How to Prepare a Business Plan That Guarantees Big Profits... Part 2

The most excellent business plans for even the smallest businesses run 25 pages or more, so you'll require to "title" each page and categorize the different aspects of your business plan into "chapters." The arrangement should run as follows:


Title Page
Statement of Purpose
Table of Contents
Business Description
Market Analysis
Business Location
Management
Current Financial Records
Explanation of Plans for Growth
Explanation of Financing for Growth Documentation
Summary of Business & Outlook for The Future
Listing of Business & Personal References


This is a consistent arrangement of the information every business plan should cover up I'll explain each of these chapter titles in greater detail, but first, let me elaborate upon the reasons for proper organization of your business plan.

Having a set of "questions to answer" regarding your business forces you to take a goal and critical look at your ideas. Putting it all down on paper permits you to change, remove and refine everything to function in the way of a smoothly oiled machine. You'll be able to mark weaknesses and toughen them before they expand into major problems. On the whole, you'll be developing an operating guide for your business - a priceless tool which will keep your business on track, and conduct you in the profitable administration of your business.

Because it's your business, and your idea, it's very important that YOU do the preparation. This is YOUR business plan, so YOU develop it, and put it all down on paper just the way YOU want it. Look for the opinion of other people; talk with, listen to, and observe, other people running similar businesses; enlist the guidance of your accountant and attorney - but at the bottom line, don't ever overlook that it has to be YOUR BUSINESS PLAN!

Remember too, that statistics prove the greatest causes of business failure to be poor management system and lack of planning - without a plan by which to run, no one can manage; and without a direction in which to aim its efforts, no business can achieve any real success.

On the very first page, the title page put down the name of your business – ABC ACTION - with your company address underneath. Skip a couple of lines and write in all capital letters: PRINCIPAL OWNER - followed by name of the principal owner. On your complete report, you would want to center this information on the page, with the words "principal owner" offset to the left about five spaces.

Example:
ABC ACTION
1234 SW 5th Ave. Anywhere, USA 00000


PRINCIPAL OWNER: Your Name


That's all you'll have on that page, except the page number...

-1-


Next your heading page is the page for your declaration of purpose. This should be a straightforward statement of your primary business function, such as: We are a service business occupied in the business of selling business success manuals and other information by parcels.

The title of the page should be in all capital letters across the top of the page, centered on your final draft - skip a few lines and write the statement of purpose. This should be direct, clear and short - never more than two (2) sentences in length.

Then you should skip one or two lines, and from the left hand margin of the paper, write out a subheading in all capital letters, such as: DETAILS OF PURPOSE.

From and within this subtitle, you can briefly clarify your statement of purpose, such as: Our surveys have found most entrepreneurs to be "sadly" lacking in basic information that will enable them to reach achievement. This market is estimated at more than 100 million persons, with at least half of these people actively "searching" for sources that offer the kind of information they need.

With our business, advertising and publishing skill, it is our goal to capture at least half of this market of information seekers, with our publication, MONEY MAKING MAGIC! Our market research shows we can achieve this objective, and realize a profit of $1,000,000 per year within the next 5 years...

The above example is generally the way you should write your "explanation of purpose," and in subtle definition, why you need such an explanation. Point to remember: Keep it short. Very few business purpose explanations are justifiably more than a half page long…. Continued - How to Prepare a Business Plan That Guarantees Big Profits... Part 3

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How to Prepare a Business Plan That Guarantees Big Profits... Part 1