Grace Swart 2/2/12 Business Plan Essay A business plan is a formal write up for a business, setting goals including

a plan that will help the business succeed. Essentially a business plan is everything that you need to start a business, planned out and thought through. There are many components to writing a business plan. First you start off with a company description which includes: the company name, who owns and operates the business, what industry its classified in, location of the business, hours of operation, the year it was formed, the function, how many employees and who the business advisor will be. Second, you will need a section describing products and services, familiarizing you with the industry. It includes a description of the industry, products or services provided, and nature of the business. It gives an overview of the industry and how it is tied in with the business. Third, you will need to include a market analysis in your business plan. Market analysis is basically the assessment of target population, competition and need for marketing. It sums up the function of the business in concern of actually making a profit. Profit plays a major role in opening a business, I mean, that is why businesses are opened! You always need a marketing plan in order to attract customers. There are 4 Ps you will need to include: product, place, price and promotion. In addition to knowing about how you will draw in customers, you will need to have a plan to stick to in order to run and operate a business. An operating plan includes these five categories: purchasing, production, sales/marketing, accounting and distribution. These categories allow the business to have guidelines to stick to, because running a business is not as simple as it may seem. When you begin to think about actually opening this business, you will have to look into details such as, where might this business be? How much will the rent cost? How you want to furnish your business space? Will you get somebody to help you make

decisions for the design? And finally, where will you get the money from to pay for all of this?? Thats where the schedule for start up funds required comes in. In this schedule you will make decisions such as: which equipment to buy and how much will it cost, what the cost of the materials will cost, what advertising if any will you need and how the cost plays a part in this decision. You will decide what you need based on cost, whats essential, how many of this item do you need and how much it will cost. You will also include an introductory promotional letter in the business plan. It shows that you have taken the initiative to attract customers. An income statement is what the projected sales will bring in as far a profit. It includes net sales, cost of goods sold, gross profit, operating expenses and net income. And finally, the executive summary, is a summary of the entire business plan hitting the key points. It includes an introduction, summary of products and services, market summary, competitive position, financial position, mission statement and vision statement. And last but not least, a neat cover page to go on the front of your business plan.