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Business Plan Examples for Students

Ajay Jagtap

• December 29, 2023

26 Min Read

Do you know what’s the most common mistake students and rookie entrepreneurs make while preparing their first business plan?

Of course, it’s the first business plan we’re talking about; there’ll definitely be a few. However, overcomplicating things and failing to consider a business plan example still remains the most common one.

That’s why we decided to come up with a solution. We’ve curated this list of top business plan examples for students to help you get going.

So whether you need a business plan for a college project, start a side hustle, or win a business competition, these examples are just what you need to create business plans that stand out.

Ready to dive in? Let’s start by understanding the key elements of a business plan example:

Key Elements of a Business Plan Example

Business planning is not as complicated of a process as people think it is; they’re just overcomplicating things. (Don’t think so?)

Let’s simplify the key elements that make up a comprehensive business plan; you’ll understand it better that way.

Executive Summary:

Company overview:, market analysis:, products and services:, sales and marketing strategies:, operations plan:, management team:, financial plan:.

That’s pretty much it about the key elements of a business plan example. Next, let’s explore the best business plan examples for students.

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Top Business Plan Examples for Students

Now that you already know about the components of a business plan template, let’s review some of the best business plan examples for students.

1. Startup Business Plan Example

Upmetrics’ startup business plan example is the ideal solution for students planning to start up or participate in a business plan competition. This business plan template follows the SBA-approved business planning format used by thousands of successful entrepreneurs.

Whether your startup is about a new-age AI-based application, an online shopping site, or traditional IT consulting—this sample business plan is just what you need.

Unlike any traditional small business plan, this example of a startup business plan is lean and agile in approach, focuses on innovation, and emphasizes market validation.

2. Lean Business Plan Example

Since you’re transitioning from a student to an entrepreneur, you may not have enough time to spend on creating a detailed business plan. That’s where this lean business plan template can help.

It’s a condensed version of a traditional plan summarizing all its sections with a primary focus on covering only the critical aspects of the business.

This template is best for startups or businesses uncertain about business planning and student-turned-entrepreneurs with limited time and resources to prepare a business plan.

3. SBA Business Plan Example

Following an SBA-recommended business plan format is key to securing bank loans and business grants. Since it can be time-consuming to find a template that follows a similar outline as the SBA, this SBA-approved business plan example is the way to get started.

This SBA business plan template has nine primary sections, that include executive summary, company description, market analysis, organization, product description, marketing, funding request, and financial projections.

SBA business plan examples ensure you stay on track and don’t deviate from your funding needs.

4. One-Page Business Plan Example

As you may have already guessed, a one-page business plan is a one-page version of a traditional business plan. Since it’s a condensed version of a business plan, drafting it can be quite easy and quick compared to a lean or traditional plan.

Employees, partners, and vendors often use one-page business plans as a quick overview of your company and banks and investors as a summary of your operations.

While it may not be the ideal choice for entrepreneurs seeking investment or bank loans, students with side hustles and idea-stage startups can consider this option.

5. HBS Sample Business Plan

Harvard Business School’s new venture competition selected this sample business plan as a finalist in 2011.

This is a business plan of App Success, a collaborative web-based platform that connects low-income high school seniors with college students from top universities; this business will enable them to collaborate on college selection, college applications, and financial aid applications.

This example can be a great reference for those planning to start a mobile or web-based solution.

6. Kean University Sample Business Plan

Kean University organizes a business plan competition every year for its students where students prepare and present business plans to compete, and this is one of the sample business plans the University provides to participants to understand the format.

It’s a business plan of Blue Water Boatworks, Inc., a boat detailing and cleaning company specializing in servicing recreational fiberglass and aluminum watercraft.

This example can be a great reference for those planning to start a business related to housekeeping, cleaning, or maintenance.

7. UVM Sample Business Plan

If you are looking for a strategic business plan for a food business, the University of Vermont’s Fancy Foods Business Plan can be a guiding resource for you.

Despite the fact that it can be a good reference for detailed planning, it was written in 1998, so any statistics and numbers may not seem relevant to today’s market landscape. Make sure you keep that in mind.

You may closely follow this example as a reference if planning to start a food truck, restaurant, or any other business that serves food.

That was the list of best sample business plans for students. However, there’s more to talk about. You now have a business plan example, but what about pitching to investors? Let’s explore free pitch deck examples for students.

Free Pitch Deck Example for Students

Pitching to investors as a first-time founder can be exciting but also overwhelming at times. Worry not; we’ve got a solution—investor pitch templates. We’ve prepared a set of 8 investor pitch templates and examples for students and entrepreneurs to help create winning business pitches.

Whether you need a pitch to find an opportunity, ask for subject matter knowledge, or a problem-solving pitch, these investor pitch examples have got you covered. Download now.

How to write a winning plan for a business plan competition?

Creating a business plan is no different than creating one for a real business. Similar to how entrepreneurs prepare and present business plans to investors, Students in business plan competitions pitch to judges.

In short, the business planning process remains exactly the same. Let’s discuss how you can write a winning plan to help you win a business plan competition.

• Select a compelling business idea : everything starts with a compelling idea. Make sure you have a viable business idea to compete in the competition.
• Refer to winning business plan examples : Once you are sure about your business concept, refer to business plan examples from previous winners and how they planned the sections of their plan.
• Market Research & Industry Analysis : After referring to business plan examples, conduct industry research and market analysis to make your statistical and financial numbers accurate and realistic.
• Understand business model and revenue streams : Since you are preparing a business plan for a company that doesn’t exist, be sure about the business model and how the business will generate profit.
• Use AI business plan generator : Using an AI business plan generator like Upmetrics can be incredibly helpful in speeding up the business planning process. With industry-specific business plan templates and AI assistance to write your plan, you can write the first draft of your plan in literally no time.
• Presentation and visuals : Prepare visuals and graphs to make your business plan visually appealing and numbers digestible. You may not need to prepare these visuals if you use business plan software manually.
• Proofread and edit : Grammatical errors are the last thing judges want to see in a business plan. Make sure you proofread and edit your draft thoroughly before submitting it.

Easy as that, that’s the way to write a perfect business plan that can lead you to victory in any business plan competition on planet Earth. Let’s have a look at a real-life business and financial plan example.

Business and Financial Plan Example for Students

Having learned about business planning for students, let’s quickly discuss a coffee shop sample business plan and financial statements prepared using Upmetrics.

1. Executive Summary

The Cooper’s Cup will be a new cafe in Phoenix, Arizona. The 1,500 square foot café will be located in the newly constructed Market Square Plaza on the northeast corner of 135th Street and Mission Street. The anchor tenant, the Price Chopper grocery store, has already taken occupancy, and the excellent location brings more than 10,000 shoppers weekly.

The Cooper’s Cup, aptly named for the aromatic brown liquid that will fill the cup, fills the void of original cafes in the market and stands out from its corporate peers with its fast food concepts and prompt services. The Cooper’s Cup is the alternative to fast food/commercial/coffee shops and offers a much calmer, civilized gourmet coffee experience.

There are no televisions in the cafe, the background music is subtle, and work from local artists will hang on the walls. The restaurant is well-appointed, with overstuffed leather chairs and sofas in a library-like setting. The cafe is reminiscent of times gone by – yet is cutting edge technologically with WIFI and state-of-the-art espresso machines.

The Cooper’s Cup measures its financial success in terms of increased market share and earnings. This is a tremendous opportunity with a total local market of $54 million! The keys to success will be offering quality gourmet coffees, taking advantage of its small size, and relying on an outstanding barista staff.

To achieve these goals, the cafe will present some of the area’s finest gourmet beans from local distributors. Because of its small size, the restaurant can enjoy larger margins through lower overhead. The cafe will hand-select baristas and offer salaries comparable to the chains. The baristas will be trained to cross-sell and sell higher-margin products.

The primary objectives of the business plan for Cooper’s Cup are below:

• To increase revenues by $36,000 or 5% in Year 2 and $73,000 or 10% by Year 3
• Achieve a profit margin of 5.2% in Year 2 and 6.90% by Year 3
• Be the Cafe of Choice in the Phoenix area and the recipient of the Best Coffeehouse Award.

Guiding Principles

The Cooper’s Cup is committed to values such as excellence, passion, quality, integrity, and leadership, allowing them to navigate challenges and provide for future opportunities. These core beliefs start with their commitment to their products and their employees. Cooper’s Cup rewards excellence and cherishes loyalty. The cafe will work with its employees to build strong businesses and a secure future.

Mission statement

The Cooper’s Cup is committed to its products and employees, which they believe is the recipe for market success.

Key to success

The Cooper’s Cup stands out from the competition. Below are their Keys to Success:

• Great Products : providing exemplary products at market prices – will make customers want to return again and again.
• Hire Quality Baristas : Pay employees rates similar to the larger chains with opportunities for long-term careers and opportunities for advancement with long-term plans to open a second facility.
• Convert Customers to Connoisseurs : Only 40% of the nation’s coffee drinkers consume premium ground and whole bean coffee – this will aid in the continued growth.

Financial Summary

2. Business Overview

The Cooper’s Cup will be a coffee house/cafe located in Phoenix, Arizona. The cozy cafe will be located in the newly completed Market Square Plaza in the Arizona City area. The cafe will serve gourmet coffee, espresso, drip coffee, lattes, and smoothies. The simple pastry offerings may vary with seasonality, but the primary line will be muffins, bread, cookies, scones, and rolls. All pastries will be supplied daily by a local bakery.

The cafe will be owned and operated by Owen Jones, a veteran restaurateur with several years of experience running and managing chain restaurants. The cafe will be open for business Monday – Thursday 7-10, Fridays and Saturdays, 7-11, and closed Sundays.

The Cooper’s Cup will be formed as an S-Corporation owned by Mr. Doe.

Start-Up Summary

The Cooper’s Cup will have seating for 40 patrons. The rent is $2,075 a month, with a three-five-year lease available. The site comprises 1500 square feet of leased space consisting of a dining room, a coffee bar, two restrooms, and a storage room in the back.

This storefront needs to be plumbed and wired appropriately to be used as a restaurant. Painting, new floors, and countertops are also needed. A custom coffee bar needs to be built. With materials bought on sale and volunteer labor, the cost to renovate will be $71,725.

The coffeehouse equipment will consist of two commercial espresso machines, air pots and urns, a commercial blender, a commercial brewer, top-loading coffee bins, barista syrups, cold drink dispenser, frothing equipment, a commercial refrigerator, microwave, and stainless steel prep bar.

The cost of the equipment is $38,275. The furniture will consist of leather couches and chairs (purchased at auction), coffee tables, bookcases, and window treatments. The artwork will come from local artists and be sold on a consignment basis. The books were secured via donations. The total cost to furnish is $14,000. Other startup expenses will be dishes, furniture, rent deposit, and marketing.

Location and Facilities

The new coffeehouse is located in the highly desirable Phoenix, Arizona, area at the northeastern intersection of 135th Street and Mission Street in the Newmarket Square Plaza. The property is situated in an excellent location, with an easy 6-minute drive time to I-435 and 69 Highway. 

The property is 95% leased with Price Chopper as the Anchor Tenant. Other tenants include LifeSpring Med Spa, Jane’s Canines (Pet Store & Boarding), Pride Cleaners Kahn Dental, and Swim U. 

Price Chopper brings more than 10,000 shoppers per week to the center. The location comprises a population of 9,420 within a one-mile radius, 61,102 within a 2-mile radius, and 149,550 within a 5-mile radius – with a median household income of $120,856. Sprint / Nextel’s corporate office is within 2 miles of the site.

3. Market Analysis

Phoenix, Arizona, is an award-winning place to live and work and is considered the leading business community in the Midwest. National publications and organizations recognize Phoenix for its business environment and livability. Here’s a sampling: 6th Place, America’s Best Places to Live Money, Top 50 Cities to Live and Play, National Geographic Adventure, 3rd Hottest Town in the U.S., Money, Among 20 Best Places to Live & Work Employment Review, One of only 72 Sterling Tree Cities in the U.S., National Arbor Day Foundation, Top 10 best Locations to Raise a Family, Southern Business and Development, 1st Place, Kid Friendly Report Card, Population Connection, 2nd Best City in America to Live Business Development Outlook.

Phoenix is at the core of one of the most dynamic local markets in the U.S. It offers easy access to the Arizona City region’s amenities, and, as part of the Arizona City metropolitan area, it is within the most centrally located major market in the nation. I-35, I-435, I-635, and U.S. Highway 69 all pass through Phoenix, and no point in the city is more than 3.5 miles from a freeway. The city maintains an excellent arterial street network and plans to construct additional lane-miles as the area grows. Three airports serve the region. Arizona City International Airport (MCI) is just 25 interstate highway miles north of Phoenix. Johnson County Executive Airport—the second busiest in Arizona—provides complete services for private business jets and general aviation. New Century AirCenter, just 12 miles southwest of the city, offers available aviation services and accommodates cargo or passenger jets of any size.

Phoenix supplies some of the most highly educated workers in the nation, with 97% of Phoenix adults over age 25 holding at least a high school diploma. Johnson County, where Phoenix is located, ranks first among the country’s 231 counties with populations greater than 250,000. The county ranks sixth in the percentage of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree and 16th with a graduate or professional degree.

The Phoenix area has a population of 175,265, based on the 2010 census. The median household income is $77,881, and the median age is 37.9. (2010 U.S. Census)

Industry Analysis

The U.S. coffee shop industry includes about 20,000 stores with a combined annual revenue of about $10 billion. Major companies include Caribou Coffee, International Coffee & Tea (The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf), Peet’s Coffee, and Starbucks. The industry is concentrated: the top 50 companies generate more than 70 percent of sales. Coffee shops are part of the specialty eatery industry, including retail outlets specializing in bagels, donuts, frozen yogurt, and ice cream products. (First Research)

Competitive Landscape

Consumer taste and personal income drive demand. The profitability of individual companies depends on the ability to secure prime locations, drive store traffic, and deliver high-quality products. Large companies have advantages in purchasing, finance, and marketing. Small companies can compete effectively by offering specialized products, serving a local market, or providing superior customer service. Specialty eateries, which include coffee shops, are labor-intensive: average annual revenue per worker is about $50,000. Coffee shops compete with convenience stores, gas stations, quick service, fast food restaurants, gourmet food shops, and donut shops. (First Research)

Market Size

The U.S. coffee shop industry includes about 20,000 stores with a combined annual revenue of about $10 billion. Major companies include Caribou Coffee, International Coffee & Tea (The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf), Pet’s Coffee, and Starbucks. The industry is concentrated: the top 50 companies generate more than 70 percent of sales. (First Research)

Target Market and Segment Strategy

Most adult coffee drinkers said their lifelong habits began during their teenage years. 54% said they began drinking coffee between 13 and 19. Another 22% reported their coffee cravings started between 20 and 24. This means that 76% of adult coffee drinkers began drinking coffee by the time they were 24. So, despite a large amount of marketing and advertising directed at the younger age groups, savvy coffee shop owners will remember to cater some of their offerings to the adult and senior market. (National Coffee Drinking Study).

The Cooper’s Cup will offer a unique experience for coffee enthusiasts by providing a quiet, cozy, yet sophisticated cafe and a sense of refinement and peace in an otherwise hectic and fast-paced world. While other coffee shops cater to convenience with drive-throughs or loud music venues late into the night, the Cooper’s Cup will stand apart from its competitors with its quiet yet soothing ambiance, capturing a truly unique (and much-needed) market niche.

• Unique products (specialized roasts, local ingredients, locally-themed or named drinks, custom drinks by the star barista, etc.)
• Games, puzzles, mind benders, and other activities that encourage customers to linger over their coffee
• Hosting or sponsoring local events (entertainment, readings, book clubs, etc.)
• Using technology to creatively compete in marketing with big chains — services like FourSquare, Yelp, and Google Places can increase visibility in the local market.
• Delivering amazing service from knowledgeable baristas — spend lots of time training staff and utilizing online services like the American Coffee & Barista School.
• Selling coffee-related items (and tracking down any co-marketing opportunities with a local community college or another student-related group in the area)

4. Products and Services

Product/services descriptions.

The Cooper’s Cup’s primary offering is gourmet roasted coffees with mocha, carmelicious, white mocha, candy bar latte, and brewed coffee. Complementing the coffee will be a smoothie line including wild berry, strawberry, peach, mango, and lemonade. Rounding out the simple menu line will be pastries obtained from an outside supplier, freshly made and delivered daily. The pastry offerings may vary with seasonality, but the primary line will be muffins, bread, cookies, scones, and rolls.

Product/Service Sourcing

The Cooper’s Cup has negotiated supplier agreements with several local food-service wholesalers and coffee wholesalers in the Phoenix area that have a reputation for quality and reliability:

• Mean Beans Coffee Roasters
• Phoenix Brewers
• Healthy Harvest Bread Co.
• Mary’s Organics

If one of the abovementioned specialty suppliers cannot meet their needs, the following national suppliers can provide all the food-service products they require. In addition, the following wholesalers will supply the cafe with general restaurant supplies:

• Lawrence Food Products Corp.
• Gerry Food Supply Inc.

Future Products/Services

Young families, which comprise Phoenix’s third largest market share, are often overlooked in the coffee market. Coffeehouses traditionally have not been considered ‘kid’ friendly. To overcome this hurdle, Cooper’s Cup has long-term plans (5 years) to open a 2nd coffee shop: A combination indoor play area/coffee bar. This concept allows parents and caregivers to meet and relax with other adults while the children can enjoy the indoor playground amenities.

Additional future services will include in-store sales for home purchases and an online store.

The website will have the option to purchase a prepaid gift card program – Prepaid gift cards provide immediate cash, reduce credit card transaction charges, and draw new customers to the business.

5. Sales and Marketing Strategies

Swot analysis.

Unique Selling Proposition

The Cooper’s Cup stands out from a crowded sea of coffee chains and franchises. What sets it apart from the competition is primarily its smaller, cozier size combined with premium coffees served by knowledgeable baristas, providing so much energy and enthusiasm for its products.

Market Strategy and Positioning

The Cooper’s Cup utilizes a focus strategy on its Market. By specifically targeting three primary segments, they can cater specifically to their needs.

Senior Market (age 45+)

The Cooper’s Cup will target this Market simply by its well-selected location. Although this demographic group could readily drive downtown, they prefer a local cafe to unwind and relax and historically become some of the most loyal patrons.

Newly Hired Employees

The cafe will attract regular customers (weekly or more) – particularly the newly employed (first job) by providing free WIFI services and providing interesting games in the customer area.

Young Families

The third targeted Market, younger families, often find that coffeehouse is not ‘kid’ friendly. The company has long-term plans to create a combination coffee shop/play area so that parents and caregivers can meet with other adults while the children can enjoy the bounce houses, slides, and indoor playground equipment.

Pricing Strategy

The Cooper’s Cup primarily utilizes competition-based pricing. The cafe does not utilize coupons and discounts (other than opening promotions) because they believe that the most valuable customer demographic of daily coffee consumers is not influenced by discount programs or coupons.

Promotion and Advertising Strategy

• Online Advertising – The Cooper’s Cup will advertise regularly on popular social media sites like Facebook. Compared to traditional print advertising, this is a cost-effective tactic that will allow them to reach prospects in a highly targeted way (e.g., based on criteria such as age, gender, geography, etc.).
• Website – Cooper’s Cup will develop a simple Web site, which will provide basic information about the business, the menu, and links to their presence on the aforementioned social media channels.
• Radio Advertising – During the first six months of operation and the busy holiday shopping season, the business will advertise on local radio stations.

Sales Strategy

The Cooper’s Cup will use the following methods to increase sales revenue (as recommended by Andrew Hetzel on Better Coffee, Better Business):

• The menu will focus on the most profitable products sold. The cafe will always draw customer attention to the best products.
• As warranted, the cafe will raise prices to bolster its brand image. Prices communicate the perceived value of a product, so if set too low, the customers might assume that the beverages are inferior compared to the competition.
• Monitor flavoring inventory – Excess flavoring inventory ties up capital and valuable backroom space for storage. The cafe will utilize 4-6 varieties, including sugar-free offerings.
• Control waste and theft – audit sales and inventory reports to evaluate ingredient waste due to inefficient preparation, returned drinks, and employee consumption. Retail locations can easily waste 20% or more of their daily sales in these three key categories, which is a substantial and unnecessary loss.
• Monitor and evaluate hours of operation.
• Run employee sales contests – The baristas are the salespeople and have great influence over the customer ordering process. All baristas will have some form of sales and customer service training to make each transaction active rather than passive. Sales contests will emphasize high-margin items or cross-selling.

