Homework: Business Plan
Project yourself as an entrepreneur of a small-scale business in Saudi Arabia.
Objectives & Requirements:
I. Owners
i. Your Business Name, Address, E-Mail
II. General Business Description (300 - 500 words)
1. What business will you be in? What will you do?
i. Mission Statement
ii. Company goals and objectives
2. Business Philosophy
1. What is important to you in your business?
i. To whom will you market your product?
ii. Describe your Industry: Is it a growth industry? What long term or Short-term changes do you foresee in the industry? How will your company take advantage of it?
iii. Describe your most important company strengths and core competencies: What factors will make the company succeed? What do you think your major competitive strengths will be? What background experience, skills, and strengths do you personally bring to this new venture?
iv. Legal form of ownership: Sole proprietor, Partnership, Corporation, Limited liability corporation (LLC)? Why have you selected this form?
III. Products and Services (300 - 500 words)
i. Describe in depth your products or services. (Technical specifications)
ii. What factors will give you competitive advantages or disadvantages? Examples include level of quality or unique or proprietary features.
IV. Marketing Plan (300 - 500 words)
i. Market Research- Why?
ii. Market Research- How? Primary or Secondary Data?
iii. In your marketing plan, be as specific as possible; give statistics, numbers, and sources. The marketing plan will be the basis, later on, of the all-important sales projection.
1. Facts about your industry
i. What is the total size of your market?
ii. Current demand in target market.
iii. Trends in target market-growth trends, trends in consumer preferences, and trends in product development.
iv. Growth potential and opportunity for a business of your size.
v. What barriers to entry do you face in entering this market with your new company?
vi. How will you overcome the barriers?
vii. How could the change in technology, change in government regulations, change in the economy, change in your industry, affect your organization.
2. Product
i. Describe the most important features. What is special about it?
ii. Describe the benefits. That is, what will the product do for the customer?
3. Customer
i. Identify your targeted customers, their demographics
4. Competition
i. What products and companies will compete with you?
ii. How will your products or services compare with the competition?
5. Strategy
i. Outline a marketing Strategy.
6. Promotion
i. How will you promote your Product?
ii. What will be your promotional budget?
7. Method of setting prices
i. Compare your prices with those of the competitors. Are they higher, lower, the same? Why?
ii. How important is price as a competitive factor?
iii. Do your intended customers really make their purchase decisions mostly on price?
iv. What will be your customer service and credit policies?
8. Distribution Channels
i. How do you sell your products or services?
9. Legal Environment
i. Licensing and bonding requirements
ii. Health, workplace, or environmental regulations
iii. Special regulations covering your industry or profession
iv. Insurance coverage
v. Trademarks, copyrights, or patents (pending, existing, or purchased
10. Personnel
i. Number of employees
ii. Type of labor (skilled, unskilled, and professional)
iii. Where and how will you find the right employees?
iv. Quality of existing staff
v. Pay structure
vi. Training methods and requirements
vii. Who does which tasks?
viii. For certain functions, will you use contract workers in addition to employees?
11. Inventory
i. What kind of inventory will you keep: raw materials, supplies, finished goods?
ii. Average value in stock (i.e., what is your inventory investment)?
iii. Rate of turnover and how this compares to the industry averages?
iv. Seasonal buildups?
v. Lead-time for ordering?
12. Suppliers:
Identify key suppliers.
i. Credit and delivery policies
V. Financial Plan (300 - 500 words)
The financial plan consists of a 12-month profit and loss projection, a cash-flow projection, a projected balance sheet, and a break-even calculation. Together they constitute a reasonable estimate of your company's financial future.
VI. Conclusion (300 - 400 words)
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
i) The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
ii) The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
iii) Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.