Business Plans Kit For Dummies^?, 2nd Edition

by Steven D. Peterson; Peter E. Jaret; Barbara Findlay Schenck

• ISBN13: 9780764597947
• ISBN10: 0764597949
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-09-01
• Publisher: For Dummies

Summary

When you're establishing, expanding, or re-energizing a business, the best place to start is writing your business plan. Not only does writing out your idea force you to think more clearly about what you want to do, it will also give the people you work with a defined road map as well.Business Plan Kit For Dummies, Second Edition is the perfect guide to lead you through the ins and outs of constructing a great business plan. This one-stop resource offers a painless, fun-and-easy way to create a winning plan that will help you lead your business to success. This updated guide has all the tools you'll need to: Generate a great business idea Understand what your business will be up against Map out your strategic direction Craft a stellar marketing plan Tailor your plan to fit your business's needs Put your plan and hard work into action Start an one-person business, small business, or nonprofit Create a plan for an already established business Cash in on the Internet with planning an e-business Featured in this hands-on guide is valuable advice for evaluating a new business idea, funding your business plan, and ways to determine if your plan may need to be reworked. You also get a bonus CD that includes income and overhead worksheets, operation surveys, customer profiles, business plan components, and more. Don't delay your business's prosperity. Business Plan Kit For Dummies, Second Edition will allow you to create a blueprint for success!Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Author Biography

Steven Peterson and Peter Jaret wrote the first edition of Business Plans Kit For Dummies, which was released in 2001.
Steven Peterson is founder and CEO of Strategic Play, a management training company specializing in software tools designed to enhance business strategy, business planning, and general management skills. He’s the creator of the Protean Strategist, a business simulation that reproduces a dynamic business environment where participant teams run companies and compete against each other in a fast-changing marketplace. He holds advanced degrees in mathematics and physics and received his doctorate from Cornell University. For more information, visit www.StrategicPlay.com.

Peter Jaret has written for Newsweek, National Geographic, Health, Men’s Journal, Reader’s Digest, and dozens of other magazines. He’s the author of In Self-Defense: The Human Immune System and Active Living Every Day. He has developed brochures, white papers, and annual reports for the Electric Power Research Institute, Lucas Arts, The California Endowment, WebMD, BabyCenter, Stanford University, Collabria, Home Planet Technologies, and others. In 1992, he received the American Medical Association’s first-place award for medical reporting. In 1997, he won the James Beard Award for food and nutrition writing. He holds degrees from Northwestern University and the University of Virginia.

Barbara Findlay Schenck built upon the great work of Peterson and Jaret as she wrote this second edition of Business Plans Kit For Dummies, which is updated throughout to include current business planning advice and all-new emphasis on the topics of greatest concern to today’s entrepreneurs, business owners, CEOs, and investors. She’s a successful business owner, marketing consultant, author of Small Business Marketing For Dummies, and co-writer of the Edgar Award-nominated memoir Portraits of Guilt. She has worked internationally in community development, served as a college admissions director and writing instructor in Hawaii, founded an advertising agency in Oregon, and has helped organizations large and small to plan and manage successful marketing and management programs. You can contact her at [e-mail].