6. Operations Plan

Staffing and training.

An ongoing training and education program will ensure that each staff member learns and implements Cooper’s Cup’s exacting service and operational procedures standards. Staff meetings will reinforce service standards and principles. The Cafe will have detailed work descriptions and training programs for each position, from entry-level employees to the ongoing development of managers and owners. New employees will undergo an extensive training program. This ensures that each guest receives a quality experience from all employees, regardless of how long they have been employed. The Cafe embraces the concept of promoting from within. Excellence in one function typically leads to excellence in another. Regular staff evaluations and training will ensure motivation and address critical issues.

Inventory controls

The founder will be responsible for hiring and training managers who, in turn, will ensure that the day-to-day operations will comply with the standards set by Restaurant policy. Weekly management meetings will provide a forum to review and discuss financial and operational performance. Critical decisions related to purchasing, human resources, marketing, capital expenditures, and customer service will also be addressed.

Purchasing cost controls

Food preparation personnel will follow standardized recipes developed by the founders to control food costs and ensure consistency. The coffee shop will offer an innovative menu with nutritious food and beverages while achieving the most significant margin yield.

Customer Service

The hospitality business recognizes the client’s support experience is the critical driver to replicate business. The direction will Offer a superior degree of Professionalism by hiring individuals who deliver the ideal attitude to work and teaching them the skills required to accommodate guests. The restaurant will keep high levels of consumer satisfaction with talented, educated, and well-trained workers who understand and implement the fundamentals of fantastic service. Ongoing training will be provided to enable staff to perform their jobs with confidence and ability. Employees are well-spoken, well-versed, and trained to provide friendly, prompt, and professional service to each customer. This practice teaches employees who, by producing an exceptional customer experience, can optimize sales and raise their reimbursement. The team will have the knowledge and service required to create excellent daily service for every customer.

Technology & Software

While the quality of the cuisine and dining experience contributes significantly to a restaurant’s profitability, attention to business and financial details can transform small changes into significant returns. Critical sales, cost of sales, labor, inventory, marketing, and overhead metrics are monitored daily. Trends are evaluated, and constructive actions will be taken where improvement is needed. The management team will have access to the restaurant’s transactions and reports available in its real-time POS (point of sale) and accounting systems. Trends will be evaluated, and corrective action will be implemented as required.

7. Organization Structure

The Cooper’s Cup is formed as an S-Corporation wholly owned by John Doe.

Management Team

The Cooper’s Cup will be owned 100% by John Doe. Mr. Doe, a graduate of Arizona State University, has an undergraduate degree in business administration. During high school, he worked as a waiter in a local hospital coffee shop that purchased its beans from a local roaster. In addition to being an avid coffee drinker, this job allowed him to learn about the business first-hand. In college, Doe worked in a campus coffeehouse for four years, eventually becoming an assistant manager. Following graduation, Doe secured a business development position for a regional restaurant chain, which provided additional first-hand exposure to the food and beverage industry—especially the steps involved in establishing new locations.

Management Team Gaps

The Cooper’s Cup will rely on its POS (Point of Sale) system to generate daily accounting and cost activity reports. Mr. Doe will supply these to an outside bookkeeper for the preparation of annual income taxes.

Personnel Plan

Initially, the cafe will hire 1 manager, 5 baristas, and 2 part-time servers. In Year 2, the cafe plans to hire 1 additional full-time barista.

8. Financial Plan

Important assumptions.

• The sales forecast is conservative and assumes a 5% increase in Year 2 and a 10% in Year 3.
• The analysis accounts for economic seasonality – wherein some month’s revenues peak (such as holidays ) and wane in slower months.
• The analysis assumes the owner will not withdraw any salary till the 3rd year; at any time it is assumed that the owner’s withdrawal is available at his discretion.
• Sales are cash basis – nonaccrual accounting
• Moderate ramp-up in staff over the 5 years forecast
• Barista’s salary in the forecast is $36,000 in 2023.
• In general, most cafes have an 85% gross profit margin
• In general, most cafes have a 3% net profit margin

Projected Balance Sheet

Projected Cash-Flow Statement

Projected Profit & Loss Statement

Break Even Analysis

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you write a business plan for a college project.

As mentioned earlier in the article, business planning for a college project or competition is no different than for a real business. You can write your business plan using these step-by-step instructions.

• Select a compelling business idea
• Refer to business plan examples
• Prepare a business plan outline
• Create a company description section
• Conduct market research and industry analysis
• Describe your product and services
• Outline sales and marketing strategies
• Create an operations plan
• Introduce management team
• Prepare financial projections
• Summarize your plan with an executive summary

What is a business plan for students?

A business plan is a necessary business document that highlights its purpose,  business goals, product/service offerings, go-to marketing strategies, operations and financial plan, key people involved in the business operations, and other necessary details.

As a student, consider a business plan example as a document that helps you better understand business and industry dynamics and learn how a business operates inside out.

What is a business plan competition for students?

Business plan competitions are competitions mostly organized by universities for students passionate about entrepreneurship and the business world. These competitions offer students a platform to showcase their entrepreneurial skills while also providing opportunities for mentorship and networking.

How can I increase my chances of winning a business plan competition?

There cannot be a straightforward answer to this question, but there’s surely a method that can increase your chances of winning a competition—Using AI-powered business plan software.

Why? An AI tool will make you 10X more productive while writing a business plan and preparing financial forecasts. So you can spend more time researching the market and brainstorming business ideas.

Where can I find more business plan examples for students?

Upmetrics’ library of 400+ business plan examples could be an incredible source for students to find more industry-specific business plan examples. There are examples for almost every small business category, including real estate, retail, entertainment and media, food & beverages, and more.

About the Author

Ajay is a SaaS writer and personal finance blogger who has been active in the space for over three years, writing about startups, business planning, budgeting, credit cards, and other topics related to personal finance. If not writing, he’s probably having a power nap. Read more

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How to Write a Business Plan (Plus Examples & Templates)

May 24, 2021

Have you ever wondered how to write a business plan step by step? Mike Andes, told us: 

This guide will help you write a business plan to impress investors.

Throughout this process, we’ll get information from Mike Andes, who started Augusta Lawn Care Services when he was 12 and turned it into a franchise with over 90 locations. He has gone on to help others learn how to write business plans and start businesses.  He knows a thing or two about writing  business plans!

We’ll start by discussing the definition of a business plan. Then we’ll discuss how to come up with the idea, how to do the market research, and then the important elements in the business plan format. Keep reading to start your journey!

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan is simply a road map of what you are trying to achieve with your business and how you will go about achieving it. It should cover all elements of your business including: 

• Finding customers
• Plans for developing a team
•  Competition
• Legal structures
• Key milestones you are pursuing

If you aren’t quite ready to create a business plan, consider starting by reading our business startup guide .

Get a Business Idea

Before you can write a business plan, you have to have a business idea. You may see a problem that needs to be solved and have an idea how to solve it, or you might start by evaluating your interests and skills. 

Mike told us, “The three things I suggest asking yourself when thinking about starting a business are:

• What am I good at?
• What would I enjoy doing?
• What can I get paid for?”

If all three of these questions don’t lead to at least one common answer, it will probably be a much harder road to success. Either there is not much market for it, you won’t be good at it, or you won’t enjoy doing it. 

As Mike told us, “There’s enough stress starting and running a business that if you don’t like it or aren’t good at it, it’s hard to succeed.”

If you’d like to hear more about Mike’s approach to starting a business, check out our YouTube video

Conduct Market Analysis

Market analysis is focused on establishing if there is a target market for your products and services, how large the target market is, and identifying the demographics of people or businesses that would be interested in the product or service. The goal here is to establish how much money your business concept can make.

Product and Service Demand

A search engine is your best friend when trying to figure out if there is demand for your products and services. Personally, I love using presearch.org because it lets you directly search on a ton of different platforms including Google, Youtube, Twitter, and more. Check out the screenshot for the full list of search options.

With quick web searches, you can find out how many competitors you have, look through their reviews, and see if there are common complaints about the competitors. Bad reviews are a great place to find opportunities to offer better products or services. 

If there are no similar products or services, you may have stumbled upon something new, or there may just be no demand for it. To find out, go talk to your most honest friend about the idea and see what they think. If they tell you it’s dumb or stare at you vacantly, there’s probably no market for it.

You can also conduct a survey through social media to get public opinion on your idea. Using Facebook Business Manager , you could get a feel for who would be interested in your product or service.

 I ran a quick test of how many people between 18-65  you could reach in the U.S. during a week. It returned an estimated 700-2,000 for the total number of leads, which is enough to do a fairly accurate statistical analysis.

Identify Demographics of Target Market

Depending on what type of business you want to run, your target market will be different. The narrower the demographic, the fewer potential customers you’ll have. If you did a survey, you’ll be able to use that data to help define your target audience. Some considerations you’ll want to consider are:

• Other Interests
• Marital Status
• Do they have kids?

Once you have this information, it can help you narrow down your options for location and help define your marketing further. One resource that Mike recommended using is the Census Bureau’s Quick Facts Map . He told us,  

“It helps you quickly evaluate what the best areas are for your business to be located.”

How to Write a Business Plan

Now that you’ve developed your idea a little and established there is a market for it, you can begin writing a business plan. Getting started is easier with the business plan template we created for you to download. I strongly recommend using it as it is updated to make it easier to create an action plan. 

Each of the following should be a section of your business plan:

• Business Plan Cover Page
• Table of Contents
• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• Description of Products and Services

SWOT Analysis

• Competitor Data
• Competitive Analysis
• Marketing Expenses Strategy 

Pricing Strategy

• Distribution Channel Assessment
• Operational Plan
• Management and Organizational Strategy
• Financial Statements and/or Financial Projections

We’ll look into each of these. Don’t forget to download our free business plan template (mentioned just above) so you can follow along as we go. 

How to Write a Business Plan Step 1. Create a Cover Page

The first thing investors will see is the cover page for your business plan. Make sure it looks professional. A great cover page shows that you think about first impressions.

A good business plan should have the following elements on a cover page:

• Professionally designed logo
• Company name
• Mission or Vision Statement
• Contact Info

Basically, think of a cover page for your business plan like a giant business card. It is meant to capture people’s attention but be quickly processed.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 2. Create a Table of Contents

Most people are busy enough that they don’t have a lot of time. Providing a table of contents makes it easy for them to find the pages of your plan that are meaningful to them.

A table of contents will be immediately after the cover page, but you can include it after the executive summary. Including the table of contents immediately after the executive summary will help investors know what section of your business plan they want to review more thoroughly.

Check out Canva’s article about creating a  table of contents . It has a ton of great information about creating easy access to each section of your business plan. Just remember that you’ll want to use different strategies for digital and hard copy business plans.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 3. Write an Executive Summary

An executive summary is where your business plan should catch the readers interest.  It doesn’t need to be long, but should be quick and easy to read.

Mike told us,

How long should an executive summary bein an informal business plan?

For casual use, an executive summary should be similar to an elevator pitch, no more than 150-160 words, just enough to get them interested and wanting more. Indeed has a great article on elevator pitches .  This can also be used for the content of emails to get readers’ attention.

It consists of three basic parts:

• An introduction to you and your business.
• What your business is about.
• A call to action

Example of an informal executive summary 

One of the best elevator pitches I’ve used is:

So far that pitch has achieved a 100% success rate in getting partnerships for the business.

What should I include in an executive summary for investors?

Investors are going to need a more detailed executive summary if you want to secure financing or sell equity. The executive summary should be a brief overview of your entire business plan and include:

• Introduction of yourself and company.
• An origin story (Recognition of a problem and how you came to solution)
• An introduction to your products or services.
• Your unique value proposition. Make sure to include intellectual property.
• Where you are in the business life cycle
• Request and why you need it.

Successful business plan examples

The owner of Urbanity told us he spent 2 months writing a 75-page business plan and received a $250,000 loan from the bank when he was 23. Make your business plan as detailed as possible when looking for financing. We’ve provided a template to help you prepare the portions of a business plan that banks expect.

Here’s the interview with the owner of Urbanity:

When to write an executive summary?

Even though the summary is near the beginning of a business plan, you should write it after you complete the rest of a business plan. You can’t talk about revenue, profits, and expected expenditures if you haven’t done the market research and created a financial plan.

What mistakes do people make when writing an executive summary?

Business owners commonly go into too much detail about the following items in an executive summary:

• Marketing and sales processes
• Financial statements
• Organizational structure
• Market analysis

These are things that people will want to know later, but they don’t hook the reader. They won’t spark interest in your small business, but they’ll close the deal.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 4. Company Description

Every business plan should include a company description. A great business plan will include the following elements while describing the company:

• Mission statement
• Philosophy and vision
• Company goals

Target market

• Legal structure

Let’s take a look at what each section includes in a good business plan.

Mission Statement

A mission statement is a brief explanation of why you started the company and what the company’s main focus is. It should be no more than one or two sentences. Check out HubSpot’s article 27 Inspiring Mission Statement for a great read on informative and inspiring mission and vision statements. 

Company Philosophy and Vision

The company philosophy is what drives your company. You’ll normally hear them called core values.  These are the building blocks that make your company different. You want to communicate your values to customers, business owners, and investors as often as possible to build a company culture, but make sure to back them up.

What makes your company different?

Each company is different. Your new business should rise above the standard company lines of honesty, integrity, fun, innovation, and community when communicating your business values. The standard answers are corporate jargon and lack authenticity. 

Examples of core values

One of my clients decided to add a core values page to their website. As a tech company they emphasized the values:

•  Prioritize communication.
•  Never stop learning.
•  Be transparent.
•  Start small and grow incrementally.

These values communicate how the owner and the rest of the company operate. They also show a value proposition and competitive advantage because they specifically focus on delivering business value from the start. These values also genuinely show what the company is about and customers recognize the sincerity. Indeed has a great blog about how to identify your core values .

What is a vision statement?

A vision statement communicate the long lasting change a business pursues. The vision helps investors and customers understand what your company is trying to accomplish. The vision statement goes beyond a mission statement to provide something meaningful to the community, customer’s lives, or even the world.

Example vision statements

The Alzheimer’s Association is a great example of a vision statement:

A world without Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementia.

It clearly tells how they want to change the world. A world without Alzheimers might be unachievable, but that means they always have room for improvement.

Business Goals

You have to measure success against goals for a business plan to be meaningful. A business plan helps guide a company similar to how your GPS provides a road map to your favorite travel destination. A goal to make as much money as possible is not inspirational and sounds greedy.

Sure, business owners want to increase their profits and improve customer service, but they need to present an overview of what they consider success. The goals should help everyone prioritize their work.

How far in advance should a business plan?

Business planning should be done at least one year in advance, but many banks and investors prefer three to five year business plans. Longer plans show investors that the management team  understands the market and knows the business is operating in a constantly shifting market. In addition, a plan helps businesses to adjust to changes because they have already considered how to handle them.

Example of great business goals

My all time-favorite long-term company goals are included in Tesla’s Master Plan, Part Deux . These goals were written in 2016 and drive the company’s decisions through 2026. They are the reason that investors are so forgiving when Elon Musk continually fails to meet his quarterly and annual goals.

If the progress aligns with the business plan investors are likely to continue to believe in the company. Just make sure the goals are reasonable or you’ll be discredited (unless you’re Elon Musk).

You did target market research before creating a business plan. Now it’s time to add it to the plan so others understand what your ideal customer looks like. As a new business owner, you may not be considered an expert in your field yet, so document everything. Make sure the references you use are from respectable sources. 

Use information from the specific lender when you are applying for lending. Most lenders provide industry research reports and using their data can strengthen the position of your business plan.

A small business plan should include a section on the external environment. Understanding the industry is crucial because we don’t plan a business in a vacuum. Make sure to research the industry trends, competitors, and forecasts. I personally prefer IBIS World for my business research. Make sure to answer questions like:

• What is the industry outlook long-term and short-term?
• How will your business take advantage of projected industry changes and trends?
• What might happen to your competitors and how will your business successfully compete?

Industry resources

Some helpful resources to help you establish more about your industry are:

• Trade Associations
• Federal Reserve
• Bureau of Labor Statistics

Legal Structure

There are five basic types of legal structures that most people will utilize:

• Sole proprietorships
• Limited Liability Companies (LLC)

Partnerships

Corporations.

• Franchises.

Each business structure has their pros and cons. An LLC is the most common legal structure due to its protection of personal assets and ease of setting up. Make sure to specify how ownership is divided and what roles each owner plays when you have more than one business owner.

You’ll have to decide which structure is best for you, but we’ve gathered information on each to make it easier.

Sole Proprietorship

A sole proprietorship is the easiest legal structure to set up but doesn’t protect the owner’s personal assets from legal issues. That means if something goes wrong, you could lose both your company and your home.

To start a sole proprietorship, fill out a special tax form called a  Schedule C . Sole proprietors can also join the American Independent Business Alliance .

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

An LLC is the most common business structure used in the United States because an LLC protects the owner’s personal assets. It’s similar to partnerships and corporations, but can be a single-member LLC in most states. An LLC requires a document called an operating agreement.

Each state has different requirements. Here’s a link to find your state’s requirements . Delaware and Nevada are common states to file an LLC because they are really business-friendly. Here’s a blog on the top 10 states to get an LLC.

Partnerships are typically for legal firms. If you choose to use a partnership choose a Limited Liability Partnership. Alternatively, you can just use an LLC.

Corporations are typically for massive organizations. Corporations have taxes on both corporate and income tax so unless you plan on selling stock, you are better off considering an LLC with S-Corp status . Investopedia has good information corporations here .

There are several opportunities to purchase successful franchises. TopFranchise.com has a list of companies in a variety of industries that offer franchise opportunities. This makes it where an entrepreneur can benefit from the reputation of an established business that has already worked out many of the kinks of starting from scratch.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 5. Products and Services

This section of the business plan should focus on what you sell, how you source it, and how you sell it. You should include:

• Unique features that differentiate your business products from competitors
• Intellectual property
• Your supply chain
• Cost and pricing structure 

Questions to answer about your products and services

Mike gave us a list  of the most important questions to answer about your product and services:

• How will you be selling the product? (in person, ecommerce, wholesale, direct to consumer)?
• How do you let them know they need a product?
• How do you communicate the message?
• How will you do transactions?
• How much will you be selling it for?
• How many do you think you’ll sell and why?

Make sure to use the worksheet on our business plan template .

How to Write a Business Plan Step 6. Sales and Marketing Plan

The marketing and sales plan is focused on the strategy to bring awareness to your company and guides how you will get the product to the consumer.  It should contain the following sections:

SWOT Analysis stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Not only do you want to identify them, but you also want to document how the business plans to deal with them.

Business owners need to do a thorough job documenting how their service or product stacks up against the competition.

If proper research isn’t done, investors will be able to tell that the owner hasn’t researched the competition and is less likely to believe that the team can protect its service from threats by the more well-established competition. This is one of the most common parts of a presentation that trips up business owners presenting on Shark Tank .

SWOT Examples

Examples of strengths and weaknesses could be things like the lack of cash flow, intellectual property ownership, high costs of suppliers, and customers’ expectations on shipping times.

Opportunities could be ways to capitalize on your strengths or improve your weaknesses, but may also be gaps in the industry. This includes:

• Adding offerings that fit with your current small business
• Increase sales to current customers
• Reducing costs through bulk ordering
• Finding ways to reduce inventory
•  And other areas you can improve

Threats will normally come from outside of the company but could also be things like losing a key member of the team. Threats normally come from competition, regulations, taxes, and unforeseen events.

The management team should use the SWOT analysis to guide other areas of business planning, but it absolutely has to be done before a business owner starts marketing. 

Include Competitor Data in Your Business Plan

When you plan a business, taking into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of the competition is key to navigating the field. Providing an overview of your competition and where they are headed shows that you are invested in understanding the industry.

For smaller businesses, you’ll want to search both the company and the owners names to see what they are working on. For publicly held corporations, you can find their quarterly and annual reports on the SEC website .

What another business plans to do can impact your business. Make sure to include things that might make it attractive for bigger companies to outsource to a small business.

