Assignment:
1. Table of contents
The table of contents should detail the topic and the page where that topic can be found
2. Concept/ Executive summary
The concept is one of the most important sections of the business plan as it is the one that determines the attitude of the reader to the rest of the business plan. It should be no more than one page long and include the following:
• a brief description of the company and what attributes it has to bring the opportunity being profiled to a successful conclusion;
• a brief description of the product or service being offered and why it will be successful in the chosen marketplace;
• a brief description of the target market chosen and why it is an appropriate market for both the company and the product or service being profiled;
• a quantitative, not qualitative, evaluation of the opportunity and how it meets the evaluation criteria of the reader;
• a recommendation on future actions to be taken where appropriate.
• 3. Corporate profile and nature of the business
The corporate profile details the company's history and capabilities and will include at a minimum the following information:
• the date and place of the company's formation;
• the style of the corporation; is it a federal or provincial incorporation, a partnership, a proprietorship, a ?joint venture, or some other form of business structure;
• a description of what the business does and how it does it. The section should answer the following questions:
- What does the company sell?
- Is it a manufacturer, an assembler, a marketing company, a service company, or some other style of business?
- Does it sell direct or through agents or distributors or some other means?
- What branches, divisions, business relationships, joint ventures, or other networks does the ?company have?
key milestones in the company's development. These can be both good and bad experiences as lenders ?in particular like to see businesses that have survived adversity as it speaks to their ability to survive crises. These milestones may consist of expansions undertaken, markets entered, sales levels met, type of contracts won, key personnel recruited, or any other key event in the life of the business;
• the reason the company is qualified to pursue the opportunity being profiled;
• previous international experience
• 4. Management and human resources
This section assesses management competencies of the company in relation to its ability to operate the business within an international context and how it compensates for the areas in which it is weak. It also addresses the human resource requirements needed once the business goes international. These requirements could be in marketing, accounting, production personnel, after-sales service, shipping, etc.
At a minimum, the following should be covered:
• an organizational chart showing how the company is structured with particular emphasis on the areas that interact with international transactions;
• a description of the key positions within the company and brief biographies of the people filling them with particular emphasis on the particular skill sets that apply to international trade;
• a description of the human resource requirements of the company once the company starts exporting; what type of people are needed, what qualifications do they require, are they available, etc.;
• an identification of the outside resources used by the company such as freight forwarders, international lawyers, international bankers, international advertising agencies, translators, etc.
• 5. Target market and environmental scan
This section describes the target market, which can be an industrial sector or a specific country. It addresses the factors within that country that will have an impact on the company's ability to do business there. It will also describe the target customer and forecast the potential sales that this segment of the market represents. This section will address some or all of the following at a minimum depending upon their applicability to the opportunity being pursued:
• political stability and business climate;
• geographical issues (climate, location, topography, etc.);
• regional cultural variations;
• legal system as it applies both to doing business in the country and protection of intellectual property;
• business customs and practices;
• religion and culture;
• languages;
• economic information;
• communications systems;
• attitude to foreign investment and repatriation of funds;
• tax system.
• T arget market:
• a description of target clients (demographic or psychographic)
• a distribution of target clients;
• the quantification of target clients by number and potential revenue;
• an explanation of why they are a good fit for the company's product or service.
6. Market entry strategy
This section describes the strategy to be used by the business to enter the chosen market. It may choose to sell directly, use an agent, etc. At a minimum, it will cover the following:
• the entry method chosen;
• the rationale behind the method chosen;
• if an agent or distributor, how the company will find them;
• if it proposes a greenfield approach, how it intends to find a site, builder, get planning permission, etc.;
• how the company's strategy differs from that of the competition.