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(1)
About This Book	1	(1)
Why This Book Is for You	1	(1)
Conventions Used in This Book	2	(1)
How This Book Is Organized	2	(2)
Part I: Laying the Foundation for Your Plan	2	(1)
Part II: Developing Your Plan's Components	3	(1)
Part III: Tailoring a Business Plan to Fit Your Needs	3	(1)
Part IV: Making the Most of Your Plan	3	(1)
Part V: The Part of Tens	3	(1)
Icons Used in This Book	4	(1)
Where to Go from Here	4	(1)
Part I: Laying the Foundation for Your Plan	5	(62)
Starting Your Planning Engine	7	(18)
Committing to the Business-Planning Process	7	(5)
Defining your business-planning situation	8	(3)
Buying into the value of business planning	11	(1)
Identifying Target Audiences and Key Messages	12	(3)
Your audience	12	(1)
Your message	13	(2)
The Anatomy of a Business Plan	15	(3)
Business-plan contents from beginning to end	15	(2)
Frequently asked business-plan questions	17	(1)
Establishing Your Plan's Time Frame	18	(1)
Committing to a Schedule	18	(1)
Defining milestones	19	(1)
Preparing for the Real World	19	(5)
Locating informative resources	20	(1)
Seeking expert advice	21	(1)
Sharing the load	22	(1)
Staying on track	23	(1)
Forms on the CD-ROM	24	(1)
Generating a Great Business Idea	25	(18)
Brainstorming Business Ideas	25	(8)
Using the do-it-yourself idea blender	26	(3)
Inspiring team creativity (with or without donuts or bagels)	29	(3)
Finding business ideas within your work environment	32	(1)
Identifying Business Opportunities	33	(4)
Putting your business ideas through a first test	33	(1)
Narrowing your choices	34	(3)
Doing Your First Reality Check	37	(4)
Getting a second opinion	37	(1)
Conducting a self-appraisal	38	(3)
Forms on the CD-ROM	41	(2)
Defining Your Business Purpose	43	(24)
Knowing What Business You're Actually In	44	(3)
How would I describe my business?	44	(2)
Where's the money?	46	(1)
Giving Your Company Its Mission	47	(6)
Asking basic questions	47	(1)
Framing your mission	48	(2)
Crafting your mission	50	(1)
Putting your mission to work	51	(2)
Setting Goals and Objectives	53	(6)
Approach #1: Tying goals to your mission	55	(1)
Approach #2: Using goal-setting ACES	56	(1)
Approach #3: Covering all the bases	56	(2)
Making final choices	58	(1)
Exploring Values and Vision	59	(6)
Uncovering values you already hold	61	(1)
Writing a values statement	61	(3)
Writing a vision statement	64	(1)
Putting Your Principles into Practice	65	(1)
Forms on the CD-ROM	66	(1)
Part II: Developing Your Plan's Components	67	(108)
Understanding Your Business Environment	69	(26)
Zooming In on Your Industry	70	(3)
Seeing your industry's big picture	70	(1)
Paying the price of admission	71	(2)
Defining Your Customers	73	(13)
Developing your customer profile	74	(2)
Conducting customer research	76	(4)
Sharpening your customer focus	80	(2)
Describing your ideal customer	82	(2)
Segmenting your customers into buyer groups	84	(1)
Doing business with business customers	85	(1)
Sizing Up Your Competition	86	(7)
Using cloak-and-dagger methods	88	(1)
Identifying your stealth competitors	89	(2)
Staying a step ahead	91	(2)
Forms on the CD-ROM	93	(2)
Charting Your Strategic Direction	95	(20)
Assessing Your Capabilities, Opportunities, and Threats	95	(8)
Sizing up your strengths and weaknesses	96	(3)
Identifying opportunities and threats	99	(2)
Conducting a SWOT analysis	101	(2)
Defining Your Business Model	103	(4)
Staying in the black	104	(1)
Timing your future	105	(1)
Knowing how customers pay	106	(1)
Creating a business model that works	107	(1)
Setting Growth Strategies	107	(5)
Understanding your options	108	(1)
Planning for growth	108	(4)
Outlining an Exit Strategy	112	(2)
Forms on the CD-ROM	114	(1)
Describing Your Business and Its Capabilities	115	(18)
Introducing Your Company	115	(6)
What is it you're selling, anyway?	116	(2)
How do you prepare an elevator speech?	118	(3)
Describing Your Business Capabilities	121	(9)
Research and development	121	(2)
Operations	123	(1)
Distribution and delivery	124	(1)
