Business Plan Template for a Startup Business

Reference: https://www.score.org/resource/business-plan-template-startup-business

Business Plan

Group Member Full Names:

Group Number:

Section:

Date of Submission:

Table of Contents
I. Instructions: Executive Summary 2
Executive Summary 3
II. Instructions: Company Description & Market Research 4
III. Instructions: Products & Services 5
IV. Instructions: Marketing Plan 6
Pricing Strategy Worksheet 9
V. Instructions: Operational Plan 10
I. Instructions: Executive Summary
The Executive Summary is the most important part of your business plan. Often, it’s the only part that a prospective
investor or lender reads before deciding whether or not to read the rest of your plan. It should convey your
enthusiasm for your business idea and get readers excited about it, too.

The Executive Summary should briefly explain each of the below.

1. An overview of your business idea (one or two sentences).

2. A description of your product and/or service. What problems are you solving for your target
customers?
3. Your proposed target market. Who are your ideal customers?
4. Your competition and what differentiates your business. Who are you up against, and what
unique selling proposition will help you succeed?

After reading the Executive Summary, readers should have a basic understanding of your business, should be
excited about its potential, and should be interested enough to read further.

2
Executive Summary
(Write after you’ve completed the rest of the business plan.)

3
II. Instructions: Company Description & Market Research
This section explains the basic elements of your business. Include each of the below:

1. Company’s MANTRA
a. Why your meaning should exist
b. Why you should exist
c. Examples: “Healthy Fast Food”, “Always Low Price”

2. Target market
You will cover this in-depth in the Marketing Plan section. Here, briefly explain who your target customers
are.

3. Industry: SECONDARY MARKET RESEARCH SECTION STARTS HERE:

Describe your industry and what makes your business competitive Or ANY INFORMATION RELEVANT
TO YOUR BUSINESS IDEA/PLAN/INDUSTRY.

Include your Secondary Market Research (at least 750words) under this heading:
Important Instructions for the Secondary Market Research section of the business plan:

1. Mention REFERENCES from where the information was taken. The references can be mentioned at the
end of Business Plan.
2. There is a ZERO tolerance for plagiarism in this section. You may fail (get zero marks) in this assignment
if you COPY PASTE or plagiarize in this section.
3. Do NOT use any images, charts, tables in this section. Only write text.

This section of your plan can explain ANYTHING related to your business plan/industry:

● For example (this is just an example, you do not have to follow this):
o ANY INFORMATION RELEVANT TO YOUR BUSINESS IDEA/PLAN/INDUSTRY
o Industry overview
o Challenges of this business
o Advantages and opportunities of this business
o The total size of your industry
o Your competitors and their details
o Trends in the industry – is it growing or shrinking?
o The total size of your target market, and what share is realistic for you to obtain
o Trends in the target market? How are customer needs or preferences changing?

After reading the Company Description, the reader should have a basic understanding of your business’s mission
and vision, goals, target market and competitive landscape.

III. Instructions: Products & Services

4
This section expands on the basic information about your products and services included in the Executive Summary
and Company Description. Here are some items to consider:

1. Your company’s products and/or services: What do you sell, and how is it manufactured or
provided? Include details of relationships with suppliers, manufacturers and/or partners that are
essential to delivering the product or service to customers.
2. The problem the product or service solves: Every business needs to solve a problem that its
customers face. Explain what the problem is and how your product or service solves it. What are its
benefits, features and unique selling proposition? Yours won’t be the only solution (every business has
competitors), but you need to explain why your solution is better than the others, targets a customer
base your competitors are ignoring, or has some other characteristic that gives it a competitive edge.
3. How you will price your product or service: Describe the pricing, fee, subscription or leasing
structure of your product or service. How does your product or service fit into the competitive
landscape in terms of pricing—are you on the low end, mid-range or high end? How will that pricing
strategy help you attract customers? What is your projected profit margin?
4. Order Qualifiers and Order Winners of your Product/Service/Business Idea: List down the order
qualifiers and order winners of your product/service. This was discussed during the class and you did a
class activity on this as well.

Include any product or service details, such as technical specifications, drawings, photos and other support
information, in the Appendices.

After reading the Products & Services section, the reader should have a clear understanding of what your business
does, what problem it solves for customers, and the unique selling proposition that makes it competitive.

IV. Instructions: Marketing Plan

This section provides details on your target market and how you will market your business to those customers.

1. Barriers to entry

5
What barriers to entry does your startup face, and how do you plan to overcome them? Barriers to entry might
include:

● High startup costs

● High production costs

● High marketing costs

● Brand recognition challenges

● Finding qualified employees

● Need for specialized technology or patents

● Tariffs and quotas

● Unionization in your industry

2. Threats and opportunities

Once your business surmounts the barriers to entry you mentioned, what additional threats might it face? Explain
how the following could affect your startup:

● Changes in government regulations

● Changes in technology

● Changes in the economy

● Changes in your industry

3. Product/service features and benefits

Describe all of your products or services, being sure to focus on the customer’s point of view. For each product or
service:
● Describe the most important features. What is special about it?

● Describe the most important benefits. What does it do for the customer?

4. Target customer

Describe your target customer. (This is also known as the ideal customer or buyer persona.)

You may have more than one target customer group. For instance, if you sell a product to consumers through
distributors, such as retailers, you have at least two kinds of target customers: the distributors (businesses) and the
end users (consumers). Choosing target customer/audience was discussed in detail during our class.

5. Key competitors

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in a business plan is to claim you have “no competition.” Every business
has competitors. Your plan must show that you’ve identified yours and understand how to differentiate your
business. This section should:
6
List key companies that compete with you (including names and locations), products that compete with yours
and/or services that compete with yours. Do they compete across the board, or just for specific products, for certain
customers or in certain geographic areas?
Also include indirect competitors. For instance, if you’re opening a restaurant that relies on consumers’
discretionary spending, then bars and nightclubs are indirect competitors.

