role in the invention of the new product
-  Resumes of the key management team and key technical advisors
-  Promotional brochures or advertisements that describe the product or service

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