Marketing Strategy

The marketing and sales part of business plans should be focused on how you are going to make potential customers aware of your business and then sell to them.

If you haven’t already included it, Mike recommends:

“They’ll want to know about Demographics, ages, and wealth of your target market.”

Make sure to include the Total addressable market .  The term refers to the value if you captured 100% of the market.

Advertising Strategy

You’ll explain what formats of advertising you’ll be using. Some possibilities are:

• Online: Facebook and Google are the big names to work with here.
• Print : Print can be used to reach broad groups or targeted markets. Check out this for tips .
• Radio : iHeartMedia is one of the best ways to advertise on the radio
• Cable television : High priced, hard to measure ROI, but here’s an explanation of the process
• Billboards: Attracting customers with billboards can be beneficial in high traffic areas.

You’ll want to define how you’ll be using each including frequency, duration, and cost. If you have the materials already created, including pictures or links to the marketing to show creative assets.

Mike told us “Most businesses are marketing digitally now due to Covid, but that’s not always the right answer.”

Make sure the marketing strategy will help team members or external marketing agencies stay within the brand guidelines .

This section of a business plan should be focused on pricing. There are a ton of pricing strategies that may work for different business plans. Which one will work for you depends on what kind of a business you run.

Some common pricing strategies are:

• Value-based pricing – Commonly used with home buying and selling or other products that are status symbols.
• Skimming pricing – Commonly seen in video game consoles, price starts off high to recoup expenses quickly, then reduces over time.
• Competition-based pricing – Pricing based on competitors’ pricing is commonly seen at gas stations.
• Freemium services –  Commonly used for software, where there is a free plan, then purchase options for more functionality.

HubSpot has a great calculator and blog on pricing strategies.

Beyond explaining what strategy your business plans to use, you should include references for how you came to this pricing strategy and how it will impact your cash flow.

Distribution Plan

This part of a business plan is focused on how the product or service is going to go through the supply chain. These may include multiple divisions or multiple companies. Make sure to include any parts of the workflow that are automated so investors can see where cost savings are expected and when.

Supply Chain Examples

For instance, lawn care companies  would need to cover aspects such as:

• Suppliers for lawn care equipment and tools
• Any chemicals or treatments needed
• Repair parts for sprinkler systems
• Vehicles to transport equipment and employees
• Insurance to protect the company vehicles and people.

Examples of Supply Chains

These are fairly flat supply chains compared to something like a clothing designer where the clothes would go through multiple vendors. A clothing company might have the following supply chain:

• Raw materials
• Shipping of raw materials
• Converting of raw materials to thread
• Shipping thread to produce garments
• Garment producer
• Shipping to company
• Company storage
• Shipping to retail stores

There have been advances such as print on demand that eliminate many of these steps. If you are designing completely custom clothing, all of this would need to be planned to keep from having business disruptions.

The main thing to include in the business plan is the list of suppliers, the path the supply chain follows, the time from order to the customer’s home, and the costs associated with each step of the process.

According to BizPlanReview , a business plan without this information is likely to get rejected because they have failed to research the key elements necessary to make sales to the customer.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 7. Company Organization and Operational Plan

This part of the business plan is focused on how the business model will function while serving customers.  The business plan should provide an overview of  how the team will manage the following aspects:

Quality Control

• Legal environment

Let’s look at each for some insight.

Production has already been discussed in previous sections so I won’t go into it much. When writing a business plan for investors, try to avoid repetition as it creates a more simple business plan.

If the organizational plan will be used by the team as an overview of how to perform the best services for the customer, then redundancy makes more sense as it communicates what is important to the business.

Quality control policies help to keep the team focused on how to verify that the company adheres to the business plan and meets or exceeds customer expectations.

Quality control can be anything from a standard that says “all labels on shirts can be no more than 1/16″ off center” to a defined checklist of steps that should be performed and filled out for every customer.

There are a variety of organizations that help define quality control including:

• International Organization for Standardization – Quality standards for energy, technology, food, production environments, and cybersecurity
• AICPA – Standard defined for accounting.
• The Joint Commission – Healthcare
• ASHRAE – HVAC best practices

You can find lists of the organizations that contribute most to the government regulation of industries on Open Secrets . Research what the leaders in your field are doing. Follow their example and implement it in your quality control plan.

For location, you should use information from the market research to establish where the location will be. Make sure to include the following in the location documentation.

• The size of your location
• The type of building (retail, industrial, commercial, etc.)
• Zoning restrictions – Urban Wire has a good map on how zoning works in each state
• Accessibility – Does it meet ADA requirements?
• Costs including rent, maintenance, utilities, insurance and any buildout or remodeling costs
• Utilities – b.e.f. has a good energy calculator .

Legal Environment

The legal requirement section is focused on defining how to meet the legal requirements for your industry. A good business plan should include all of the following:

• Any licenses and/or permits that are needed and whether you’ve obtained them
• Any trademarks, copyrights, or patents that you have or are in the process of applying for
• The insurance coverage your business requires and how much it costs
• Any environmental, health, or workplace regulations affecting your business
• Any special regulations affecting your industry
• Bonding requirements, if applicable

Your local SBA office can help you establish requirements in your area. I strongly recommend using them. They are a great resource.

Your business plan should include a plan for company organization and hiring. While you may be the only person with the company right now, down the road you’ll need more people. Make sure to consider and document the answers to the following questions:

• What is the current leadership structure and what will it look like in the future?
• What types of employees will you have? Are there any licensing or educational requirements?
• How many employees will you need?
• Will you ever hire freelancers or independent contractors?
• What is each position’s job description?
• What is the pay structure (hourly, salaried, base plus commission, etc.)?
• How do you plan to find qualified employees and contractors?

One of the most crucial parts of a business plan is the organizational chart. This simply shows the positions the company will need, who is in charge of them and the relationship of each of them. It will look similar to this:

Our small business plan template has a much more in-depth organizational chart you can edit to include when you include the organizational chart in your business plan.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 8. Financial Statements 

No business plan is complete without financial statements or financial projections. The business plan format will be different based on whether you are writing a business plan to expand a business or a startup business plan. Let’s dig deeper into each.

Provide All Financial Income from an Existing Business

An existing business should use their past financial documents including the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement to find trends to estimate the next 3-5 years.

You can create easy trendlines in excel to predict future revenue, profit and loss, cash flow, and other changes in year-over-year performance. This will show your expected performance assuming business continues as normal.

If you are seeking an investment, then the business is probably not going to continue as normal. Depending on the financial plan and the purpose of getting financing, adjustments may be needed to the following:

• Higher Revenue if expanding business
• Lower Cost of Goods Sold if purchasing inventory with bulk discounts
• Adding interest if utilizing financing (not equity deal)
• Changes in expenses
• Addition of financing information to the cash flow statement
• Changes in Earnings per Share on the balance sheet

Financial modeling is a challenging subject, but there are plenty of low-cost courses on the subject. If you need help planning your business financial documentation take some time to watch some of them.

Make it a point to document how you calculated all the changes to the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement in your business plan so that key team members or investors can verify your research.

Financial Projections For A Startup Business Plan

Unlike an existing business, a startup doesn’t have previous success to model its future performance. In this scenario, you need to focus on how to make a business plan realistic through the use of industry research and averages.

Mike gave the following advice in his interview:

Financial Forecasting Mistakes

One of the things a lot of inexperienced people use is the argument, “If I get one percent of the market, it is worth $100 million.” If you use this, investors are likely to file the document under bad business plan examples.

Let’s use custom t-shirts as an example.

Credence Research estimated in 2018 there were 11,334,800,000 custom t-shirts sold for a total of $206.12 Billion, with a 6% compound annual growth rate.

With that data,  you can calculate that the industry will grow to $270 Billion in 2023 and that the average shirt sold creates $18.18 in revenue.

Combine that with an IBIS World estimate of 11,094 custom screen printers and that means even if you become an average seller, you’ll get .009% of the market.

Here’s a table for easier viewing of that information.

The point here is to make sure your business proposal examples make sense.

You’ll need to know industry averages such as cost of customer acquisition, revenue per customer, the average cost of goods sold, and admin costs to be able to create accurate estimates.

Our simple business plan templates walk you through most of these processes. If you follow them you’ll have a good idea of how to write a business proposal.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 9. Business Plan Example of Funding Requests

What is a business plan without a plan on how to obtain funding?

The Small Business Administration has an example for a pizza restaurant that theoretically needed nearly $20k to make it through their first month.

In our video, How to Start a $500K/Year T-Shirt Business (Pt. 1 ), Sanford Booth told us he needed about $200,000 to start his franchise and broke even after 4 months.

Freshbooks estimates it takes on average 2-3 years for a business to be profitable, which means the fictitious pizza company from the SBA could need up to $330k to make it through that time and still pay their bills for their home and pizza shop.

Not every business needs that much to start, but realistically it’s a good idea to assume that you need a fairly large cushion.

Ways to get funding for a small business

There are a variety of ways to cover this. the most common are:

• Bootstrapping – Using your savings without external funding.
• Taking out debt – loans, credit cards
• Equity, Seed Funding – Ownership of a percentage of the company in exchange for current funds
• Crowdsourcing – Promising a good for funding to create the product

Keep reading for more tips on how to write a business plan.

How funding will be used

When asking for business financing make sure to include:

• How much to get started?
• What is the minimum viable product and how soon can you make money?
• How will the money be spent?

Mike emphasized two aspects that should be included in every plan, 

How to Write a Business Plan Resources

Here are some links to a business plan sample and business plan outline. 

• Sample plan

It’s also helpful to follow some of the leading influencers in the business plan writing community. Here’s a list:

• Wise Plans –  Shares a lot of information on starting businesses and is a business plan writing company.
• Optimus Business Plans –  Another business plan writing company.
• Venture Capital – A venture capital thread that can help give you ideas.

How to Write a Business Plan: What’s Next?

We hope this guide about how to write a simple business plan step by step has been helpful. We’ve covered:

• The definition of a business plan
• Coming up with a business idea
• Performing market research
• The critical components of a business plan
• An example business plan

In addition, we provided you with a simple business plan template to assist you in the process of writing your startup business plan. The startup business plan template also includes a business model template that will be the key to your success.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of our business hub .

Have you written a business plan before? How did it impact your ability to achieve your goals?

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Standard Operating Procedures (SOP): The Complete Guide

Why do some companies scale while others grow, burn out, and collapse? Why do some small business owners barely work and make millions, while others become a slave to their business? 

Over the last two years, we have gotten inside looks into some amazing businesses, and the owners all share similar insights. Their secret? You need standard operating procedures.

Remarkably, the largest companies in the world make up to $2 million per employee (excluding the energy industry) while solo entrepreneurs make an average of $50k per year . SOPs, or standard operating procedures, are the basis for these gains because they are the stepping stone to automating a business.

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We’ll look at how to implement standard operating procedures to help your company run more smoothly. We’ll also provide SOP templates and examples to get you started. Click on a link below to jump ahead to the part that interests you.

Industries That Use Standard Operating Procedures

• Why are SOPs Important?

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Templates

5 elements of sops, step 1. identify pain points, step 2. establish solution, step 3. implement a solution, step 4. write the sop document, step 5. implement the sop, step 6. training employees, step 7. refine and update.

• What are the three types of SOP format?
• What is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Plan?

Sample Standard Operating Procedure Checklist

Sop frequently asked questions, what are sops (standard operating procedures) in business.

A standard operating procedure (SOP) defines the step-by-step process to complete a routine task. SOPs are created to help companies:

• Perform more effectively
• Maintain quality
• Maintain consistency
• Reduce rework
• Comply with regulations
• Delegate tasks

Even small businesses and startups benefit from SOPs. For example, entrepreneur Christopher Mondragon told us:

[su_quote]Exceptional customer service will help cleaning companies start making money in days. Two things I do that others don’t is my phone support is available from 7 a.m. -11 p.m., seven days a week. I also have an online system where people can go online, put in their information, and book it without talking to anyone. Customers love it![/su_quote]

These are the kind of SOPs Chris used to grow his cleaning business to $1.5 million in record time. Would you like to achieve more in your business? 

Find out how Chris did it below.

[su_youtube url="https://youtu.be/d4Iip7BHXwg"]

Then sign up for our 7-figure cleaning blueprint where we provide all the tools Chris uses to succeed.

If cleaning doesn’t sound like the right business for you, get ready to dig deeper into what makes a good standard operating procedure.

Every industry has standard operating procedures. Some industries have more government regulation and therefore more stringent SOP documents. Some of the most regulated industries include:

• Manufacturing 
• Transportation
• Health care
• Financial institutions
• Energy production
• Professional services
• Business administration services

In fact, there are over three million regulations governing businesses in the United States.

I can’t imagine running a business that has employees without a clearly defined SOP document. We have dozens of them just to get this blog out to you. We have a keyword research SOP, a blog writing SOP, an editing SOP, a graphic design SOP, a WordPress SOP, not to mention all the accounting, payroll, and other SOP documents that businesses like ours need to follow.

Why Are SOPs Important?

Standard operating procedures are important because they:

• Reduce training time
• Increase quality 
• Improve brand loyalty
• Reduce regulatory penalties
• Prevent knowledge loss

Our mission at UpFlip is to provide the best tools to help you succeed in business. That’s why we've created a template for SOP creation and other helpful resources. Check out some of the standard operating procedure documents we’ve created for you:

• Standard Operating Procedure pdf
• Step-by-Step Standard Operating Procedure template word
• Stample Standard Operating Procedure Checklist for Hiring and Onboarding
• Sample SOP Document

A standard operating procedure (SOP) should include at a bare minimum:

• Roles and Responsibilities
• Quality Requirements

If you want a more formal SOP document, you might also want to include a header, scope, appendix, revision history, and signatures.

How to Create SOPs

Creating Standard operating procedures follows a simple process:

• Identify Pain Points
• Establish Solution
• Implement Solution
• Write the SOP Document
• Implement SOP
• Train Employees
• Refine and Update

Entrepreneur Adam Hill also uses SOPs in his vending machine business. He uses them for standardizing machines, determining his route, and deciding how much to pay for a vending route. Check out our interview with him below.

You can also pre-enroll for our free vending machine training course .

Let’s look at each step in the process so you can start creating your own effective SOPs.

Pain points are routine tasks that impact your company on a regular basis. Your pain points may be challenges like:

• Training new employees to do a specific job
• Complying with industry regulations
• Reducing the time a business process consumes
• Improving quality control
• Reviewing employee performance

Make sure to identify why these are pain points, how much time or money they consume, and what solutions you could use to solve them. This step will be the basis for the purpose section for your SOP forms when you create them. 

Next, we’ll provide an example of a pain point.

SOP Example Pain Point:

We’re going to provide standard operating procedure examples throughout the article.

Given one of the main pain points companies have today is the ability to find employees, I’m going to tackle this concern in many of the SOP examples. You might describe the pain point in one of the following manners:

• Hiring new employees costs the company $10,000 in lost productivity every time we hire. The goal of this SOP is to improve the company’s retention of employees.
• Our business is growing so fast that we can’t hire enough employees. We aim to attract more candidates so we can fill positions faster.

Once you’ve identified a problem, you’ll want to identify the solution.

Business processes will vary from company to company, but you want to consider solutions that solve the problem as easily as possible. Using the hiring example, some solutions might include:

• Adopt an SOP to offer current employees up to 5% more pay than competing job offers to reduce turnover.
• Increase employee referral bonuses.
• Increase pay packages for new hires.
• Partner with a staffing agency to offer temp-to-hire positions.
• Run paid ads for job openings.
• Include salaries in job descriptions.
• Remove or reduce educational or experience requirements from job descriptions.
• Do keyword research for job descriptions.

Numerous solutions can be implemented to solve any problem with business processes. Hopefully, you’re starting to get some ideas about what standard operating procedure we’re going to create to solve the problem of not finding enough employees.

Next, you’ll want to implement the solution to your problem. When you’re in the process of SOP creation, you may not get it right the first time, but make sure to write step-by-step instructions of what you did. This will be the basis for the SOP format. 

Many of the suggestions to solve employers’ hiring problems employers centered around the job description, which means you might want to adopt standard operating procedures that work like this:

• Perform keyword research for job descriptions.
• Analyze pay for a position on the local level and set your salaries on the high end. (Yes, I know it costs more, but better pay means better candidates and happier employees. If the pay is higher than that of current employees, give your entire team a raise so they don’t get upset.)
• Write the job description. Make sure to include the keywords and salary information. 
• Reduce or remove educational or experience requirements from existing job descriptions.
• Share the posting with employees. Remind them about your referral program. Add a perk and ask them to share.
• Share the posting on job boards. You don’t have to do paid promotion at first, but it might help if you need an employee fast.
• Contact a staffing agency . Discuss your needs and budget with them.
• Run paid ads. If the above steps haven’t been successful, paying for preferential treatment in the job listings is worthwhile.

Now that you have a process, you’ll want to write the SOP document. You want to make it foolproof. Personally, I like to give the document to someone who has no understanding of the subject and ask them to follow the directions in the standard operating procedure. 

Let’s look at how to write SOPs.

How to Write a Standard Operating Procedure

Writing SOPs shouldn’t be difficult. The point is to make them easy to follow. You’ll want to:

• Consider your target audience
• Create a cover page 

Add a Table of Contents

Include the purpose .

• Include Roles and Responsibilities
• Include Quality Requirements
• Write the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

Provide References

• Include the Revision History
• Include Document Authorization

Consider Your Target Audience 

Before you begin developing SOPs, you should identify the relevant employees, their prior knowledge, and the SOP format most likely to communicate the SOPs properly. Do they need technical SOPs, step-by-step instructions, or hierarchical SOPs? 

Make sure to write in an active voice and use language employees understand. Once you’ve considered these factors, you can begin writing.

Create a Cover Page 

The first page you’ll create is a cover page. It should be obvious what the standard operating procedure is about. The best way to do that is to create a title page with the:

• Name of the company
• Name of the standard operating procedure
• Unique SOP identification number 
• Most recent revision date

We'll provide you with an SOP cover page template. Get your copy and more helpful documents in our free SOP template download below.

If your standard operating procedures don’t fit on a single page, include a table of contents. This is especially true if you have a three-inch-thick notebook with all the standard operating procedures. No one wants to read an entire rule book to find a single policy.

The purpose or scope tells people what the SOP is about. You should have already defined this in the previous steps. Now it’s just a matter of communicating what the SOP covers, what it doesn’t cover, and why employees perform the new SOP as directed. 

If you provide digital (not printed) standard operating procedures, provide links to other SOPs mentioned in the purpose.

Roles and Responsibilities 

You’ll want to define who will implement the standard operating procedure, who will check the procedure, and anyone who may need to be aware of the SOP.

Quality Requirements 

Depending on the standard operating procedure, you may have quality control measures in place to make sure you achieve a positive outcome. 

For instance, a t-shirt design SOP might specify that an acceptable design is only 1/16” off-center and that the measurements are taken by a machine. You might also want a human to check every 10 pieces to verify there is no equipment failure.

Write the Standard Operating Procedure 

SOP writing should be as concise as possible and should include images for a better understanding of the intent. Make sure to give examples of the key steps. Digital SOPs can have videos so people can watch the SOP in action.

If there are additional resources that a team member needs to understand, make sure to include them in the resources. This might include customer complaints, organizational knowledge, internal processes, relevant laws, and more.

Include Revision History

As you grow, your standard operating procedure will evolve to be more effective. You’ll want to document changes. This can be helpful for helping employees understand how the SOP format has changed over time and why.

Document Who Authorized The SOP

Large organizations might need authorizations from specific people before they implement standard operating procedures. Make sure to include a space for these. 

At this point, you’ve defined the SOP and written out the documentation, but you still need to implement it. Implementation could mean:

• Adopting and integrating software into your business
• Buying new tools or equipment (This is common in fields that require personal protective equipment.)
• Training employees

During this stage, your main goal is preparing your business to implement clearly defined SOPs. If your new SOP impacts other SOPs, edit them as well. For instance, new compliance standards would impact both the onboarding process and ongoing employee training SOPs.

Creating SOP templates for your employees to work with can help you achieve more with fewer resources, but you’ll need to train your employees on the new SOP to reach maximum efficiency. Common ways of training employees on the company policies include:

• Providing written SOPs upon hire.
• Top employees training new employees.
• Sending an email about policy changes.
• Having a team meeting or training. These can be virtual or in-person, but allowing employees to perform the step-by-step SOP to see it in action normally works best. It helps them see the SOP’s impact on their workflow and provides useful feedback.