Management	125	(2)
Organization	127	(3)
Focusing on What You Do Best	130	(1)
Forms on the CD-ROM	131	(2)
Crafting Your Marketing Plan	133	(18)
Marketing at a Glance	134	(1)
The big marketing picture	134	(1)
The nuts and bolts of a marketing plan	134	(1)
Analyzing Your Market Situation	135	(4)
Getting a handle on your market	136	(1)
Assessing your competition	137	(1)
Forecasting your business climate	138	(1)
Setting Marketing Goals and Objectives	139	(1)
Defining Your Position and Brand	140	(2)
Designing Marketing Strategies	142	(5)
Your product strategy	142	(1)
Your distribution strategy	142	(1)
Your pricing strategy	142	(2)
Your promotion strategy	144	(3)
Establishing Your Marketing Budget	147	(2)
Forms on the CD-ROM	149	(2)
Deciphering and Presenting Your Financial Situation	151	(24)
Decoding Financial Terminology	151	(1)
Putting Together an Income Statement	152	(4)
Reviewing a sample income statement	153	(3)
Now it's your turn: Creating your income statement	156	(1)
Creating Your Balance Sheet	156	(8)
Reviewing a sample balance sheet	157	(7)
Now it's your turn: Building your balance sheet	164	(1)
Constructing a Cash-Flow Statement	164	(5)
Section 1: Total funds in	165	(1)
Section 2: Total funds out	166	(2)
Section 3: Net change in cash position	168	(1)
Section 4: Changes in liquid assets	168	(1)
Section 5: Net change in cash position	169	(1)
Now It's your turn: Creating your cash-flow statement	169	(1)
Forecasting and Budgeting	169	(5)
Your financial forecast	171	(2)
The master budget	173	(1)
Forms on the CD-ROM	174	(1)
Part III: Tailoring a Business Plan to Fit Your Needs	175	(74)
Planning for a One-Person Business	177	(16)
Confronting the Biggest Self-Employment Obstacles	178	(10)
Planning for success	178	(2)
Putting a price on what you do	180	(8)
Treating your business like a business	188	(1)
Tailoring a Business Plan to Fit Your One-Person Enterprise	188	(4)
Company overview	189	(1)
Business environment	190	(1)
Company description and strategy	190	(1)
Financial review	191	(1)
Action plan	192	(1)
Forms on the CD-ROM	192	(1)
Planning for a Small Business	193	(10)
Recognizing the Importance of a Plan	194	(1)
Preparing Your Small Business Plan	194	(5)
Analyzing your business location and the surrounding environment	195	(1)
Defining your business and its purpose	196	(1)
Plotting your business strategy	196	(1)
Clarifying your financial situation	197	(2)
Establishing your action plan	199	(1)
Keeping an Eye Out for Changes on Your Business Horizon	199	(1)
Growing --- or Not Growing --- Your Small Business	200	(2)
Forms on the CD-ROM	202	(1)
Planning for an Established Business	203	(16)
Purpose-Driven Planning	204	(1)
Planning to Raise Capital	204	(2)
Bank financing	204	(1)
Investor capital	205	(1)
Planning for a Merger or Sale	206	(3)
Planning to Grow Your Business	209	(1)
Planning in Times of Trouble	209	(6)
Diagnosing your problems	211	(2)
Getting a second opinion	213	(1)
Analyzing your current situation	213	(2)
Charting a Turnaround	215	(2)
Keeping an eye on the clock	215	(1)
Focusing on what's doable	216	(1)
Getting the right people in the loop	216	(1)
Using your plan to communicate	217	(1)
Forms on the CD-ROM	217	(2)
Planning for a Nonprofit Organization	219	(14)
Running a Nonprofit Like a Business	220	(5)
Fine tuning your mission and vision	220	(1)
Creating the appropriate structure	221	(2)
Setting goals and objectives	223	(2)
Organizing to Do Good Work	225	(5)
Operations	225	(1)
Organization	226	(1)
Management	227	(1)
Research and development (R&D)	228	(2)
Keeping the Books	230	(2)
Finding funding	230	(1)
Managing overhead	230	(1)
Putting working cash to work	231	(1)
Staying accountable	232	(1)
Forms on the CD-ROM	232	(1)
Planning for an E-Business	233	(16)
Avoiding the Well-Traveled Bumps on the Cyber Highway	235	(2)
Web presence isn't an all-or-nothing proposition	235	(1)
E-business planning is a continuous process	235	(1)
Know and stick to your mission	236	(1)
Know where the money is coming from	236	(1)
