Company Description

(you must write an actual description of your business to start this section)

Should be an overview of the key components of your business idea. It should explain exactly what you do and why you are original/unique/better. The reader should be able to discern what your benefit is to the market and why you belong.

This should be your, who, what, when, where, how section.

***Reminder it is inappropriate to write a business plan in the first person “I” “My” “Me” etc you should always use third person by using your company name “We” and “the company/business” or use your companies name.

Summarize what kind of business you have, or what you are planning to offer.

Mission Statement

The mission statement should explain in one or two sentences exactly what you do and who your company is NOW. Remember this is for the customer and should resonate with them and cause your employees to take action or behave in a specific manner.

Vision Statement

This is who you want your company to be in the future. You want to make it short and repeatable/memorizable. This is for your employees.

Goals

Where do you want your business to be in the near future? What would you like to achieve? How do you want people to perceive your business? These are your goals.

Objectives

Your objectives are the measurable steps you will use to measure your progress toward meeting your goals. When we talk about measurable there needs to be a number or a time frame here, examples “in 6 months” or “increase our market share by 5%”. This section can be bullet-pointed.

Philosophy

Your philosophy is what is important to you and your business or how you plan to approach production and sales.

Customers

To whom will you market? Describe your ideal customers. Start with age, sex, location, income, education, and interests.

Industry

Describe the industry in terms of short and long term growth and how you will take advantage of changes. What is happening in the industry to force those changes? For example, if you were manufacturing electric cars you may want to touch on the fact that gas is $5 a gallon or how emissions affect the environment, or how governmental influences/regulations could have an effect on the production of gas cars?

Strengths

Describe strengths, core competencies, and what will make your company successful. Make sure to address how the management team will leverage these strengths.

Ownership Structure

Describe the legal form of ownership, and why this structure was selected