No matter how effective SOP writing is, you’ll always find better ways to complete a process as technology changes, your skill sets increase, and your business grows. 

After you create standard operating procedures, make sure to go back to them occasionally and make sure that they still adhere to regulatory compliance and best practices.

What Are the Three Types of SOP Format?

A standard operating procedure will normally use one of three SOP formats:

• Step-by-step SOP
• Hierarchical SOP

Flow Chart SOP

Let’s look at each SOP format to understand how to create standard operating procedure documents.

Step-by-Step SOP

A step-by-step SOP shows how to complete a task by completing a series of steps from a sequentially ordered list. How-to guides and recipes are good examples, but there are many other uses as well.

In fact, every blog we write on how to start a business follows a standard operating procedure (SOP) template. We just alter them based on the requirements to start each business.

These SOPs follow the sequence:

These are the most common SOPs and are sometimes referred to as step-by-step instructions or workflows. These can be automated in many scenarios to create a quality output faster.

Hierarchical Format SOP

When written instructions would be too complex for employees to follow, you may need to break them down into a hierarchical SOP where the knowledge for one part of the task is covered in one SOP document, and the next part of the process is separate. 

For example, hiring employees is a huge task. If you try to include the entire process in one step-by-step guide, it will be overwhelmingly long.

Developing standard operating procedures using the hierarchical format might follow an SOP template that looks like this:

• SOP: Hiring Employees (SOP1) a. Notifying HR of Hiring Needs (link to SOP2)         i.   Submit termination paperwork         ii.  Submit form to create job description         iii. Other associated tasks (List all) b. Researching Hiring Market (Link to SOP3) c. Creating Job Descriptions (Link to SOP4) d. Sharing Job Descriptions (Link to SOP5) e. Interviewing Applicants (Link to SOP6) f. Confirming New Hire Job Acceptance (Link to SOP7) g. Preparing New Hire Paperwork (Link to SOP8) h. Procuring Tools (Link to SOP9) I. Granting Software Access (Link to SOP10) j. Setting Up Workspace (Link to SOP11) k. First Day Tasks (Link to SOP12) l. Orientation Tasks (Link to SOP13) m. Probationary Meetings (Link to SOP14)

Each of the letters in this list would serve a specific purpose that has hierarchical steps. The full process to complete the fourteen tasks listed could require hundreds or thousands of steps, and the people involved could span across different teams of employees. 

When processes depend on changing variables. use flow charts like the one below. To create an SOP template for a flow chart, you need to determine what the relevant decisions are. 

As an example, we created this flow chart to help you decide what type of standard operating procedure templates to use. There are 3 relevant decisions that impact which template you should create:

• Is there a process to follow?
• Is the process difficult to follow?
• Do decisions change the process?

Based on the answers, you get a different result that shows you how to make SOPs easier to follow. Using this strategy maintains organizational knowledge and can be the basis for an SOP plan, which we’ll discuss next.

What Is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Plan?

An SOP plan is a document you may need to create when you grow from being a single person running a small business to hiring employees.

You have certain ways you like things done, and the best way to get employees to follow your hierarchical steps is to create an SOP for anything that is important to you. You’ll then train the employees using the SOP and provide them documents and work tools that make it easier to follow the SOP.

You might include the following elements in an SOP plan:

• What SOPs you need
• Templates for standard operating procedures
• SOP naming conventions
• When and how to edit each standard operating procedures template

We’ve created a sample standard operating procedure checklist for hiring and onboarding employees. Download the checklist along with the standard operating procedure guidelines and other templates we created to help you get started with SOPs.

What is an SOP? 

The SOP meaning in business stands for standard operating procedure. The definition of standard operating procedure is a written process that is followed every time the process needs to be repeated. 

Why SOPS Are Important

SOPs are important because the majority of tasks are repeated consistently during the course of business. Documenting and following standard operating procedures helps businesses:

• Reduce decision making
• Increase efficiency
• Increase quality
• Comply with government regulations
• Train new employees
• Maintain the body of knowledge 

Technical vs. Management SOPs

Technical SOPs explain how to perform and complete tasks while management SOPs explain how to create, update, distribute, and oversee other SOPs. As an example, Technical SOPs are used for routine tasks like payroll, work orders, and inspections, while management SOPs are used to maintain consistency in the SOP full form creation.

How Businesses Use SOPs to Improve Efficiency 

Every time you make a decision, you have to think about the factors that go into the decision. When businesses create standard operating procedures, they eliminate the decision-making process for that procedure, which increases efficiency.

This also makes training easier because everyone has the same method of performing a task. This standardization also decreases defects and errors, which leads to greater efficiency. 

What is a Standard Operating Procedures Manual?

A standard operating procedure manual is a list of all standard operating procedures gathered in one place.

Today, an SOP manual is best kept in the cloud where all employees can access it, but for brick and mortar businesses, the standard operating guidelines may also need to be printed and stored in a readily accessible location.

What Are SOPs Doing for Your Business?

As you can see, there are many benefits to implementing SOPs in a business. No matter the size of your company, you can benefit from defining your standard operating procedures. 

What are some ways that you have defined your business operations?

• Complying with Government Regulations
• Automating Processes
• Training Employees
• Other - Tell us in the comments!

The 13 Best Small Business Loans for Women (2024)

Small Business Loans for Women

• SBA 7(a) loans
• SBA microloans
• Bank loans 
• Online loans
• Microloans from Non-Profits (NPOs)
• Working capital loans
• Equipment loans
• Inventory loans
• Merchant cash advances
• Invoice financing
• Business lines of credit

#1. SBA 7(a) loan program 

• Funds for revolving needs like existing inventory and receivables 
• Equipment, machinery, furniture, fixtures, supplies, or materials 
• Land and buildings 
• Working capital ( both short-term and long-term
• Construction and renovation
• Starting, buying, or expanding a business
• Refinancing business debt (conditions apply)

#2. SBA 504 Loans

#3. sba micro-loans for women.

• Working capital 

#4. Bank loans

#5. online loans, #6. microloans from non-profit organizations.

#7. Working capital loans

#8. equipment loans, #9. inventory loans, #10. term loans, #11. merchant cash advances, #12. invoice financing.

• Loan approved for $100K
• Sends you 85%
• Charges a factoring fee, typically .5-3% percent per week or month
• Charges a processing fee
• Once paid, they return the 15% minus the processing and factoring fee

#13. Business Line of Credit

Business credit card, how to compare small business loans.

• Establish how much money you need and how to use it.
• Compare requirements from different lenders.
• Apply to see if you prequalify.
• Share the tax returns, business licenses, bank statements, photo ID, financial statements, and other documents they request.
• Sign the contract once approved.
• Receive your capital!

Best Small Business Loans for Women

Best government-backed small-business loans for women

• Loans up to $5 million.
• A setting in which the federal government backs 75% of the loan.
• Loan terms up to 25 years.
• The most diverse range of permitted uses.
• Clear requirements for approval compared to other business startup loans.

Best Line of credit for women with low credit scores

• Based in the US
• 600+ credit score
• $100,000 revenue
• Business checking account
• At least six months in business.

Best Term Loan for women with low credit

• A business checking account
• One year or more of business history
• Weekly payments.

Best online Term Loan for a woman-owned business over two years old

Funding circle .

• More than two years in business
• 650+ credit score
• A need for $25K to $500K loans

Credibility Capital 

Best women’s startup loans, best line of credit for women-owned startups.

• 600+ Credit score
• Corporation or LLC
• At least six months in business
• At least $10K per month revenue
• Not based in Nevada, North Dakota, or South Dakota

Small Business Loans for Black Women & Other Female Minorities

• Business training
• Funds to help SBA women-owned businesses, minority business owners, or rural business owners
• Small business grants for women 
• A portion of all government jobs is reserved for each of the disadvantaged groups. 

Additional Funding Options for Women-Owned Startups

• SBA grants for women: Grants are free money to help achieve goals set by the government. You have to get certified as an SBA woman-owned business to qualify for these. The link to apply is in the business loans for minority women section. 
• Equity financing : Selling a percentage of ownership for business funds. Primarily used for billion-dollar ideas and offered by venture capitalists.
• Rollover Business Startups (ROBS): Take a 401K or IRA with more than $50,000, roll it over to a new 401K held by a newly formed corporation, and sell your company stock to your 401K to access business funds.
• Small business grants from non-profit organizations (NPOs): You can use a site like GrantWatch to filter grants by type and location.

Other resources for female entrepreneurs

• SBA Office of Women’s Business Ownership : Everything the SBA offers for women, including special business classifications, grants, and learning opportunities.
• National Association of Women Business Owners : Subscription-based membership that provides access to learning modules, supplier databases, and member profiles to help you navigate the business world more easily.
• National Women’s Business Council (NWBC): The NWBC is primarily focused on creating a fair political environment for women business owners.

Women's Business Centers

Sba's women-owned businesses portal, national women business owners corporation (nwboc), u.s. women's chamber of commerce.

Womensphere

Grants for women-owned businesses, eileen fisher women-owned business grant program, womensnet amber grant, state-specific programs, how to get a business loan with no money.

• Make sure you don’t have bad credit. If you have below a 600 credit score, you probably shouldn’t bother with the loan application process. A score of 650+ will also likely provide a significant difference.
• Make sure you have a killer business plan. Read our blog about how to write a business plan .
• Be prepared to get a secured loan using a home, equipment, etc., to guarantee the loan.

Slay All Day!

How to Start an Orchard that Makes over $100K/Year!

• What is an orchard?
• Types of fruit trees
• Resources necessary
• Orchard design
• Planting, growing, and harvesting fruit trees
• Licensing and legal requirements
• Funding your orchard
• Hiring Employees

1. What is an orchard?

2. Types of Fruit Trees

• Strawberries

3. Resources necessary when starting an orchard

• Miniature trees: 1/4–1 bushel (1 bushel = 32 quarts = approximately 40-50 lb = around 126 medium apples)
• Dwarf trees: 1–4 bushels
• Semi-Dwarf trees: 5–10 bushels
• Standard trees: 10–20 bushels (all figures from Starkbros . The Stark Bros article includes statistics for other common fruits.)

How much does it cost to start a fruit orchard?

• Types of apple trees and other fruit trees- We discussed this some earlier, but make sure to use the links in the blog for more information.
• Apple orchard spacing- We'll cover this next.
• How to plant an apple orchard- keep reading as we'll cover this too.
• Soil conditions- We provide information earlier. You may need soil preparation tools or to supplement the apple orchard with other crops to provide nutrients. Alternatively, you can compost .
• The weather's impact on the orchard trees- Nature.com has a study with a lot of great references included. Make sure to utilize it.
• Recognizing disease- The University of California has some good resources on pests and diseases impacting orchards.
• The annual planting, growing, harvest, and storage process.
• The business aspects- USDA.gov is a great resource for the business aspects of farming.

4. Orchard Designing

• Start with a site assessment
• Plant on the upper side of 4-8 percent slope on rolling or elevated land
• Avoid low lying areas because frost damage can occur
• Avoid tops of hills due to excessive winds
• Soil should have at least 3 feet of aerated loam for roots to grow and water to drain
• Plant North-South rows for best results
• Space trees in a manner where tree height is (1/2 row spacing plus 3 feet)
• Include grasses that prevent voles, broadleaf weeds, and soil-borne diseases. If planting the grass in the same year, leave 4 foot wide strips for trees. If planting grass 1 year in advance, you do not need the strips for planting the orchard's fruit trees because it gives the grass time to grow roots before having to compete with the trees for water
• Use wind-breaking plants like willows or alders because they develop leaves early and last throughout the harvest season
• Make sure the trees will be somewhere that gets 6-8 hours of full sunlight per day to maximize fruit production

5. Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Fruit Trees

When does apple picking start.

How can my business earn revenue while I am waiting for the fruit tree to mature?

6. licensing and legal requirements, business formation.

• Getting an EIN from the IRS
• Getting a state/local business license

Unemployment Insurance

• Workman's Comp

Licenses, permits, and tax forms

Sole proprietorship, limited liability corporation (llc), partnerships and corporations, apply for an ein, state/local business licenses, workman's compensation, 7. funding your orchard.

• Personal funds
• Loan from family or friends
• Business partner(s) - inc.com has a great blog on considerations about a partnership
• Grants for starting an apple orchard - USDA has a ton of resources for funding
• Business loans- Check out our partners

8. Hiring Employees

• Help Wanted signs
• Pinning notices at local hot spots.

9. Marketing

• Identify target market
• Find the best ways to reach them
• Market to them

Identify your target market

• Consumers (Nate's target market)
• Grocery stores
• Restaurants
• Distributors
• Other businesses

Find the Best Way to Reach your Target Market

Market to your target audience.

• Squarespace

Influencers

• Jerod McDaniel
• Julie Robinson

nice work https://binarychemist.com/

My Name is PRETTY NGOMANE. A south African female. Aspiring to do farming. And finding a home away from home for the differently abled persons in their daily needs.

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• Research Guides

MBAB 5P23: Entrepreneurship

• Business Plans
• Startup Ecosystem
• Idea Generation / COVID-19 Trends
• Product / Service
• Industry & Target Market
• Organizational Resources
• Financial Resources
• Sample Feasibility Reports

Sample Business Plans

Kinesiology and health care business plans, writing business plans, books on preparing business plans.

• APA Style Help
• Get Help / Book a Consultation
• Business Models
• Elevator Pitches
• Finding Academic Research
• Evaluating Information Sources
• Library Resources for Alumni

The following sources contain sample business plans for different types of small businesses:

• Bplans.com - sample plans

Examples from MBA Students & Business Plan Competitions:

• Business Plan for Caregaroo (Kiana Mohseni, Simon Fraser University) MBA student project (Simon Fraser University)
• Business Plan for Launching a Luxury Adventure Tour Operator Based in Canada Greg Hung and Nikolai Khlystov (Simon Fraser University MOT MBA, 2011)
• University of Texas Austin, Venture Labs Investment Competition, Business Plans Contains executive summaries and selected full text business plans from competitions held at the University of Texas Austin from 1999 to 2016.

You can find additional examples by searching in Omni for  Subject contains Business Plans AND any field contains (kinesiology OR "health care") and limiting the results by Resource Type to Theses and Dissertations. These plans are available in the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses database . 

• Long Beach Mobile Fitness, LLC: A Business Plan Prepared by Matthew Vico, Master of Science in Health Care Administration, California State University, Long Beach
• Business Plan for a Physical Therapy Clinic in Rural Minnesota Prepared by Rick Borchardt, Master of Business Administration, The College of St. Scholastica
• Business plans in physiotherapy:a practical guide for the non specialist Physical therapy reviews, 2011-06-01, Vol.16 (3), p.210-227 The sample business plan for Physio Kids (a hypothetical new paediatric physiotherapy clinic service) is presented in the Appendix
• Using Business Plan Development as a Capstone Project for MPH Programs in Canada: Validation Through the Student Perspective Journal of Community Health, 2013, 38(5), 791-798. Describes elements of the business plan as applicable to public health practitioners.

The following sources provide guidance on writing business plans and may also include a sample plan or template.

• Writing a Business Plan: An Example for a Small Premium Winery (Cornell University) (PDF) more info... close... An Extension Bulletin prepared by Mark E. Pisoni and Gerald B. White, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University.
• Business Plan Guide (Government of Canada)
• The business plan and executive summary (MaRS)
• Write your business plan (U.S. Small Business Administration)
• Planning for success: your guide to preparing a business and marketing plan

• << Previous: Sample Feasibility Reports
• Next: APA Style Help >>
• Last Updated: Apr 17, 2024 8:35 AM
• URL: https://researchguides.library.brocku.ca/MBAB5P23

11.4 The Business Plan

Learning objectives.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Describe the different purposes of a business plan
• Describe and develop the components of a brief business plan
• Describe and develop the components of a full business plan

Unlike the brief or lean formats introduced so far, the business plan is a formal document used for the long-range planning of a company’s operation. It typically includes background information, financial information, and a summary of the business. Investors nearly always request a formal business plan because it is an integral part of their evaluation of whether to invest in a company. Although nothing in business is permanent, a business plan typically has components that are more “set in stone” than a business model canvas , which is more commonly used as a first step in the planning process and throughout the early stages of a nascent business. A business plan is likely to describe the business and industry, market strategies, sales potential, and competitive analysis, as well as the company’s long-term goals and objectives. An in-depth formal business plan would follow at later stages after various iterations to business model canvases. The business plan usually projects financial data over a three-year period and is typically required by banks or other investors to secure funding. The business plan is a roadmap for the company to follow over multiple years.

Some entrepreneurs prefer to use the canvas process instead of the business plan, whereas others use a shorter version of the business plan, submitting it to investors after several iterations. There are also entrepreneurs who use the business plan earlier in the entrepreneurial process, either preceding or concurrently with a canvas. For instance, Chris Guillebeau has a one-page business plan template in his book The $100 Startup . 48 His version is basically an extension of a napkin sketch without the detail of a full business plan. As you progress, you can also consider a brief business plan (about two pages)—if you want to support a rapid business launch—and/or a standard business plan.

As with many aspects of entrepreneurship, there are no clear hard and fast rules to achieving entrepreneurial success. You may encounter different people who want different things (canvas, summary, full business plan), and you also have flexibility in following whatever tool works best for you. Like the canvas, the various versions of the business plan are tools that will aid you in your entrepreneurial endeavor.

Business Plan Overview

Most business plans have several distinct sections ( Figure 11.16 ). The business plan can range from a few pages to twenty-five pages or more, depending on the purpose and the intended audience. For our discussion, we’ll describe a brief business plan and a standard business plan. If you are able to successfully design a business model canvas, then you will have the structure for developing a clear business plan that you can submit for financial consideration.

Both types of business plans aim at providing a picture and roadmap to follow from conception to creation. If you opt for the brief business plan, you will focus primarily on articulating a big-picture overview of your business concept.

The full business plan is aimed at executing the vision concept, dealing with the proverbial devil in the details. Developing a full business plan will assist those of you who need a more detailed and structured roadmap, or those of you with little to no background in business. The business planning process includes the business model, a feasibility analysis, and a full business plan, which we will discuss later in this section. Next, we explore how a business plan can meet several different needs.

Purposes of a Business Plan

A business plan can serve many different purposes—some internal, others external. As we discussed previously, you can use a business plan as an internal early planning device, an extension of a napkin sketch, and as a follow-up to one of the canvas tools. A business plan can be an organizational roadmap , that is, an internal planning tool and working plan that you can apply to your business in order to reach your desired goals over the course of several years. The business plan should be written by the owners of the venture, since it forces a firsthand examination of the business operations and allows them to focus on areas that need improvement.

Refer to the business venture throughout the document. Generally speaking, a business plan should not be written in the first person.

A major external purpose for the business plan is as an investment tool that outlines financial projections, becoming a document designed to attract investors. In many instances, a business plan can complement a formal investor’s pitch. In this context, the business plan is a presentation plan, intended for an outside audience that may or may not be familiar with your industry, your business, and your competitors.

You can also use your business plan as a contingency plan by outlining some “what-if” scenarios and exploring how you might respond if these scenarios unfold. Pretty Young Professional launched in November 2010 as an online resource to guide an emerging generation of female leaders. The site focused on recent female college graduates and current students searching for professional roles and those in their first professional roles. It was founded by four friends who were coworkers at the global consultancy firm McKinsey. But after positions and equity were decided among them, fundamental differences of opinion about the direction of the business emerged between two factions, according to the cofounder and former CEO Kathryn Minshew . “I think, naively, we assumed that if we kicked the can down the road on some of those things, we’d be able to sort them out,” Minshew said. Minshew went on to found a different professional site, The Muse , and took much of the editorial team of Pretty Young Professional with her. 49 Whereas greater planning potentially could have prevented the early demise of Pretty Young Professional, a change in planning led to overnight success for Joshua Esnard and The Cut Buddy team. Esnard invented and patented the plastic hair template that he was selling online out of his Fort Lauderdale garage while working a full-time job at Broward College and running a side business. Esnard had hundreds of boxes of Cut Buddies sitting in his home when he changed his marketing plan to enlist companies specializing in making videos go viral. It worked so well that a promotional video for the product garnered 8 million views in hours. The Cut Buddy sold over 4,000 products in a few hours when Esnard only had hundreds remaining. Demand greatly exceeded his supply, so Esnard had to scramble to increase manufacturing and offered customers two-for-one deals to make up for delays. This led to selling 55,000 units, generating $700,000 in sales in 2017. 50 After appearing on Shark Tank and landing a deal with Daymond John that gave the “shark” a 20-percent equity stake in return for $300,000, The Cut Buddy has added new distribution channels to include retail sales along with online commerce. Changing one aspect of a business plan—the marketing plan—yielded success for The Cut Buddy.