Ironing Out Pressing Planning Issues	237	(1)
Creating an Online Customer Profile	238	(1)
Building an Internet Business	238	(6)
Establishing your value proposition	239	(1)
Constructing a workable e-business model	240	(2)
Getting funded	242	(2)
Adding an Internet Extension to Your Brick-and-Mortar Business	244	(4)
Retailing online	245	(1)
Budgeting for your online presence	246	(2)
Forms on the CD-ROM	248	(1)
Part IV: Making the Most of Your Plan	249	(40)
Putting Your Plan Together	251	(20)
Making a List and Checking It Twice	252	(1)
Locating Additional Resources	252	(7)
The bookstore	254	(1)
The Web	254	(2)
Business software	256	(1)
Expert advice	257	(1)
Self help	258	(1)
Assembling Your Planning Team	259	(3)
Delegating responsibilities	259	(1)
Setting the ground rules	260	(1)
Putting first things last	261	(1)
Keeping track of it all	261	(1)
Targeting Your Plan to Key Audiences	262	(6)
Identifying your stakeholders	264	(2)
Addressing more than one audience	266	(1)
Creating alternate versions of your plan	267	(1)
Fitting the Pieces Together	268	(2)
Forms on the CD-ROM	270	(1)
Putting Your Plan to Work	271	(18)
Organizing Your Company around Your Business Plan	272	(5)
Form meets function	272	(1)
Duties and responsibilities	273	(2)
Systems and procedures	275	(2)
Getting Team Buy-In	277	(7)
Distributing your plan	278	(1)
Leading effectively	279	(1)
Sharing the vision	280	(1)
Encouraging pride of ownership	281	(1)
Developing employee skills	282	(2)
Leading into the Future	284	(1)
Keeping Your Plan Current	285	(3)
Monitoring your situation	285	(1)
Encouraging feedback	286	(2)
Forms on the CD-ROM	288	(1)
Part V: The Part of Tens	289	(26)
Ten Signs That Your Plan Might Need an Overhaul	291	(6)
Costs Rise, Revenues Fall	291	(1)
Sales Figures Head South	292	(1)
You Don't Meet Financial Projections	292	(1)
Employee Morale Sags	293	(1)
Key Projects Fall Behind Schedule	293	(1)
New Competitors Appear	293	(1)
Technology Shakes Up Your World	294	(1)
Important Customers Defect	294	(1)
Business Strategy Does a 180	294	(1)
Growth Is Out of Your Control	295	(2)
Ten Ways to Evaluate a New Business Idea	297	(4)
Is This Something I Really Want to Do?	297	(1)
Is This Something I'm Capable of Doing?	298	(1)
Does It Tap My Personal Strengths?	298	(1)
Can I Describe It in 25 Words or Less?	298	(1)
What's the Closest Thing to It in the Marketplace?	299	(1)
Does It Meet a Need or Solve a Customer Problem?	299	(1)
Does It Take Advantage of a New Opportunity?	299	(1)
What's the Biggest Drawback or Limitation?	300	(1)
Will It Make Money --- and How Fast?	300	(1)
Am I Willing to Remortgage My House?	300	(1)
Ten Ways to Fund Your Business Plan	301	(4)
Your Own Pocket	301	(1)
Friends and Family	301	(1)
A Bank Loan	302	(1)
A Commercial Line of Credit	302	(1)
Equipment Leasing	303	(1)
A Small Business Administration (SBA) Loan	303	(1)
Deep-Pocket Partners	303	(1)
Venture Capital	304	(1)
Angel Money	304	(1)
Prospective Customers	304	(1)
Ten Things to Know about Venture Capital	305	(6)
Three Sources of Investment Dollars	305	(1)
What Venture Capitalists Look For	306	(1)
What Venture Capitalists Expect to Gain	306	(1)
When to Raise Venture Capital	307	(1)
Aiming Your Proposals	307	(1)
Approaching Venture Capitalists	308	(1)
Memorizing Your Elevator Speech	308	(1)
Tailoring Your Business Plan	309	(1)
The Importance of an Exit Plan	310	(1)
The Red Flags	310	(1)
Ten Ways to Use Your Business Plan	311	(4)
Put Your Business Idea to the Test	311	(1)
Turn a Good Idea into a Viable Business	311	(1)
Determine Your Start-Up Needs	311	(1)
...and What They're Likely to Cost	312	(1)
Uncover What You're Up Against	312	(1)
Find Funding	312	(1)
Gauge Progress	312	(1)
Prepare for the Unexpected	312	(1)
Tell the World Who You Are	313	(1)
Inspire Your Team	313	(2)
Appendix: About the CD	315	(6)
System Requirements	315	(1)
Using the CD	316	(1)
What You'll Find on the CD	316	(4)
Author created material: Business plan forms	316	(4)
Other software	320	(1)
Troubleshooting	320	(1)
Index	321