6. Positioning/Niche

Now that you’ve assessed your industry, product/service, customers and competition, you should have a clear
understanding of your business’s niche (your unique segment of the market) as well as your positioning (how you
want to present your company to customers). Explain these in a short paragraph.

7. How you will market your product/service

In this section, explain the marketing and advertising tactics you plan to use.

Advertising may include:

● Online

● Print

● Radio

● Cable television

● Out-of-home
Which media will you advertise in, why and how often?
Marketing may include:
● Business website

● Social media marketing

● Email marketing

● Mobile marketing

● Search engine optimization

● Content marketing

● Print marketing materials (brochures, flyers, business cards)

● Public relations

● Trade shows

● Networking

● Word-of-mouth

● Referrals

What image do you want to project for your business brand?

7
What design elements will you use to market your business? (This includes your logo, signage and interior design.)
Explain how they’ll support your brand.

8. Pricing

You explained pricing briefly in the “Products & Services” section; now it’s time to go into more detail. How do
you plan to set prices? Keep in mind that few small businesses can compete on price without hurting their profit
margins. Instead of offering the lowest price, it’s better to go with an average price and compete on quality and
service.

● Does your pricing strategy reflect your positioning?

● Compare your prices with your competitors’. Are they higher, lower or the same? Why?

● How important is price to your customers? It may not be a deciding factor.

● What will your customer service and credit policies be?

Use the Pricing Strategy Worksheet on the next page to help with your pricing.

8
Explain BCG Matrix with reference to your business. You need to identify and explain in detail how your business
falls in Which category of the BCG matrix.

Explain Ansoff Matrix with reference to your business. You need to identify and explain in detail how your
business falls in Which category of the Ansoff matrix.

9
Explain EACH OF THE below mentioned Porter’s Five Forces in a separate heading.

10
Porter's 5 forces are: (explain Each of the following forces in detail with reference to your business)
1. Competition in the industry
2. Potential of new entrants into the industry
3. Power of suppliers
4. Power of customers
5. Threat of substitute product

Explain Each of the components of the SWOT analysis in detail with reference to your business.

11
Strengths: characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage over others
Weaknesses: characteristics that place the business or project at a disadvantage relative to others
Opportunities: elements in the environment that the business or project could exploit to its advantage
Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or project

Pricing Strategy Worksheet

12
Business Name

Which of the following pricing strategies will you employ? Circle one.

Cost Plus Value Based Other:

The costs of making/obtaining your Based on your competitive

product or providing your service, advantage and brand
plus enough to make a profit (perceived value)

Provide an explanation/reason for choosing the pricing strategy.

COSTING/EXPENSES:

List down the Variable Costs involved in your business:

13
Variable costs are costs that change as the volume changes. Examples of variable costs are raw materials, piece-
rate labor, production supplies, commissions, delivery costs, packaging supplies, and credit card fees.

List down the Fixed Costs involved in your business:

Examples of fixed costs are rent and lease costs, salaries, utility bills, insurance, and loan repayments. Some kinds
of taxes, like business licenses, are also fixed costs. Since you have to pay fixed costs regardless of how much you
sell, you should be careful about adding fixed costs to your small business.

List down the Utilities Expenses involved in your business:

What is Utilities Expense? Utilities expense is the cost incurred by using utilities such as electricity, water, waste
disposal, heating, and sewage. The expenses are incurred over the course of the reporting period, calculated, and
accrued for, or payment is rendered.

9. Location or proposed location

If you have a location picked out, explain why you believe this is a good location for your startup.

If you haven’t chosen a location yet, explain what you’ll be looking for in a location and why, including:

● Convenient location for customers

● Adequate parking for employees and customers

● Proximity to public transportation or major roads

● Type of space (industrial, retail, etc.)

● Types of businesses nearby

Focus on the location of your building, not the physical building itself. You’ll discuss that later, in the Operations
section.

10. Distribution channels

What methods of distribution will you use to sell your products and/or services? These may include:

● Retail

● Direct sales

● Ecommerce

● Wholesale

● Inside sales force

● Outside sales representatives

14
V. Instructions: Operational Plan
This section explains the daily operation of your business, including its location, equipment, personnel and
processes.

1. Production
How will you will produce your product or deliver your service? Describe your production methods, the equipment
you’ll use and how much it will cost to produce what you sell.

2. Quality control
How will you maintain consistency? Describe the quality control procedures you’ll use.

3. Location
Where is your business located? You briefly touched on this in the Company Overview. In this section, expand on
that information with details such as:

a. The size of your location

b. The type of building (retail, industrial, commercial, etc.)
c. Zoning restrictions
d. Accessibility for customers, employees, suppliers and transportation if necessary
e. Costs including rent, maintenance, utilities, insurance and any buildout or remodeling costs
f. Utilities

4. Personnel
What type of personnel will your business need? Explain details such as:

● What types of employees?

● How many employees will you need?

● Will you ever hire freelancers or independent contractors?

● How do you plan to find qualified employees and contractors?

● What type of training is needed and how will you train employees?

5. Inventory
If your business requires inventory, explain:

● What kind of inventory will you keep on hand (raw materials, supplies, finished products)?

● What will be the average value of inventory (in other words, how much are you investing in inventory)?

● What rate of inventory turnover do you expect? How does this compare to industry averages?

● Will you need more inventory than normal during certain seasons? (For instance, a retailer might need
additional inventory for the holiday shopping season.)
● What is your lead time (waiting time) for ordering inventory?

15
6. Suppliers
List your key suppliers, including:

● List and details of suppliers

● Type and amount of inventory needed from suppliers

16