Link to Learning

Watch this video of Cut Buddy’s founder, Joshua Esnard, telling his company’s story to learn more.

If you opt for the brief business plan, you will focus primarily on articulating a big-picture overview of your business concept. This version is used to interest potential investors, employees, and other stakeholders, and will include a financial summary “box,” but it must have a disclaimer, and the founder/entrepreneur may need to have the people who receive it sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) . The full business plan is aimed at executing the vision concept, providing supporting details, and would be required by financial institutions and others as they formally become stakeholders in the venture. Both are aimed at providing a picture and roadmap to go from conception to creation.

Types of Business Plans

The brief business plan is similar to an extended executive summary from the full business plan. This concise document provides a broad overview of your entrepreneurial concept, your team members, how and why you will execute on your plans, and why you are the ones to do so. You can think of a brief business plan as a scene setter or—since we began this chapter with a film reference—as a trailer to the full movie. The brief business plan is the commercial equivalent to a trailer for Field of Dreams , whereas the full plan is the full-length movie equivalent.

Brief Business Plan or Executive Summary

As the name implies, the brief business plan or executive summary summarizes key elements of the entire business plan, such as the business concept, financial features, and current business position. The executive summary version of the business plan is your opportunity to broadly articulate the overall concept and vision of the company for yourself, for prospective investors, and for current and future employees.

A typical executive summary is generally no longer than a page, but because the brief business plan is essentially an extended executive summary, the executive summary section is vital. This is the “ask” to an investor. You should begin by clearly stating what you are asking for in the summary.

In the business concept phase, you’ll describe the business, its product, and its markets. Describe the customer segment it serves and why your company will hold a competitive advantage. This section may align roughly with the customer segments and value-proposition segments of a canvas.

Next, highlight the important financial features, including sales, profits, cash flows, and return on investment. Like the financial portion of a feasibility analysis, the financial analysis component of a business plan may typically include items like a twelve-month profit and loss projection, a three- or four-year profit and loss projection, a cash-flow projection, a projected balance sheet, and a breakeven calculation. You can explore a feasibility study and financial projections in more depth in the formal business plan. Here, you want to focus on the big picture of your numbers and what they mean.

The current business position section can furnish relevant information about you and your team members and the company at large. This is your opportunity to tell the story of how you formed the company, to describe its legal status (form of operation), and to list the principal players. In one part of the extended executive summary, you can cover your reasons for starting the business: Here is an opportunity to clearly define the needs you think you can meet and perhaps get into the pains and gains of customers. You also can provide a summary of the overall strategic direction in which you intend to take the company. Describe the company’s mission, vision, goals and objectives, overall business model, and value proposition.

Rice University’s Student Business Plan Competition, one of the largest and overall best-regarded graduate school business-plan competitions (see Telling Your Entrepreneurial Story and Pitching the Idea ), requires an executive summary of up to five pages to apply. 51 , 52 Its suggested sections are shown in Table 11.2 .

Are You Ready?

Create a brief business plan.

Fill out a canvas of your choosing for a well-known startup: Uber, Netflix, Dropbox, Etsy, Airbnb, Bird/Lime, Warby Parker, or any of the companies featured throughout this chapter or one of your choice. Then create a brief business plan for that business. See if you can find a version of the company’s actual executive summary, business plan, or canvas. Compare and contrast your vision with what the company has articulated.

• These companies are well established but is there a component of what you charted that you would advise the company to change to ensure future viability?
• Map out a contingency plan for a “what-if” scenario if one key aspect of the company or the environment it operates in were drastically is altered?

Full Business Plan

Even full business plans can vary in length, scale, and scope. Rice University sets a ten-page cap on business plans submitted for the full competition. The IndUS Entrepreneurs , one of the largest global networks of entrepreneurs, also holds business plan competitions for students through its Tie Young Entrepreneurs program. In contrast, business plans submitted for that competition can usually be up to twenty-five pages. These are just two examples. Some components may differ slightly; common elements are typically found in a formal business plan outline. The next section will provide sample components of a full business plan for a fictional business.

Executive Summary

The executive summary should provide an overview of your business with key points and issues. Because the summary is intended to summarize the entire document, it is most helpful to write this section last, even though it comes first in sequence. The writing in this section should be especially concise. Readers should be able to understand your needs and capabilities at first glance. The section should tell the reader what you want and your “ask” should be explicitly stated in the summary.

Describe your business, its product or service, and the intended customers. Explain what will be sold, who it will be sold to, and what competitive advantages the business has. Table 11.3 shows a sample executive summary for the fictional company La Vida Lola.

Business Description

This section describes the industry, your product, and the business and success factors. It should provide a current outlook as well as future trends and developments. You also should address your company’s mission, vision, goals, and objectives. Summarize your overall strategic direction, your reasons for starting the business, a description of your products and services, your business model, and your company’s value proposition. Consider including the Standard Industrial Classification/North American Industry Classification System (SIC/NAICS) code to specify the industry and insure correct identification. The industry extends beyond where the business is located and operates, and should include national and global dynamics. Table 11.4 shows a sample business description for La Vida Lola.

Industry Analysis and Market Strategies

Here you should define your market in terms of size, structure, growth prospects, trends, and sales potential. You’ll want to include your TAM and forecast the SAM . (Both these terms are discussed in Conducting a Feasibility Analysis .) This is a place to address market segmentation strategies by geography, customer attributes, or product orientation. Describe your positioning relative to your competitors’ in terms of pricing, distribution, promotion plan, and sales potential. Table 11.5 shows an example industry analysis and market strategy for La Vida Lola.

Competitive Analysis

The competitive analysis is a statement of the business strategy as it relates to the competition. You want to be able to identify who are your major competitors and assess what are their market shares, markets served, strategies employed, and expected response to entry? You likely want to conduct a classic SWOT analysis (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats) and complete a competitive-strength grid or competitive matrix. Outline your company’s competitive strengths relative to those of the competition in regard to product, distribution, pricing, promotion, and advertising. What are your company’s competitive advantages and their likely impacts on its success? The key is to construct it properly for the relevant features/benefits (by weight, according to customers) and how the startup compares to incumbents. The competitive matrix should show clearly how and why the startup has a clear (if not currently measurable) competitive advantage. Some common features in the example include price, benefits, quality, type of features, locations, and distribution/sales. Sample templates are shown in Figure 11.17 and Figure 11.18 . A competitive analysis helps you create a marketing strategy that will identify assets or skills that your competitors are lacking so you can plan to fill those gaps, giving you a distinct competitive advantage. When creating a competitor analysis, it is important to focus on the key features and elements that matter to customers, rather than focusing too heavily on the entrepreneur’s idea and desires.

Operations and Management Plan

In this section, outline how you will manage your company. Describe its organizational structure. Here you can address the form of ownership and, if warranted, include an organizational chart/structure. Highlight the backgrounds, experiences, qualifications, areas of expertise, and roles of members of the management team. This is also the place to mention any other stakeholders, such as a board of directors or advisory board(s), and their relevant relationship to the founder, experience and value to help make the venture successful, and professional service firms providing management support, such as accounting services and legal counsel.

Table 11.6 shows a sample operations and management plan for La Vida Lola.

Marketing Plan

Here you should outline and describe an effective overall marketing strategy for your venture, providing details regarding pricing, promotion, advertising, distribution, media usage, public relations, and a digital presence. Fully describe your sales management plan and the composition of your sales force, along with a comprehensive and detailed budget for the marketing plan. Table 11.7 shows a sample marketing plan for La Vida Lola.

Financial Plan

A financial plan seeks to forecast revenue and expenses; project a financial narrative; and estimate project costs, valuations, and cash flow projections. This section should present an accurate, realistic, and achievable financial plan for your venture (see Entrepreneurial Finance and Accounting for detailed discussions about conducting these projections). Include sales forecasts and income projections, pro forma financial statements ( Building the Entrepreneurial Dream Team , a breakeven analysis, and a capital budget. Identify your possible sources of financing (discussed in Conducting a Feasibility Analysis ). Figure 11.19 shows a template of cash-flow needs for La Vida Lola.

Entrepreneur In Action

Laughing man coffee.

Hugh Jackman ( Figure 11.20 ) may best be known for portraying a comic-book superhero who used his mutant abilities to protect the world from villains. But the Wolverine actor is also working to make the planet a better place for real, not through adamantium claws but through social entrepreneurship.

A love of java jolted Jackman into action in 2009, when he traveled to Ethiopia with a Christian humanitarian group to shoot a documentary about the impact of fair-trade certification on coffee growers there. He decided to launch a business and follow in the footsteps of the late Paul Newman, another famous actor turned philanthropist via food ventures.

Jackman launched Laughing Man Coffee two years later; he sold the line to Keurig in 2015. One Laughing Man Coffee café in New York continues to operate independently, investing its proceeds into charitable programs that support better housing, health, and educational initiatives within fair-trade farming communities. 55 Although the New York location is the only café, the coffee brand is still distributed, with Keurig donating an undisclosed portion of Laughing Man proceeds to those causes (whereas Jackman donates all his profits). The company initially donated its profits to World Vision, the Christian humanitarian group Jackman accompanied in 2009. In 2017, it created the Laughing Man Foundation to be more active with its money management and distribution.

• You be the entrepreneur. If you were Jackman, would you have sold the company to Keurig? Why or why not?
• Would you have started the Laughing Man Foundation?
• What else can Jackman do to aid fair-trade practices for coffee growers?

What Can You Do?

Textbooks for change.

Founded in 2014, Textbooks for Change uses a cross-compensation model, in which one customer segment pays for a product or service, and the profit from that revenue is used to provide the same product or service to another, underserved segment. Textbooks for Change partners with student organizations to collect used college textbooks, some of which are re-sold while others are donated to students in need at underserved universities across the globe. The organization has reused or recycled 250,000 textbooks, providing 220,000 students with access through seven campus partners in East Africa. This B-corp social enterprise tackles a problem and offers a solution that is directly relevant to college students like yourself. Have you observed a problem on your college campus or other campuses that is not being served properly? Could it result in a social enterprise?

Work It Out

Franchisee set out.

A franchisee of East Coast Wings, a chain with dozens of restaurants in the United States, has decided to part ways with the chain. The new store will feature the same basic sports-bar-and-restaurant concept and serve the same basic foods: chicken wings, burgers, sandwiches, and the like. The new restaurant can’t rely on the same distributors and suppliers. A new business plan is needed.

• What steps should the new restaurant take to create a new business plan?
• Should it attempt to serve the same customers? Why or why not?

This New York Times video, “An Unlikely Business Plan,” describes entrepreneurial resurgence in Detroit, Michigan.

• 48 Chris Guillebeau. The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future . New York: Crown Business/Random House, 2012.
• 49 Jonathan Chan. “What These 4 Startup Case Studies Can Teach You about Failure.” Foundr.com . July 12, 2015. https://foundr.com/4-startup-case-studies-failure/
• 50 Amy Feldman. “Inventor of the Cut Buddy Paid YouTubers to Spark Sales. He Wasn’t Ready for a Video to Go Viral.” Forbes. February 15, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestreptalks/2017/02/15/inventor-of-the-cut-buddy-paid-youtubers-to-spark-sales-he-wasnt-ready-for-a-video-to-go-viral/#3eb540ce798a
• 51 Jennifer Post. “National Business Plan Competitions for Entrepreneurs.” Business News Daily . August 30, 2018. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6902-business-plan-competitions-entrepreneurs.html
• 52 “Rice Business Plan Competition, Eligibility Criteria and How to Apply.” Rice Business Plan Competition . March 2020. https://rbpc.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs806/f/2020%20RBPC%20Eligibility%20Criteria%20and%20How%20to%20Apply_23Oct19.pdf
• 53 “Rice Business Plan Competition, Eligibility Criteria and How to Apply.” Rice Business Plan Competition. March 2020. https://rbpc.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs806/f/2020%20RBPC%20Eligibility%20Criteria%20and%20How%20to%20Apply_23Oct19.pdf; Based on 2019 RBPC Competition Rules and Format April 4–6, 2019. https://rbpc.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs806/f/2019-RBPC-Competition-Rules%20-Format.pdf
• 54 Foodstart. http://foodstart.com
• 55 “Hugh Jackman Journey to Starting a Social Enterprise Coffee Company.” Giving Compass. April 8, 2018. https://givingcompass.org/article/hugh-jackman-journey-to-starting-a-social-enterprise-coffee-company/

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Business Plan Development Guide

(6 reviews)

Lee Swanson, University of Saskatchewan

Copyright Year: 2017

Publisher: OPENPRESS.USASK.CA

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of use.

Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Kevin Heupel, Affiliate Faculty, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 3/4/20

The text does a good job of providing a general outline about writing and developing a written business plan. All of the important steps and components are included. However, the text is light on details, examples, and rationale for each element... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

The text does a good job of providing a general outline about writing and developing a written business plan. All of the important steps and components are included. However, the text is light on details, examples, and rationale for each element of the business plan. Some examples from actual business plans would be helpful.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

For the most part, the content is accurate. The content covers all important aspects of drafting a business plan. I thought the industry analysis could use more information about collecting primary and secondary sources; instead, this information was referenced in the marketing plan section.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Most of the content relies on cites as far back as 2006; however, when it comes to developing and writing a business plan nothing has changed. Thus, the content is current and there is no concern about it becoming obsolete in the near future.

Clarity rating: 4

The text is clear. There are no difficult terms used and the writing is simple. The text uses a lot of bullet points though, which gets tedious to read for a few pages.

Consistency rating: 5

The text does a good job of maintaining consistency in terms of framework and terminology. The text is organized where it's easy to find the information you want in a quick manner.

Modularity rating: 3

The text has a lot of bullet points and the paragraphs are dense. However, the use of subheading is excellent.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book is organized as if you're writing a business plan from start to finish, which is helpful as a practical guide.

Interface rating: 5

There are no navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, or any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text is free of grammatical errors. The sentence structure is simple with many bullet points, which helps to avoid any grammatical issues.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This book was written by a Canadian professor and provides references to Canadian sources. However, the information in this text can be used for U.S. schools.

This book is very short and provides a good, general overview about the process of creating and writing a business plan. It won't help a reader if he/she is confused about a certain part of the business plan. The reader will have to find another source, such as "Preparing Effective Business Plans" by Bruce Barringer, Ph.D. The book provides links to good resources and a finished business plan that the reader can reference. I would recommend the book for undergraduate courses.

Reviewed by Kenneth Lacho, Professor of Management, The University of New Orleans on 6/19/18

1. Text is relevant to Canada. Not the United States 2. Needs to cover resources available to entrepreneur, e.g., federal government agencies, trade associations, chambers of commerce, economic development agencies. 3. Discuss local economy or... read more

1. Text is relevant to Canada. Not the United States 2. Needs to cover resources available to entrepreneur, e.g., federal government agencies, trade associations, chambers of commerce, economic development agencies. 3. Discuss local economy or economic area relevant to this proposed business. 4. Business model ok as a guide. 5. Suggested mission statement to cover: product/business, target customer, geographical area covered. 6. Need detailed promotion plan, e.g., personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, networking publicity, and social media. 7. How do you find the target market? 8. Chapter 6 too much detail on debt and equity financing. 9. Discuss how to find sources of financing, e.g., angels. 10. Expand coverage of bootstring, crowdfunding. 11. Chapter 4 – good checklist. 12. Chapter 3 - overlaps. 13. Chapter 7 – 3 pages of executive summary – double or single spaced typing. Number all tables, graphs. 14. Some references out-of-date, mostly academic. Bring in trade magazines such as Entrepreneur.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

In my opinion, the content is accurate and error free.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The material is relevant to writing a business plan. I wonder if the Porter, SWOT VRIO, etc. material is too high level for students who may not be seniors or have non-business degrees (e.g., liberal arts). Porter has been around for a while and does have longevity. The author has to be more alert to changes in promotion, e.g., social media and sources of financing, e.g., crowdfunding.

Clarity rating: 3

As noted in No. 9, the tone of the writing is too academic, thus making the material difficult to understand. Paragraphs are too long. Need to define: Porter, TOWS Matrix, VRIO, PESTEL. A student less from a senior or a non-business major would not be familiar with these terms.

Consistency rating: 4

The text is internally consistent. The model approach helps keep the process consistent.

Modularity rating: 4

The process of developing a business plan is divided into blocks which are parts of the business plan. Paragraphs tend to be too long in some spots.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The topics are presented in a logical step-wise flow. The language style is too academic in parts, paragraphs too long. Leaves out the citations. Provides excellent check lists.

There are no display features which confuse the reader.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

The text has no grammatical errors. On the other hand, I found the writing to be too academic in nature. Some paragraphs are too long. The material is more like an academic conference paper or journal submission. Academic citations references are not needed. The material is not exciting to read.

The text is culturally neutral. There are no examples which are inclusive of a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

This book best for a graduate class.

Reviewed by Louis Bruneau, Part Time Faculty, Portland Community College on 6/19/18

The text provides appropriate discussion and illustration of all major concepts and useful references to source and resource materials. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text provides appropriate discussion and illustration of all major concepts and useful references to source and resource materials.

Contents of the book were accurate, although it could have benefited from editing/proofreading; there was no evidence of bias. As to editing/proofreading, a couple of examples: A. “Figure 1 – Business Plan… “ is shown at the top of the page following the diagram vs. the bottom of the page the diagram is on. (There are other problems with what is placed on each page.) B. First paragraph under heading “Essential Initial Research” there is reference to pages 21 to 30 though page numbering is missing from the book. (Page numbers are used in the Table of Contents.)

The book is current in that business planning has been stable for sometime. The references and resources will age in time, but are limited and look easy to update.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is written in a straightforward way, technical terms that needed explanations got them, jargon was avoided and generally it was an easy read.

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

Modularity rating: 5

The book lends itself to a multi-week course. A chapter could be presented and students could work on that stage of Plan development. It could also be pre-meeting reading for a workshop presentation. Reorganizing the book would be inappropriate.

The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion.

Generally, the book is free of interface problems. The financial tables in the Sample Plan were turned 90° to maintain legibility. One potential problem was with Figure 6 – Business Model Canvas. The print within the cells was too small to read; the author mitigated the problem by presenting the information, following Figure 6, in the type font of the text.

I found no grammatical errors.

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.

I require a business plan in a course I teach; for most of the students the assignment is a course project that they do not intend to pursue in real life. I shared the book with five students that intended to develop an actual start-up business; three of them found it helpful while the other two decided not to do that much work on their plans. If I were planning a start-up, I would use/follow the book.

Reviewed by Todd Johnson, Faculty of Business, North Hennepin Community College on 5/21/18

The text is a thorough overview of all elements of a business plan. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The text is a thorough overview of all elements of a business plan.

The content is accurate and seems to lack bias.

Content seems relevant and useful . It does not help an entrepreneur generate ideas, and is very light on crowdfunding and other novel funding source content. It is more traditional. This can be easily updated in future versions, however. "Social Media" appears once in the book, as does "Crowd Funding".

The book is comprehensive, but perhaps not written in the most lucid, accessible prose. I am not sure any college student could pick this up and just read and learn. It would be best used as a "teach along guide" for students to process with an instructor.

The text seems consistent. The author does a nice job of consistently staying on task and using bullets and brevity.

Here I am not so certain. The table of contents is not a good guide for this book. It does make the book look nicely laid out, but there is a lot of complexity within these sections. I read it uncertain that it was well organized. Yes there are many good bits of information, however it is not as if I could spend time on one swathe of text at a time. I would need to go back and forth throughout the text.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 2

Similar to the above. I did not like the flow and organization of this. An editor would help things be in a more logical order.

Interface rating: 2

The interface is just OK. It is not an attractice interface, as it presents text in a very dense manner. The images and charts are hard to follow.