7. Marketing strategy
This section describes the clientele being targeted by the company and the marketing strategy to be used to enter the chosen market. It describes the opportunity in terms of product, price, place, promotion, people and after-sales service.?Product
The product should be described using both its physical properties and the benefits perceived by the buyer. Both can vary greatly from country to country. At a minimum, the following should be covered:
• physical description of the product or service;
• benefits of the product or service as perceived by the buyer;
• modifications, if any, required to the product or service to meet the requirements of the target market;
• how the product or service is differentiated from the competition. ?Price ?The pricing strategy should be described and justified in terms of its applicability to the target market. The following should be addressed at a minimum:
• Is it a penetration strategy, skimming strategy, static pricing, flexible pricing, value added pricing or some other variation?
• How does the company's price compare to that of the competition?
• If value pricing is used, what is the value statement supporting this?
• What pricing method was used in determining the price: domestic pricing plus mark-up, full cost pricing ?or marginal cost pricing? ?Place ?Place addresses the shipping issues surrounding the shipment of goods or services and looks at issues such as the type of transportation to be used, etc. It also addresses the physical requirements of the product or service such as office or warehouse space in the target country. At a minimum, some or all of the following should be
addressed:
• shipping strategy (rail, road, ship, air, etc.);
• shipping terms used;
• transit points;
• packaging and labelling required;
• outside resources used (freight forwarders, customs brokers, etc.);
• warehousing required;
• distribution systems;
• physical locations;
• Internet service, etc.;
• comparison with the methods being used by the competition.
• ?Promotion
• ?Promotion addresses the media to be used in promoting the product or service in the target country. At a minimum, it should contain the following:
• media to be used and its justification;
• name, contact details, and pricing for chosen media source;
• requirements of the chosen media source (ad ready copy, in house production, use of an agency, etc.);
• requirements of the chosen media source (ad ready copy, in house production, use of an agency, etc.);
• use of professionals (domestic vs. overseas);
• timing of promotions;
• skew of the chosen media source, etc. ?
• People (customers/clients) ?
• This section identifies the customer profile and describes where the customers are located and quantifies them. It also describes the in-house personnel required to accomplish the sales. At a minimum, the following should be included:
• customer profile;
• location and quantity of the customers;
• purchasing criteria used by the customer;
• purchasing methods used by customers;
• timing of purchases (Is there any seasonality involved?);
• sales staff required and the training, if any, that they require.
• ?After-sales service ?•
• This section addresses how the company will handle after-sales service. At a minimum, it will describe: • the nature of the after-sales service to be provided;
• pricing of the after-sales service;
• delivery mechanism of the after-sales service to be provided;
• length of time service will be offered;
• guarantees or warranties offered.
8. Operations
This section describes the production processes used by the business and discusses any certifications that the company carries such as ISO 9000, etc. It also describes any equipment or facilities that the company needs to purchase to make the project come to fruition. At a minimum, it includes the following:
• a description of the production processes (How the product is made and how it flows through the factory);
• a description of the equipment used;
• a description of the administration processes: it helps to present a schematic of how an order flows ?through the process from order to delivery, showing the various departments or people who are involved ?in the process;
• a description of any additional equipment or supplies that will be needed to bring the project to fruition ?(include suppliers and price);
• a description of the inventory control procedures used and any changes that may be required;
• details of suppliers and any changes required
9. Financials
This section describes the financial situation of the business. It includes an analysis of the present situation together with a capital budget and an operating budget. At a minimum, it includes the following:
• 3 years financial statements if available;
• a capital budget of equipment required;
• details of how the capital purchases will be financed;
• a detailed 12 month operating budget with justification of the individual items;
• 3 to 5 years of operating budgets with less detail than the 12 month forecast;
• 5 year cash flow forecast;
• details of payment methods to be used together with any associated costs.
10. Risk management
This section highlights the risks associated with the venture and how they will be covered off. At a minimum, it includes the following:
• details of the risks associated with the venture;
• details of how the risks will be mitigated.
11. Summary
This section summarizes the business plan and outlines the conclusions reached. The conclusions should be rooted in numeric data and not supposition.
12. Bibliography
This section lists all the sources used in the preparation of the business plan.
13. Appendices
These are used to provide outside justification for the information contained in the body of the report. They should be detailed in the appendix. Dumps from the Internet should be avoided.