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      2. The Marketing. Also called Market Strategy and including subsections such as Target Markets, Customers, Competition, Distribution, Relationships, Advertising, Pricing, Industry and Market Trends, Strategy and Market Strategy. The Marketing section is a thorough discussion of the industry and your business’ place in it. It covers all the forces that come to bear on your business. From the customers to the competition, advertising to pricing, industry trends to global economics, this section gives the reader a thorough understanding of how your business will deal with getting the product to potential buyers.

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       Rich Dad Tips

       • A key pitfall of many novice entrepreneurs is not knowing how to “get the word out” on their business. Astute business owners understand how to leverage public relations, viral marketing through word of mouth and the internet to attract new customers.

       • Traditional advertising is often expensive and inefficient. True entrepreneurs have a guerilla marketing spirit that allows them to achieve great value from minimal marketing investments.

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      3. The Financials. Also called Financial Data or The Deal and includes subsections such as Uses of Funds, Income Statements, Cash Flow Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Forecast, Profit and Loss Forecast, Income Projection, Sales Revenue Forecast, Income Forecast, Capital Spending Plan, Assumptions, Budget and Break-Even Analysis. The Financial section is all about the numbers. The past, present and future are all represented. You will include tables that lay out the money side of your business. Short-term and long-term costs and revenues are presented in ways that will help management and/or financial experts to determine the risk of your business idea.

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       Rich Dad Tips

       • In their haste, novice entrepreneurs underestimate the time, energy and money required to build a successful business. They tend to underestimate costs and overestimate revenues and time to achieve them.

       • Many savvy investors place little emphasis on the credibility of the numbers because everyone knows they are a guess. They are looked at primarily for an investor or lender to determine if they are in a range of reality.

       • It’s important to benchmark similar companies so you can show you have done your homework.

       • If you don’t have financial statement experience, this is an area where you must leverage an advisor or risk losing credibility.

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      4. The Supporting Material. The material used will depend upon the type of business for which you are planning as well as the contents of the rest of your plan. Common supporting documents include resumes, letters of reference, credit reports, legal documents, agreements and contracts. This is information that needs no textual introduction or explanation or that is introduced or explained in the previous sections of the plan.

      In addition, most business plans have a separate cover sheet, a table of contents, an executive summary and some text introducing the business mission and goals, each of which averages one page.

      For our purposes, we will use the following outline:

       Cover Sheet

       Table of Contents

       Mission Statement

       Executive Summary

       The Business

       Strengths and Weaknesses

       Legal Structure

       Business Description

       Product or Service Description

       Intellectual Property Description

       Location

       Management and Personnel

       Records

       Insurance

       Security

       Litigation

       The Marketing

       Markets

       Competition

       Distribution and Sales

       Marketing

       Industry and Market Trends

       Strategy

       The Financials

       Uses of Funds

       Income Statement

       Cash Flow Statement

       Balance Sheet

       Income Projection

       Break-Even Analysis

       The Supporting Documents

      Although not necessarily in the exact order above, we shall discuss the various elements of the outline and how to flesh them out into a winning business plan in the chapters ahead. Some funding and/or investment entities may have their own outline to follow. If you are given guidelines, follow them. Remember the golden rule. Those with the gold get to make the rules.

      Ideally, by the time the plan is complete, you will have enough information to suit anyone’s guidelines. Compiling the initial information is the real work. Rearranging it into different formats should not be difficult. No matter what outline you choose, be sure to cover all your bases. It is tempting to skip management information if you are preparing the plan for loan purposes only or to skip financials if you are preparing the plan for your own management purposes. If you want to give into temptation, have a piece of chocolate. Do not let temptation shortchange all the potential usefulness of a business plan. You never know when having a complete business plan will, out of the blue, lead to a large opportunity. Be concise, but be thorough.

      If there are no content requirements from lenders or investors, customize your plan to suit yourself and/or your management team. Consider the Rich Dad B-I Triangle as a useful format. Use headings that you and your team understand. For example, does “Core Competencies and Challenges” or “Strengths and Weaknesses” make more sense to you? Does your company deal with licenses rather than manufactured products? Then name and construct your sections accordingly. Ease of understanding is the cornerstone of any good business plan. Remember, there is no federal or state law mandating what has to be in a business plan. Obviously you can’t make material misstatements or fraudulent claims, but beyond that caveat the content is up to you. So write it to satisfy the questions both a novice and a sophisticated investor would ask.

      Before choosing what to include in each section and subsection of your plan, you may want to do some detailed outlining – not necessarily to include in your plan, but for your own use. Know yourself so that you can build your plan to help you. If you know numbers are your weak point, spend some extra time coming to terms with the Financials section of your plan and surround yourself with experts and mentors. If you’re a math whiz, but linear goal setting sets your teeth on edge, take some extra time to СКАЧАТЬ