I did not find any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

I a not certain of the origins of Saskatchewan, but I do feel this is a different read. It is more formal and dense than it has to be. This would be a difficult read for my students. I do not feel it is insensitive in any way, or offensive in any way.

I would not adopt this book if given the chance. It is too dense, and not organized very well, even though the information is very good. The density and lack of modularity are barriers to understanding what is obviously very good information.

Reviewed by Mariana Mitova, Lecturer, Bowling Green State University on 2/1/18

Though this textbook has a prescriptive nature, it is quite comprehensive. The author strikes a good balance between presenting concepts in a concise way and providing enough information to explain them. Many every-day examples and live links to... read more

Though this textbook has a prescriptive nature, it is quite comprehensive. The author strikes a good balance between presenting concepts in a concise way and providing enough information to explain them. Many every-day examples and live links to other resources add to the completeness of the textbook.

Content seems accurate.

Since the content is somewhat conceptual, the text will not become obsolete quickly. In addition, the author seems to be updating and editing content often hence the relevance to current developments is on target.

The text is very clear, written in clear and straight-to-the point language.

The organization of content is consistent throughout the entire text.

The textbook is organized by chapters, beginning with overview of the model used and followed by chapters for each concept within the model. Nicely done.

The flow is clear, logical and easy to follow.

Overall, images, links, and text are well organized. Some headlines were misaligned but still easy to follow.

No concerns for grammar.

No concerns for cultural irrelevance.

Reviewed by Darlene Weibye, Cosmetology Instructor, Minnesota State Community and Technical College on 2/1/18

The text is comprehensive and covers the information needed to develop a business plan. The book provides all the means necessary in business planning. read more

The text is comprehensive and covers the information needed to develop a business plan. The book provides all the means necessary in business planning.

The text was accurate, and error-free. I did not find the book to be biased.

The content is up-to-date. I am reviewing the book in 2017, the same year the book was published.

The content was very clear. A business plan sample included operation timelines, start up costs, and all relevant material in starting a business.

The book is very consistent and is well organized.

The book has a table of contents and is broken down into specific chapters. The chapters are not divided into sub topics. I do not feel it is necessary for sub topics because the chapters are brief and to the point.

There is a great flow from chapter to chapter. One topic clearly leads into the next without repeating.

The table of contents has direct links to each chapter. The appearance of the chapters are easy to read and the charts are very beneficial.

Does not appear to have any grammatical errors.

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive.

I am incorporating some of the text into the salon business course. Very well written book.

Table of Contents

Introduction

• Chapter 1 – Developing a Business Plan
• Chapter 2 – Essential Initial Research
• Chapter 3 – Business Models
• Chapter 4 – Initial Business Plan Draft
• Chapter 5 – Making the Business Plan Realistic
• Chapter 6 – Making the Plan Appeal to Stakeholders and Desirable to the Entrepreneur
• Chapter 7 – Finishing the Business Plan
• Chapter 8 – Business Plan Pitches

References Appendix A – Business Plan Development Checklist and Project Planner Appendix B – Fashion Importers Inc. Business Plan Business Plan Excel Template

Ancillary Material

About the book.

This textbook and its accompanying spreadsheet templates were designed with and for students wanting a practical and easy-to-follow guide for developing a business plan. It follows a unique format that both explains what to do and demonstrates how to do it.

About the Contributors

Dr. Lee Swanson is an Associate Professor of Management and Marketing at the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan. His research focuses on entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, Aboriginal entrepreneurship, community capacity-building through entrepreneurship, and institutional-stakeholder engagement. Dr. Swanson’s current research is funded through a Social Sciences Humanities Research Council grant and focuses on social and economic capacity building in Northern Saskatchewan and Northern Scandinavia. He is also actively studying Aboriginal community partnerships with resource based companies, entrepreneurship centres at universities, community-based entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions. He teaches upper-year and MBA entrepreneurship classes and conducts seminars on business planning and business development.

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Recommended Reading

Rhonda M. Abrams and Eugene Kleiner, The Successful Business Plan : Secrets and Strategies

   QuickMBA  /  Entrepreneurship  / Sample Business Plan Template

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How to Write a Business Plan, Step by Step

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What is a business plan?

1. write an executive summary, 2. describe your company, 3. state your business goals, 4. describe your products and services, 5. do your market research, 6. outline your marketing and sales plan, 7. perform a business financial analysis, 8. make financial projections, 9. summarize how your company operates, 10. add any additional information to an appendix, business plan tips and resources.

A business plan outlines your business’s financial goals and explains how you’ll achieve them over the next three to five years. Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing a business plan that will offer a strong, detailed road map for your business.

ZenBusiness

A business plan is a document that explains what your business does, how it makes money and who its customers are. Internally, writing a business plan should help you clarify your vision and organize your operations. Externally, you can share it with potential lenders and investors to show them you’re on the right track.

Business plans are living documents; it’s OK for them to change over time. Startups may update their business plans often as they figure out who their customers are and what products and services fit them best. Mature companies might only revisit their business plan every few years. Regardless of your business’s age, brush up this document before you apply for a business loan .

» Need help writing? Learn about the best business plan software .

This is your elevator pitch. It should include a mission statement, a brief description of the products or services your business offers and a broad summary of your financial growth plans.

Though the executive summary is the first thing your investors will read, it can be easier to write it last. That way, you can highlight information you’ve identified while writing other sections that go into more detail.

» MORE: How to write an executive summary in 6 steps

Next up is your company description. This should contain basic information like:

Your business’s registered name.

Address of your business location .

Names of key people in the business. Make sure to highlight unique skills or technical expertise among members of your team.

Your company description should also define your business structure — such as a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation — and include the percent ownership that each owner has and the extent of each owner’s involvement in the company.

Lastly, write a little about the history of your company and the nature of your business now. This prepares the reader to learn about your goals in the next section.

» MORE: How to write a company overview for a business plan

The third part of a business plan is an objective statement. This section spells out what you’d like to accomplish, both in the near term and over the coming years.

If you’re looking for a business loan or outside investment, you can use this section to explain how the financing will help your business grow and how you plan to achieve those growth targets. The key is to provide a clear explanation of the opportunity your business presents to the lender.

For example, if your business is launching a second product line, you might explain how the loan will help your company launch that new product and how much you think sales will increase over the next three years as a result.

» MORE: How to write a successful business plan for a loan

In this section, go into detail about the products or services you offer or plan to offer.

You should include the following:

An explanation of how your product or service works.

The pricing model for your product or service.

The typical customers you serve.

Your supply chain and order fulfillment strategy.

You can also discuss current or pending trademarks and patents associated with your product or service.

Lenders and investors will want to know what sets your product apart from your competition. In your market analysis section , explain who your competitors are. Discuss what they do well, and point out what you can do better. If you’re serving a different or underserved market, explain that.

Here, you can address how you plan to persuade customers to buy your products or services, or how you will develop customer loyalty that will lead to repeat business.

Include details about your sales and distribution strategies, including the costs involved in selling each product .

» MORE: R e a d our complete guide to small business marketing

If you’re a startup, you may not have much information on your business financials yet. However, if you’re an existing business, you’ll want to include income or profit-and-loss statements, a balance sheet that lists your assets and debts, and a cash flow statement that shows how cash comes into and goes out of the company.

Accounting software may be able to generate these reports for you. It may also help you calculate metrics such as:

Net profit margin: the percentage of revenue you keep as net income.

Current ratio: the measurement of your liquidity and ability to repay debts.

Accounts receivable turnover ratio: a measurement of how frequently you collect on receivables per year.

This is a great place to include charts and graphs that make it easy for those reading your plan to understand the financial health of your business.

This is a critical part of your business plan if you’re seeking financing or investors. It outlines how your business will generate enough profit to repay the loan or how you will earn a decent return for investors.

Here, you’ll provide your business’s monthly or quarterly sales, expenses and profit estimates over at least a three-year period — with the future numbers assuming you’ve obtained a new loan.

Accuracy is key, so carefully analyze your past financial statements before giving projections. Your goals may be aggressive, but they should also be realistic.

NerdWallet’s picks for setting up your business finances:

The best business checking accounts .

The best business credit cards .

The best accounting software .

Before the end of your business plan, summarize how your business is structured and outline each team’s responsibilities. This will help your readers understand who performs each of the functions you’ve described above — making and selling your products or services — and how much each of those functions cost.

If any of your employees have exceptional skills, you may want to include their resumes to help explain the competitive advantage they give you.

Finally, attach any supporting information or additional materials that you couldn’t fit in elsewhere. That might include:

Licenses and permits.

Equipment leases.

Bank statements.

Details of your personal and business credit history, if you’re seeking financing.

If the appendix is long, you may want to consider adding a table of contents at the beginning of this section.

How much do you need?

with Fundera by NerdWallet

We’ll start with a brief questionnaire to better understand the unique needs of your business.

Once we uncover your personalized matches, our team will consult you on the process moving forward.

Here are some tips to write a detailed, convincing business plan:

Avoid over-optimism: If you’re applying for a business bank loan or professional investment, someone will be reading your business plan closely. Providing unreasonable sales estimates can hurt your chances of approval.

Proofread: Spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors can jump off the page and turn off lenders and prospective investors. If writing and editing aren't your strong suit, you may want to hire a professional business plan writer, copy editor or proofreader.

Use free resources: SCORE is a nonprofit association that offers a large network of volunteer business mentors and experts who can help you write or edit your business plan. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Development Centers , which provide free business consulting and help with business plan development, can also be a resource.

On a similar note...

Find small-business financing

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How to Write the Perfect Business Plan

Created by Henry Steele

By Henry Steele - January 8, 2018

Are you planning to start a business or do you already own one ?

Sponsored School(s)

If the answer is yes, then you need a business plan .

This seems like an extremely daunting task, but if you understand your business, it won’t be hard at all. It’s simply a matter of organizing the information in a clear, concise manner.

The following article discusses how to write the perfect business plan, including the types of business plans most commonly used, top 10 do’s and don’ts, what goes into a business plan, the structure of your business, marketing and sales, your organizational and operational plan and much more.

What is a Business Plan?

To help you write the perfect business plan, we’ll provide you with an exact outline of everything you’ll need to include, so even if you think you’re too young, you’ll have no problem starting out.

The reason many business owners first decide to put together a business plan is that they simply have to. If you want to apply for a business loan, attract investors, or obtain any necessary licensing, business plans are a prerequisite.

Even if you don’t need financing or licensing, however, it’s still a good idea to have a well-thought-out business plan. If you need to hire any key employees, a strong business plan will help attract strong talent. Whenever you need to deal with professionals, such as a consultant or an accountant, your business plan gives them invaluable insight.

Finally, it’s a good idea to put a business plan together for your own sake . As you put the business plan together, you’ll have the chance to really conceptualize and evaluate your strategy. You’ll build proof that your idea makes both financial and logistic sense. Once you start working to get your business off of the ground, a strong business plan guides and helps you stay on-track.

Types of Business Plans

Business plans come in all shapes and sizes, but you can generally whittle them down to three key versions.

Shortened Business Plan

This is an easily digestible, much shorter version of your normal business plan. Typically, it will be between three and five pages. You should include your executive summary, financials, and any information pertinent to the person/s to whom you are presenting the plan. A shortened business plan is usually made with a specific purpose or recipient in mind, so it will be easy to figure out exactly what is and isn’t important enough to make the cut.

In-depth Business Plan

Your standard business plan, and the one we will be teaching you to write . Again, these come in handy when seeking to fund your business, attract employees or work with professionals, or simply to act as a guide.

Operational Business Plan

Unlike the other two business plans we have discussed, an operational business plan is meant for internal use only. This will not be distributed to anybody except for employees or professionals working on your company’s behalf. An operational business plan focuses on the company’s overarching goals, mission, and vision so that all department stay aligned. Your Marketing and Sales, Operational Plan, and Financial sections will be key here.

What Language Should I Use?

Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts

Before we dive into our business plan outline and describe each section, let’s go over some general do’s and don’ts you’ll want to keep in mind as you write your business plan:

Do: Provide Examples

Don’t: Overload the Reader

An in-depth business plan will contain lots of useful information and will likely end up being much more than ten pages. Because it’s so long by nature, you need to make sure to only include the most useful information in each section. Format everything carefully and correctly. Don’t use language that confuses or intimidates readers outside of your industry. The easier it is for the reader to absorb everything you’re presenting them, the more effective your business plan is.

Do: Proper Research

Don’t: Leave Any Stone Uncovered

Somebody who reads your business plan shouldn’t have any major questions left unanswered. Include complete information about what you are aiming to do, how you are going to do it, how much money is needed, etc. Use our full outline below to ensure everything is covered.

Do: Be Honest

Don’t: Hustle Just to ‘Get it Done’

Writing a business plan isn’t a task you’re completing and checking off your to-do list. Everything must be accurate, thoughtful, and well-articulated. Keep in mind: this will guide you as you operate your business and is the key to obtaining financing and/or pitching your business.

Do: Make it a Living Document

Don’t: Focus Solely on Your Product

You might think your business revolves around your particular product/s or service/s, but there’s so much more to it than that. Your business plan talks about how the actual business is run, so you might want to leave the technical specifications and granular details for another time.

Do: Show Your Passion

In the end, your business plan and your business are about you. While it’s important to maintain a professional tone, don’t be afraid to let your enthusiasm about your business seep through every page.

Don’t: Write Alone

How to Write a Business Plan

• Keep it concise.
• Know your audience.
• Perfect your executive summary.
• Focus and refine constantly.
• Gather and check all of your data.
• Be confident, but don’t go overboard.
• Be as clear and in-depth as possible.
• Enhance with graphics.
• Share and gather feedback from trusted advisors.

What Goes into a Business Plan?

When writing your business plan, you will need to put in a lot of time and research. Luckily, we’re here to walk you through all of that. A winning business plan contains the below sections, and you can use our sidebar to navigate to each of these:

• Introduction

Executive Summary

• Information About Your Business
• Industry Analysis

Marketing and Sales

• Operational Plan

Your Business Plan Introduction

Cover Letter

A cover letter is essential whenever you are presenting the business plan to somebody for a specific reason and should be tailored to each individual. Like any other letter, it should include names, dates, and a cordial greeting. In the first paragraph, explain exactly why you are presenting the business plan to the recipient. Take one or two paragraphs to discuss your business (an even more condensed executive summary, as we will cover in the next section). Finally, let the reader know you appreciate their consideration and would be happy to address any questions or concerns. Include any necessary contact information below your name and signature.

Your title page should be clean and simple. Here’s what to include in it:

• The title of the document (i.e. Business Plan, Business Proposal, Summary Business Plan).
• The name of your company.
• A sub-heading, if necessary (i.e. ‘Presented to ABC Investing Company’).
• Who the business plan was prepared by.
• The name of any other owners or key partners.
• Basic contact information.

Table of Contents

A table of contents is essential to make your business plan transparent and easy to navigate. It is unlikely that a serious potential partner or investor will read through your plan once and toss it aside, so you want to make it easy for them to return and pick up where they left off or revisit any key bits of information. If you are providing a digital copy, include clickable links to each section for the reader’s benefit.

The executive summary is exactly what it sounds like – a brief summary that describes the essence of what your business is and what it aims to do. Here’s how to write a winning executive summary:

• Begin with a single sentence that sums your business up. This is otherwise known as your value proposition.
• Describe what niche or problem your business fills or solves.
• Explain exactly how your business solves this problem in a way that the rest of the competition does not or cannot.
• A very brief (one or two sentences) summary of any other information from the following sections that would be critical to your business’ success.

Your Business / Company

Structure of Your Business

First and foremost, you’ll need to discuss the legal structure of your business:

• Sole-proprietorship: simple to set-up, but the owner is fully liable for any debts or obligations.
• Partnership: a general partnership is also simple to set-up, but all partners would be liable. Limited partnerships, or LPs, are a bit more complicated.
• Corporation: a corporation is owned by stockholders, so it is unlikely you will either want or need to structure as one. There are two types of corporations, which vary in terms of shareholder limitations and tax liabilities: S corporations and C corporations.
• Limited liability corporation (LLC): an LLC is generally the best of both worlds for small businesses. The owner’s’ liability is limited, and taxation is that of a partnership, which provides better flexibility over a corporation.

Once the legal structure is determined, you’ll need to break down the ownership of the business. Are you the sole owner? Do you have business partners? Has anybody purchased a share of the business in exchange for funding? Provide a brief introduction to any key executives or owners, outlining what strengths they have and how they will impact the business.

Finally, include a brief history (if any) of your business, and any pertinent location details.

Business Vision, Mission, and Values

This is one of the most important sections of your business plan. Here, you need to impart your passion for the business and really describe what you’re trying to achieve.

Business Vision

Your vision statement is all about the company’s goals. It serves as a template for exactly what you’re trying to achieve, both short-term and long-term. Don’t hold back when it comes to your vision: if your goal is to eventually dominate the Northeastern coffee shop scene, say that. A vision statement is your chance to think big.

Where a vision statement thinks big, a mission statement is more practical. Your mission statement should discuss your company’s purpose. Why does it even exist in the first place? This mission statement will act to provide organizational direction and help you achieve your vision.

The values are all about how you plan to operate your business in relation to the stakeholders. This includes investors, customers, and members of the local community. How do you plan to treat them? What are you doing to make their lives and the world they live in better?

Analyzing the Industry

Market Size

Here, you’ll describe exactly how large the market is. You should be able to find national figures with relatively little research. If you’re not serving a national or international market, discuss how large the population you plan to serve is. Extrapolating from the national information, how big do you expect your actual market size to be?

In addition, you should discuss any important trends. Is your market growing or retracting? If your market is growing, discuss how you project to fit into that growth and seize your market share. If your market is shrinking, discuss why you think entering the marketplace is worthwhile, and whether or not you project growth in the future.

Industry Focus and Trends

First, you’ll want to talk about the industry in general. This includes looping back to the market size and discussing whether it is growing, stagnant, or shrinking. Are there any overarching trends or cycles that will affect your business?

This is also a good opportunity to discuss pricing. What type of money does your average customer spend in your industry? What price point are you aiming for, and why is that a good strategy? If you aren’t competing on price, what reasons do you have to believe that somebody will be willing to spend more on your business?

Below, we will discuss two valuable business models you can and should use to discuss your industry further.

PEST Analysis

• Political: what impact could the government have on your business. Is there any pending legislation that could change how you operate? Would tax changes or tariffs cause a financial strain?
• Economic: would an economic downturn cause sales to tumble, or is your business relatively immune to economic factors? Furthermore, what do current economic trends (inflation, consumer demand, etc.) say about your short-term potential?
• Social: are there any relevant social or cultural trends that are shaping the industry? Is there a distinct seasonality to your business? Consider, for example, the impact of the Christmas season to retailers in the United States.
• Technological: how has technology shaped your industry over the past decade? Take a look at the future and make an educated guess on where the industry is headed, and how you’ll fit into that future.

Sometimes PEST is lengthened to PESTLE to include any legal or environmental factors as well. If you believe either will have a significant impact on your business, make sure to include it as well.

Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis

• Competition: we will go into this in more detail next, but for this model you should discuss how much competition there is, and how profitable they might be.
• Threat of new entrants: how easy is it for somebody to enter your industry? For a casino, it would be quite difficult (extensive significant licensing and upfront costs), but for a food truck, it would be quite minimal. The easier it is to enter your industry, the greater the threat is of somebody else entering and stealing your market share.
• Power of suppliers : if your industry has a low number of suppliers or suppliers that are dominated by much larger companies, you will have a problem sourcing on-budget and on-time. If you aren’t reliant on very specific suppliers, however, or if there is competition among suppliers, you can find yourself in an advantageous position.
• Power of customers: specifically, do your customers have the ability to drive prices down? If you expect to have a large number of small customers, your price will remain relatively stable. However, if you plan on having a small number of very important customers, they maintain the power to dramatically impact your pricing and profitability.
• Threat of substitutes: how likely is it that somebody will forego your offering for a comparable substitute. If you’re a restaurant, for example, Amazon’s grocery delivery business would be a substitute, since people may decide to stay home and cook for themselves.

Competition

It’s just as important to discuss how your competition is navigating the industry you plan on dominating. With a strong idea of where your competition is positioned and the strategic decisions they are making you will be able to determine where your own business fits in.

To begin, discuss what your competition looks like. Are there many small businesses vying for the same customers or are you competing against a couple of whales? List your most important competitors and summarize them. Discuss their location, products, pricing, market share, and any important strategic decisions they have made. Use this information to create a list of their strengths and weaknesses.

After discussing the competition, it’s time to think about where you fit among them. SWOT Analysis is the perfect model to do just that.

SWOT Analysis

Here is what a complete SWOT Analysis looks like:

• Strengths:  Exactly as it sounds. What do you do best? What do you do that the competition absolutely cannot?
• Weaknesses:  Be honest. Are there any resources you lack? Any skillsets that are missing? What isn’t as efficient as it could be?
• Opportunities:  Improving any of your weaknesses is a major opportunity. In addition to that, consider internal or external factors that might change and present a new business opportunity. Finally, are there any complementary products or services that you could consider offering to your customers?
• Threats:  What potential is there for your business to be damaged? Are there any industry or economic trends? Could your competition change strategies and harm you? Do any obstacles to success stand in your way?

Once you have completed the SWOT analysis, wrap this section up by talking about your own competitive strategy. Given your industry, the competition, and your own SWOT analysis, what decisions are you making to position the company to succeed?

Readers of your business plan definitely need to know how you’ll be marketing and selling your product or service.There are going to be three key elements of your marketing plan.

Customer Segmentation

• Demographic information – age, gender.
• Psychographic profile – what do they care about? What motivates them? What do they value? Where do they get their information?
• Socioeconomic profile – income, lifestyle preference.

Describe your target audience in great detail. The more you know about your customer, the easier it will be to market to them.

Advertising and Promotion Plan

After building a strong customer profile of your target audience, you should know what your customer cares about. Think about how your business fits into that, and strategize how you’re going to market to them. Use their demographic and behavioral information to determine the most appropriate channels to focus on.

Your brand should seep into all aspects of your business – the website, advertisements, and even the tone of communications with customers. Whatever strategies you have for these elements, make sure to lay them out.

Finally, include your company logo and slogan, if they already exist. If not, you should begin to think about them and use the rest of this section as a guide.

Sales Distribution Plan

How exactly do you plan on getting your goods or services into somebody’s hands? Do you plan on hiring a sales staff or will you handle it all yourself initially? Do you plan on doing inbound or outbound sales? What does the sales process look at each step of the marketing funnel?

You’ll also need to think about and discuss pricing. Discuss your pricing strategy and why it’s a good value for your customers. If you are going low or moderately priced, discuss how you can stay profitable and remain differentiated from the competition. If you are a luxury brand, discuss why somebody will be willing to pay more for your business than the competition.

Lastly, consider distribution. Are you going to allow customers to purchase directly from you? Will they have to go through distributors? Do you have any retail partnerships to leverage? These are important decisions that have a profound impact on a business.

Organizational and Operational Plan

Production Process

Here are some ideas of what you’ll need to outline:

• Raw materials – how much do they cost? Do prices fluctuate? Is supply limited in quantity or how quickly it can be obtained in a pinch?
• What machines, technologies, etc., do you use for production? What costs are involved in these? Are you renting or do you own them?
• What is your estimated daily output?
• How easy is it to scale up or down as necessary? How does this impact the cost per unit?
• Which methods of quality control do you employ, both pre- and post-production?

If you’re a service business, you might not have any physical inventory, but your employees should be considered as your supply. After all, without them, you won’t be able to provide your services to your customers. What strategies do you have to recruit and retain the best talent possible? Can you scale quickly through recruiting and training, overtime, or an increase in part-time help?

You should also look back at your sales distribution plan and consider the logistics of shipping any physical products. How often will orders be fulfilled? Do you have the ability to rush orders if necessary? How will returns or incorrect shipments be handled in a way that keeps everybody happy?

Here are the components you must include in your business plan’s financial information:

Forecasted Sales

Use all of the marketing data you’ve put together to determine what a reasonable sales forecast looks like. Project your sales for a period of two or three years, going one month at a time. Include seasonality whenever applicable. As you forecast sales, include exactly how much revenue you expect to earn from those sales, and the total direct cost of those sales. You’ll be able to use these figures to determine revenue and gross margin, which you should use to compare to industry and competitive standards.

Projected Expenses

Fixed costs are going to stay the same whether you sell one widget or twenty. For example, rent, electricity, insurance, marketing costs, and payroll (with the exception of commission and bonuses), will mostly stay the same no matter what sales look like.

Variable costs, on the other hand, will vary by each unit sold. This includes the cost of materials, shipping, coupons, taxes, etc. Most of this should already be covered in your forecasted sales report, but make sure that nothing is overlooked.

Make sure to consider that as you scale, some fixed costs may become variable. As sales increase, you may have to hire more employees, or move into a bigger office. Keep this in mind by always referring back to your forecasted sales and estimating your business needs as best you can.

Balance Sheet

Everything comes together on your balance sheet. This includes your projected sales and expenses, but also deals with assets and liabilities.For example, if you take out a loan, you’ll need to include the capital in your assets and the repayments, including interest, in your liabilities. Non-monetary assets, such as the property and machinery must also be included.

You can find a sample balance sheet here .

Cash Flow Statement

Month by month, you’ll track exactly how much cash you expect to leave your hands and how much will come in. Keep in mind that not all sales are paid fully right away. Consider how many sales will be paid in full at the time of sale, how many will be paid in 30 days, 60 days, or go completely delinquent.

Once you have your cash flow statement completed, run some quick analysis. Compare your projected expenses each month to the projected cash coming in each month. For any months that project to have a negative cash flow, ensure you have enough money on hand to cover the difference.

You may find two examples of completed cash flow statements here and here .

Customer Lifetime Value

Customer Lifetime Value is an estimate of exactly how much each customer you acquire will be worth total. A simple way to calculate this is by determining how many purchases a customer makes before churning, and multiplying it by the average amount of their purchase. In other words, how many purchases will they make before moving on from your business, and how much will those purchases be worth?

Let’s take a look at a real-world example. Let’s assume you’re running an oil change business, and you know your average customer gets three oil changes per year. With premium options and add-ons, your average sale is $38.50. Each customer spends an average of three years with you before churning (perhaps they have moved away or found another service they prefer).

In this example, your expected CLV would be $346.50. You know each average customer will make 3 purchases per year, for 3 years, at $38.50 each. 3 x 3 x $38.50 = $346.50, which is your CLV.

Why is CLV so important? Let’s take a look at unit economics.

Unit Economics

The formula for cost of acquisition is simple. Divide your total marketing spend by the number of customers you have acquired through all marketing channels. If you spend $25,000 across all marketing channels and acquire 1,000 customers, your average cost per acquisition is $25.00.

Tracking your marketing expenses isn’t the tricky part. Attributing each user to a specific campaign, however, can be. If somebody walks into your store after seeing a TV ad, for example, it can be hard to properly attribute them. Digital campaigns are a bit easier, as there are typically tracking links that make everything easy to calculate. You’ll have to do your due diligence and make your best-educated guesses here, using industry standards whenever necessary and possible.

You should also take the time to break out your unit economics into each marketing channel. This allows you to track which channels are performing well and which ones aren’t. If Facebook is attracting lots of customers but you’re spending so much that your cost of acquisition is higher than expected CLV, you might actually need to stop spending money there.

It’s important to be very clear about exactly how your business has been funded so far. This includes what you have received through investments, series rounds, or personal loans. You will also need to mention any personal funds that you have put into the business, and how much you have saved that you are willing to put into it in the future.

Once you have discussed the funding your business has received, it is appropriate to lay out exactly how much you’ll need. Make sure to also discuss exactly what any loans or investments will be used for and how that spending will be tracked.

Business Plan Resources

Business plan samples.

To reinforce everything we’ve discussed above, let’s take a look at some sample business plans that have already been put together for your review. We’ll discuss some key takeaways from each plan, helping you consider how your business is unique and what you’ll need to emphasize.

Coffee Shop Business Plan

A coffee shop is a nice, simple business to start our samples with. A coffee shop requires a small storefront, and the location is critical. Most people will gladly stop in for a nice cup of coffee but are unlikely to drive miles out of their way for one. Notice that because of this, the sales forecast is relatively stagnant, even after several years.

Click here for the sample business plan.

Restaurant Business Plan

A restaurant business plan will be similar to a coffee shop, but is a little more involved. Start-up costs are higher as it requires a larger storefront and a larger variety of equipment. Variable costs are higher as a quality meal costs much more than a cup of coffee. The sales forecast shows more growth, as people are more willing to travel for a good meal than they are a simple cup of coffee.

Food Truck Business Plan

Let’s consider a third food-based business to really drive home how businesses that appear similar will have important differences. Food trucks have a much different fixed cost structure than a coffee shop or restaurant, as they don’t have a physical location. Seasonality and location will have a huge impact on salespeople won’t want to stand outside for a burrito when it’s cold and snowy outside. With a much smaller staff, a food truck is also more likely to be open for lunch only, or closed a couple days per week.

Startup Business Plan

It’s good to take a look at a general startup business plan to get an idea of how to estimate costs, sales, etc. This sample plan is a take-out pizza joint. Notice that trends are important, as the business plan notes their market is a growing area and they are aiming to fill a niche for low to middle-income families, which comprise the majority of residents in their service area. They use a mixture of studies and geographic data to make conservative estimates, giving potential investors confidence that the business can be profitable if the strategies are successfully executed.

Photography Business Plan

A photography business is a great example of a company that is minimal to the extreme. Mostly, you will be relying on your own skills and experience. Minus initial equipment and the cost of your own time, expenses are minimal. Still, you see that it’s important to have a strong plan in place so that you understand how to position your services and who exactly you’re aiming to serve.

Business Plan Tools

Here are a variety of tools that make both writing a business plan and getting your business off the ground much easier:

If you want to quickly build your idea into a business plan to validate its value or just to get started, LivePlan is perfect. The business planning process is made simple, as you simply need to answer questions and are given plenty of examples, videos, and tutorials along the way. You can even use LivePlan to collaborate with partners or investors, testing ideas on the fly and seeing its impact on your business’ health.

Click here to take a look at LivePlan.

Rocket Lawyer

When you’re starting a business, it’s extremely likely you’ll need quick legal help. You might need advice on licensing, permits, or zoning. Or perhaps you want to discuss how to structure your business as an LLC. Rocket Lawyer can help. You’ll have access to their services for a monthly fee that’s less than a cup of coffee each day. There’s an even option to help incorporate your business by filling out a couple of quick forms.

Click here to take a look at Rocket Lawyer.

Like LivePlan, StratPad offers a cloud-based chance to build your business plan and strategy on the fly. StratPad offers a demo for their services and if you’re looking for funding will even match you up automatically with a financial institution that makes sense for your business. Our suggestion is to take a look at both LivePlan and StratPad and select the one that you like best.

Click here to take a look at StratPad.

If you’re looking for a simple way to create a professional business plan without all the bells and whistles, BizPlan is perfect for you. You’ll be able to create a stylish, professional business plan using intuitive drag-and-drop templates. Financials are easy to create using a user-friendly dashboard.

Click here to take a look at BizPlan.

A typo can derail your business plan and make you look sloppy and unprepared, no matter how much effort you put into it. Grammarly is a world-class spell checker that also checks for many of the most common grammatical error for free. There’s even a browser-based version that you can use no matter where you are. For a fee, you can subscribe to Grammarly Premium, which provides an even more granular check.

Click here to take a look at Grammarly.

Business Plan Templates

Now that we have an idea of everything you need to include in your business plan and which tools you’ll need to get started, it’s time to get started. Here are some websites with sample business plan templates you may use to make writing the perfect business plan a bit easier:

• Score.org has a variety of business plan and financial statement templates, including ones for both start-ups and established businesses.
• Microsoft Office’s website has many valuable business plan templates, including a checklist and PowerPoint Presentation templates for pitching your business plan.
• The S. Small Business Administration allows you to create a business plan with a free account that you can download and distribute as a PDF.
• Santa Clara University provides a 15-section business plan that can be downloaded one section at a time or all at once.
• Law Depot offers a business plan template tailored for you. Simply answer some quick questions and your template is instantly ready to download.

How to Write a Business Plan Conclusion

In the end, a business plan is a highly unique and personalized document. A business plan that is right for your business won’t be right for any other business in the world. By closely following the outline and strategies above, however, you’ll have a great base to begin crafting your own perfect business plan.

Bibliography:

• Berry, T. 15 Reasons You Need a Business Plan. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/83818.
• CBM Group. What Is The Right Tone And Writing Style For A Business Plan? Retrieved from http://www.cbmgroup.co.uk/blog/business-plan-writing/what-is-the-right-tone-and-writing-style-for-a-business-plan.
• Discover Business. How to Write a Business Plan. Retrieved from https://www.discoverbusiness.us/business-plans/.
• Fontinelle, A.How To Write A Business Plan. Investopedia. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/university/business-plan/.
• Franklin, B. The Three General Types of Business Plans. Business Power Tools. Retrieved from http://www.businesspowertools.com/2016/06/management-2/the-three-general-types-of-business-plans/.
• Gregory, A. Comprehensive Business Plan Outline for Small Business. The Balance. Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/a-comprehensive-business-plan-outline-for-small-business-2951557.
• Gregory, A. How to Conduct a SWOT Analysis for Your Small Business. The Balance. Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/swot-analysis-for-small-business-2951706.
• Hazlett, M. Basics of Unit Economics. Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@markhazlett/basic-of-unit-economics-79f1d6cae085.
• Investopedia. Porter’s 5 Forces. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/porter.asp.
• Johnson, J. How to Write a Cover Letter for a Business Plan. Small Business Chronicle. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/write-cover-letter-business-plan-43209.html.
• Katz, A. Determining the Best Legal Structure for Your Business. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/236450.
• Kolowich, A. How to Write a Business Plan: A Bookmarkable Guide (With Examples). HubSpot. Retrieved from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-write-a-business-plan.
• Lavinsky, D. Marketing Plan Template: Exactly What To Include. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/davelavinsky/2013/09/30/marketing-plan-template-exactly-what-to-include/#1ddaeeb43503.
• My Own Business Institute. Session 2: The Business Plan. Retrieved from https://www.scu.edu/mobi/business-courses/starting-a-business/session-2-the-business-plan/.
• Parsons, N. How to Write a Business Plan [Updated for 2017]. Bplans. Retrieved from http://articles.bplans.com/how-to-write-a-business-plan/.
• PESTLE Analysis. What is PESTLE Analysis? A Tool for Business Analysis. Retrieved from http://pestleanalysis.com/what-is-pestle-analysis/,
• Robbins, S. Why You Must Have a Business Plan. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/74194.
• Ronick, D. 10 Business Plan Dos and Don’ts. Inc. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/articles/201104/business-plan-dos-and-donts.html.
• Ronick, D. 10 Things A Business Pitch Absolutely Does (And Does Not) Need. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/10-survival-tactics-for-a-successful-business-plan-pitch-2011-4/.
• Shopify. The Ultimate Guide to Business Plans, Chapter 3: The Company. Retrieved from https://www.shopify.com/guides/businessplan/the-company.
• Wasserman, E. How to Write the Financial Section of a Business Plan. Inc. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/guides/business-plan-financial-section.html

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Key Sections Included in our Example Business Plans:

Executive Summary : A quick overview of your plan and entices investors to read more of your plan.

Company : Describes the ownership and history of your business.

Products and Services : Reviews what you sell and what you’re offering your customers.

Market Analysis : Describes your customers and the size of your target market.

Strategy and Implementation : Provides the details of how you plan on building the business.

Management Team : An overview of the people behind the business and why they’re the right team to make the business a success.

Financial Plan : A complete set of forecasts including a Profit and Loss Statement, Cash Flow Statement, and Balance Sheet.

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12 Professional Development Tips for MBA Students: From Coursework to Workplace

As an MBA student, you are high performing and self-directed, and you recognize the MBA degree  as an important component for career success. However, you may not be aware of certain developmental opportunities embedded within the process of earning your degree.

The following recommendations are from my experience in managing graduate programs and teaching MBA courses. Divided into four sections, they provide MBA students with a professional development pathway from program start to degree completion.

Early in the Program: Establishing Developmental Building Blocks

1. Initiate an MBA career portfolio. MBA students complete a wide variety or research-based projects during their academic program. Many of these projects have potential to become part of an MBA career portfolio. Examples include completing an organizational situational audit, conducting a market research study, and designing a leadership development plan.

Suggested Action : Identify two to three projects by course. At the end of the MBA degree you will have a portfolio of approximately 25 research-based, graduate-level projects that will not only “memorialize” your MBA experience but also document your academic performance.

2. Affirm, document, and advance your competencies. Your competency-based MBA coursework will most likely provide you with the opportunity to complete a competency-based skills gap analysis. This assessment tool will assist you in identifying your competency strengths and those that require additional development.

Suggested Action : Take time to affirm your strengths by keeping a competency log. As an MBA professor, I often hear students express surprise in recognizing their skills after completing a competency-based project. Make note of these skills in your log. They may be relevant to your current or future career.

3. Nurture your self-esteem. Research indicates that most individuals do not receive sufficient, ongoing positive feedback for their performance, especially at work. However, MBA classroom activities, projects, and self-assessments provide students with a wide variety of positive and constructive feedback. Use this positive feedback to nurture your self-esteem.

Suggested Action : Start a positive feedback journal or file where you record positive comments that you have received from professors, classmates, and colleagues. Review the journal or file monthly. Past MBA student feedback suggests that this really works in nurturing self-esteem. For a self-esteem bonus item, add, as appropriate, a line to your email signature: “MBA Candidate, University Name, Graduation date.”

Midway Through Program: Increasing Your Developmental Momentum

4. Keep the big picture in focus—completing the MBA. Avoid academic- and work-related activity traps. Peter Drucker once described an organization as a place where a lot is going on and nothing is taking place. Students may get caught up in outside activities and fail to keep the big picture in focus—completing the degree.

Suggested Action : One of the most popular MBA course concepts for achieving your end-goal is to use the SMART format to outline your plan of action (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely). This concept can be used not only to meet individual course requirements, such as designing a leadership development plan, but also to manage progress through the MBA program. Many of my former students have used the SMART goal methodology with excellent results, by employing short sentences in bullet format to provide specifics for each SMART goal element.

5. Generate a healthy self-interest and balance work, study, family, and life. There is absolutely no question that working professionals have the constant challenge of balancing work, graduate studies, career, and family obligations. This is the single plea for assistance that I hear repeatedly from my MBA students.

Suggested Action : Steven R. Covey and his coauthors suggest in First Things First that traditional time management concepts do not work. They say that rather than focusing on “time and things” emphasis should be placed on “relationships and results.” Recommendations include “How to turn your weeks into an upward spiral of learning and living” and “How to lead your life, not just manage your time.”

6. Embrace Social networking and initiate a website. MBA students are generational “digital natives.” They use social media to establish and build professional relationships. Here is a specific opportunity for self-promotion.

Suggested Action : Launch a website using “just your name.” This would simply include your first name, last name, and .com. Your employment in an organization and/or owner/operator of your own business may come and go. But, your “name only” website remains a “declaration of intent” and a constant place where people can find you. You can post information that transcends your job changes and shifts in business. Many politicians and leaders make use of this “name only” website approach.

Toward Graduation: Initiating Final Actions

7. Join professional organization(s). Many MBA students work in highly specialized fields. They are “knowledge workers” who are employed by “learning organizations.” Joining one or more professional organizations is a fluent extension of both their work and educational experiences. Take the time to join and participate in a professional organization in your field of work.

Suggested Action : Identify, if you have not done so already, one or more professional organizations that support your professional goals. In addition to an industry-specific organization, consider a general management or human resources organization. Start your participation by becoming active in a local chapter, and then move on to state and national. Volunteer for a committee. And, consider attending the organization’s regional or national conference.

8. Occasionally reinvent yourself. “Change” characterizes organizations and professions. Very few jobs or careers remain static, as organizations respond to the fiercely competitive global economy. Market-driven organizations respond to these demands by changing organizational structure and eliminating and adding positions. This is the “new reality” of the “new economy.”

Suggested action : MBA students should be formally and informally prepared to respond to this change by reinventing themselves and responding to new opportunities. Be open to developing an alternative career path that repositions and capitalizes on the competencies you have acquired. A “new you” will be well positioned to respond to new employment opportunities.

9.  Cultivate an internal and external peer network. At this point in your MBA program and career you have become aware of the importance of networking. Networking is not just a job search activity; it is an ongoing career management strategy that can benefit both the individual and organization.

Suggested Action : Initiate an informal network development plan in which you strengthen your peer network by cultivating a relationship with internal peers as well as with external peers. Perhaps you can meet for coffee or lunch to discuss mutual professional interests and concerns. Don’t be surprised by the productive outcome.

Degree Conferred: Achieving Gold Medallion Status

You have now completed your degree. But, learning never ends, and a variety of developmental opportunities still exist.

10. Pursue complementary professional certifications. You have now completed your degree. But, learning never ends, and a variety of developmental opportunities still exist.

Suggested Action : Consider the internationally recognized certifications and courses offered by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Association for Talent Development (ATD), and the Project Management Institute (PMI). As examples: SHRM offers certifications for the HR Professional and programs for Developing Organizational Change Skills. ATD offers programs that will help managers become an Expert Coach or a Learning Manager. And, PMI provides certificates in Project Management Profession and Portfolio Management Profession.

11. Write and publish. Writing and publishing is not only a good way to learn, but it can also advance your career. When successful consultants are asked how they develop prospects and clients, the answer most often is through speaking, publication, and referrals. And, as an MBA student you already have an advantage in that you have been immersed in preparing graduate-level research-based papers and projects.

Suggested Action : You have received faculty feedback regarding your writing strengths and areas that need improvement. Why not consider identifying a publication source for a paper you have written? Or, use the concepts you have studied to inspire a journal article. The process can begin by submitting a short article for an internal organizational newsletter or a professional association newsletter. A next step would be to develop and write an article for a journal or trade association. Perhaps you will emerge as a thought leader.

12. Help others and pay forward. More than likely, a number of individuals have helped you complete your degree. Faculty, colleagues, and family have been part of your support team.

Suggestion Action : As you complete your degree and advance your career, seek opportunities to mentor, coach, and help others dealing with challenges similar to your own. Consider identifying a colleague or family member whose you can now help advance. You have an opportunity to emerge as a mentor and coach and pass on to another individual the support you received that helped you become a MBA graduate.

• emotional intelligence
• learner success
• professional development

Research Topics & Ideas: Business

50+ Management Research Topic Ideas To Fast-Track Your Project

Finding and choosing a strong research topic is the critical first step when it comes to crafting a high-quality dissertation, thesis or research project. If you’ve landed on this post, chances are you’re looking for a business/management-related research topic , but aren’t sure where to start. Here, we’ll explore a variety of  research ideas and topic thought-starters for management-related research degrees (MBAs/DBAs, etc.). These research topics span management strategy, HR, finance, operations, international business and leadership.

NB – This is just the start…

The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps . In this post, we’ll kickstart the process by sharing some research topic ideas within the management domain. This is the starting point, but to develop a well-defined research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , along with a well-justified plan of action to fill that gap.

If you’re new to the oftentimes perplexing world of research, or if this is your first time undertaking a formal academic research project, be sure to check out our free dissertation mini-course. In it, we cover the process of writing a dissertation or thesis from start to end. Be sure to also sign up for our free webinar that explores how to find a high-quality research topic. 

Overview: Business Research Topics

• Business /management strategy
• Human resources (HR) and industrial psychology
• Finance and accounting
• Operations management
• International business
• Actual business dissertations & theses

Strategy-Related Research Topics

• An analysis of the impact of digital transformation on business strategy in consulting firms
• The role of innovation in transportation practices for creating a competitive advantage within the agricultural sector
• Exploring the effect of globalisation on strategic decision-making practices for multinational Fashion brands.
• An evaluation of corporate social responsibility in shaping business strategy, a case study of power utilities in Nigeria
• Analysing the relationship between corporate culture and business strategy in the new digital era, exploring the role of remote working.
• Assessing the impact of sustainability practices on business strategy and performance in the motor vehicle manufacturing industry
• An analysis of the effect of social media on strategic partnerships and alliances development in the insurance industry
• Exploring the role of data-driven decision-making in business strategy developments following supply-chain disruptions in the agricultural sector
• Developing a conceptual framework for assessing the influence of market orientation on business strategy and performance in the video game publishing industry
• A review of strategic cost management best practices in the healthcare sector of Indonesia
• Identification of key strategic considerations required for the effective implementation of Industry 4.0 to develop a circular economy
• Reviewing how Globalisation has affected business model innovation strategies in the education sector
• A comparison of merger and acquisition strategies’ effects on novel product development in the Pharmaceutical industry
• An analysis of market strategy performance during recessions, a retrospective review of the luxury goods market in the US
• Comparing the performance of digital stakeholder engagement strategies and their contribution towards meeting SDGs in the mining sector

Topics & Ideas: Human Resources (HR)

• Exploring the impact of digital employee engagement practices on organizational performance in SMEs
• The role of diversity and inclusion in the workplace
• An evaluation of remote employee training and development programs efficacy in the e-commerce sector
• Comparing the effect of flexible work arrangements on employee satisfaction and productivity across generational divides
• Assessing the relationship between gender-focused employee empowerment programs and job satisfaction in the UAE
• A review of the impact of technology and digitisation on human resource management practices in the construction industry
• An analysis of the role of human resource management in talent acquisition and retention in response to globalisation and crisis, a case study of the South African power utility
• The influence of leadership style on remote working employee motivation and performance in the education sector.
• A comparison of performance appraisal systems for managing employee performance in the luxury retail fashion industry
• An examination of the relationship between work-life balance and job satisfaction in blue-collar workplaces, A systematic review
• Exploring HR personnel’s experiences managing digital workplace bullying in multinational corporations
• Assessing the success of HR team integration following merger and acquisition on employee engagement and performance
• Exploring HR green practices and their effects on retention of millennial talent in the fintech industry
• Assessing the impact of human resources analytics in successfully navigating digital transformation within the healthcare sector
• Exploring the role of HR staff in the development and maintenance of ethical business practices in fintech SMEs
• An analysis of employee perceptions of current HRM practices in a fully remote IT workspace

Topics & Ideas: Finance & Accounting

• An analysis of the effect of employee financial literacy on decision-making in manufacturing start-ups in Ghana
• Assessing the impact of corporate green innovation on financial performance in listed companies in Estonia
• Assessing the effect of corporate governance on financial performance in the mining industry in Papua New Guinea
• An evaluation of financial risk management practices in the construction industry of Saudi Arabia
• Exploring the role of leadership financial literacy in the transition from start-up to scale-up in the retail e-commerce industry.
• A review of influential macroeconomic factors on the adoption of cryptocurrencies as legal tender
• An examination of the use of financial derivatives in risk management
• Exploring the impact of the cryptocurrency disruption on stock trading practices in the EU
• An analysis of the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance in academic publishing houses
• A comparison of financial ratios performance in evaluating E-commerce startups in South Korea.
• An evaluation of the role of government policies in facilitating manufacturing companies’ successful transitioning from start-up to scale-ups in Denmark
• Assessing the financial value associated with industry 4.0 transitions in the Indian pharmaceutical industry
• Exploring the role of effective e-leadership on financial performance in the Nigerian fintech industry
• A review of digital disruptions in CRM practices and their associated financial impact on listed companies during the Covid-19 pandemic
• Exploring the importance of Sharia-based business practices on SME financial performance in multicultural countries

Ideas: Operations Management

• An assessment of the impact of blockchain technology on operations management practices in the transport industry of Estonia
• An evaluation of supply chain disruption management strategies and their impact on business performance in Lithuania
• Exploring the role of lean manufacturing in the automotive industry of Malaysia and its effects on improving operational efficiency
• A critical review of optimal operations management strategies in luxury goods manufacturing for ensuring supply chain resilience
• Exploring the role of globalization on Supply chain diversification, a pre/post analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic
• An analysis of the relationship between quality management and customer satisfaction in subscription-based business models
• Assessing the cost of sustainable sourcing practices on operations management and supply chain resilience in the Cocao industry.
• An examination of the adoption of behavioural predictive analytics in operations management practices, a case study of the
• Italian automotive industry
• Exploring the effect of operational complexity on business performance following digital transformation
• An evaluation of barriers to the implementation of agile methods in project management within governmental institutions
• Assessing how the relationship between operational processes and business strategy change as companies transition from start-ups to scale-ups
• Exploring the relationship between operational management and innovative business models, lessons from the fintech industry
• A review of best practices for operations management facilitating the transition towards a circular economy in the fast food industry
• Exploring the viability of lean manufacturing practices in Vietnam’s plastics industry
• Assessing engagement in cybersecurity considerations associated with operations management practices in industry 4.0 manufacturing

Topics & Ideas: International Business

• The impact of cultural differences in communication on international business relationships
• An evaluation of the role of government import and export policies in shaping international business practices
• The effect of global shipping conditions on international business strategies
• An analysis of the challenges of managing multinational corporations: branch management
• The influence of social media marketing on international business operations
• The role of international trade agreements on business activities in developing countries
• An examination of the impact of currency fluctuations on international business and cost competitiveness
• The relationship between international business and sustainable development: perspectives and benefits
• An evaluation of the challenges and opportunities of doing business in emerging markets such as the renewable energy industry
• An analysis of the role of internationalisation via strategic alliances in international business
• The impact of cross-cultural management on international business performance
• The effect of political instability on international business operations: A case study of Russia
• An analysis of the role of intellectual property rights in an international technology company’s business strategies
• The relationship between corporate social responsibility and international business strategy: a comparative study of different industries
• The impact of technology on international business in the fashion industry

Topics & Ideas: Leadership

• A comparative study of the impact of different leadership styles on organizational performance
• An evaluation of transformational leadership in today’s non-profit organizations
• The role of emotional intelligence in effective leadership and productivity
• An analysis of the relationship between leadership style and employee motivation
• The influence of diversity and inclusion on leadership practices in South Africa
• The impact of Artificial Intelligence technology on leadership in the digital age
• An examination of the challenges of leadership in a rapidly changing business environment: examples from the finance industry
• The relationship between leadership and corporate culture and job satisfaction
• An evaluation of the role of transformational leadership in strategic decision-making
• The use of leadership development programs in enhancing leadership effectiveness in multinational organisations
• The impact of ethical leadership on organizational trust and reputation: an empirical study
• An analysis of the relationship between various leadership styles and employee well-being in healthcare organizations
• The role of leadership in promoting good work-life balance and job satisfaction in the age of remote work
• The influence of leadership on knowledge sharing and innovation in the technology industry
• An investigation of the impact of cultural intelligence on cross-cultural leadership effectiveness in global organizations

Business/Management Dissertation & Theses

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a business-related research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various management-related degree programs (e.g., MBAs, DBAs, etc.) to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

• Sustaining Microbreweries Beyond 5 Years (Yanez, 2022)
• Perceived Stakeholder and Stockholder Views: A Comparison Among Accounting Students, Non-Accounting Business Students And Non-Business Students (Shajan, 2020)
• Attitudes Toward Corporate Social Responsibility and the New Ecological Paradigm among Business Students in Southern California (Barullas, 2020)
• Entrepreneurial opportunity alertness in small business: a narrative research study exploring established small business founders’ experience with opportunity alertness in an evolving economic landscape in the Southeastern United States (Hughes, 2019)
• Work-Integrated Learning in Closing Skills Gap in Public Procurement: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study (Culver, 2021)
• Analyzing the Drivers and Barriers to Green Business Practices for Small and Medium Enterprises in Ohio (Purwandani, 2020)
• The Role of Executive Business Travel in a Virtual World (Gale, 2022)
• Outsourcing Security and International Corporate Responsibility: A Critical Analysis of Private Military Companies (PMCs) and Human Rights Violations (Hawkins, 2022)
• Lean-excellence business management for small and medium-sized manufacturing companies in Kurdistan region of Iraq (Mohammad, 2021)
• Science Data Sharing: Applying a Disruptive Technology Platform Business Model (Edwards, 2022)
• Impact of Hurricanes on Small Construction Business and Their Recovery (Sahu, 2022)

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are quite specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. This is an important thing to keep in mind as you develop your own research topic. That is to say, to create a top-notch research topic, you must be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

Fast-Track Your Topic Ideation

If you’d like hands-on help to speed up your topic ideation process and ensure that you develop a rock-solid research topic, check our our Topic Kickstarter service below.

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Great help. thanks

Hi, Your work is very educative, it has widened my knowledge. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for helping me understand how to craft a research topic. I’m pursuing a PGDE. Thank you

Effect of Leadership, computerized accounting systems, risk management and monitoring on the quality of financial Reports among listed banks

May you assist on a possible PhD topic on analyzing economic behaviours within environmental, climate and energy domains, from a gender perspective. I seek to further investigate if/to which extent policies in these domains can be deemed economically unfair from a gender perspective, and whether the effectiveness of the policies can be increased while striving for inequalities not being perpetuated.

healthy work environment and employee diversity, technological innovations and their role in management practices, cultural difference affecting advertising, honesty as a company policy, an analysis of the relationships between quality management and customer satisfaction in subscription based business model,business corruption cases. That I was selected from the above topics.

Research topic accounting

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Crafting Powerful Business Proposals: Strategies for MBA Students

In the fast-paced and competitive world of business, the ability to craft powerful business proposals is a vital skill for MBA students. A well-crafted proposal can make all the difference when it comes to securing funding, gaining clients, or initiating new projects. Here we will explore effective strategies for MBA students to create compelling business proposals, with a focus on utilizing business communication skills. As we delve into this topic, we will also highlight how Sri Aurobindo Institute of Technology (SAIT) can equip aspiring MBA professionals with the necessary tools and knowledge to excel in proposal writing and overall business communication.

Understanding the Purpose and Audience:

The first step in crafting a powerful business proposal is to understand its purpose and the target audience. MBA students need to conduct thorough research to identify the needs, goals, and preferences of the intended recipients. This knowledge will allow them to tailor their proposal accordingly and make it more appealing to the specific audience.

At SAIT, students are exposed to comprehensive courses on business communication in MBA programs, providing them with the expertise to identify and analyze the target audience effectively.

Structuring the Proposal:

An organized and well-structured proposal is crucial for conveying ideas clearly and persuasively. MBA students should consider the following structure for their business proposals:

• Executive Summary : Provide a concise overview of the proposal, highlighting the main objectives and benefits.
• Introduction : Set the context and establish the problem or opportunity the proposal aims to address.
• Goals and Objectives : Clearly state the desired outcomes and how they align with the needs of the audience.
• Methodology : Describe the approach and methods that will be employed to achieve the proposed goals.
• Implementation Plan : Outline the step-by-step process, including timelines, resources required, and responsibilities.
• Budget and Financial Projections : Present a realistic financial plan, including costs, revenue projections, and potential return on investment.
• Evaluation and Measurement : Explain how the success of the proposal will be assessed and measured.

Effective Business Communication:

Business communication plays a pivotal role in crafting powerful proposals. MBA students should employ the following communication strategies:

• Clear and Concise Language : Use straightforward language to convey ideas and avoid jargon or technical terms that may confuse the audience.
• Persuasive Writing : Develop a compelling narrative, emphasizing the benefits and value of the proposed project or idea.
• Visual Aids : Incorporate visual elements, such as graphs, charts, and infographics, to enhance clarity and engagement.
• Tailored Tone : Adapt the tone and style of writing to resonate with the target audience, whether it is formal, professional, or informal.
• Proofreading and Editing : Thoroughly review the proposal for grammar, spelling, and formatting errors to maintain a professional image.

  Showcasing Expertise and Credentials:

To strengthen the proposal, MBA students should highlight their expertise, credentials, and past successes. This can include academic achievements, industry experience, or relevant projects completed during their MBA program. Demonstrating competence and credibility will instil confidence in the proposal's recipients.

SAIT recognized by AICTE, DTE and affiliated to DAVV, Indore is known for its rigorous curriculum and faculty expertise, equips MBA students with practical knowledge and real-world experiences, further enhancing their credentials and the impact of their proposals.

Conclusion:

Crafting powerful business proposals is an essential skill for MBA students, and effective business communication is the key to success in this endeavor. By understanding the purpose and audience, structuring the proposal effectively, utilizing persuasive language, and showcasing expertise, MBA students can create compelling proposals that captivate recipients and increase their chances of success.

At Sri Aurobindo Institute of Technology (SAIT) , students receive comprehensive training in business communication as part of their MBA programs. SAIT's emphasis on business communication equips students with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in proposal writing and overall communication in the business world.

Moreover, SAIT offers practical learning opportunities through case studies, simulations, and real-world projects, allowing students to apply their business communication skills in a dynamic and interactive environment. This hands-on approach fosters the development of critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills, all of which are essential for crafting powerful business proposals.

Additionally, SAIT provides access to experienced faculty members who have extensive industry experience and can offer valuable insights and guidance in the art of proposal writing. These mentors can help students refine their communication techniques, polish their proposals, and provide constructive feedback to enhance their overall effectiveness.

Furthermore, SAIT recognizes the importance of staying updated with the latest trends and technologies in business communication. As part of their MBA program, students have the opportunity to explore emerging tools and platforms that can streamline the proposal creation process, such as collaborative software, visual presentation tools, and online research databases. By harnessing these resources, students can elevate the quality and impact of their proposals, making them stand out in a competitive business landscape.

The practical training and comprehensive curriculum provided by SAIT empower MBA students to become proficient in the art of crafting powerful business proposals. These skills go beyond the confines of the classroom, as they are transferable to various professional settings, including entrepreneurship, consulting, and corporate leadership roles.

In conclusion, mastering the art of crafting powerful business proposals is a critical skill for MBA students, and effective business communication is the key to success. Sri Aurobindo Institute of Technology (SAIT) recognizes the significance of this skill and incorporates it into their MBA programs . By understanding the purpose and audience, structuring proposals effectively, utilizing persuasive language, showcasing expertise, and leveraging the resources and support provided by SAIT, MBA students can develop the confidence and competence to create impactful proposals that drive business success.

With SAIT's commitment to excellence in business education and emphasis on practical learning, aspiring MBA professionals can embark on a journey that equips them with the necessary tools and knowledge to thrive in the business world. The ability to craft powerful business proposals will not only enhance their career prospects but also position them as effective communicators and leaders in their chosen fields.

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Top 10 Business Ideas for Fresh MBA Graduates

Business is the middle name of the MBA. Top colleges in India for management studies groom their students for holistic business management. Colleges and Universities offer the best MBA courses to prepare students to work as a management professionals in different verticals for diverse sectors.

Students from MBA top universities either go for leading Indian and Global MNCs or start their own businesses. As a fresh MBA graduate, you might feel overwhelmed with sectors, processes, and feasibility to replicate your ideas into a startup venture.

Premier educational institution Bennett University offers specialisations in Finance management, Human Resource, Business Analytics and Operations Management, Banking, Financial Service and Insurance, Sales & Marketing Management, Media Management and SCM. BU grooms students for innovative thinking and becomes employer for the greater good.

To sort out your dilemma, we will explain the top ten business ideas with surety of success. We will also explore the Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship initiative of Bennett University Noida for budding entrepreneurs.

Ten Successful Business Ideas for Fresh MBA Graduates

1)  consultant.

Business consultants are in high demand these days with booming startup culture and growing Indian businesses on global shores. You can select a niche area according to the best MBA courses from leading B-Schools and start your consultancy business.

Sectors with significant demand for consultants are:

• Management Consulting
• Business Finance Consulting
• Crowdfunding Consulting
• Feasibility Consulting
• Digital Marketing Consulting
• Growth Hacking Consulting

2) Author and Publishing Business

Chetan Bhagat (IIM A) and Amish Tripathi (IIM C) have made writing one of the attractive business ideas among MBA freshers. Management students are experts in marketing products or services. If you have a knack for writing, this is asuccessful business idea with excellent ROI.

3) Ecommerce

The Indian e-commerce market is on the verge of outrunning several mature markets with US$ 350 Billion worth of business by 2030. It is expected to become the third-largest e-commerce market in the world. It is a great opportunity to start your business.

MBA students can leverage the Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Bennett University Noida to launch their e-commerce business under expert guidance.

4) Asset Management

Students with MBA in Finance are equipped to start an asset management business. It is about providing expert advice for investments in funds, securities, etc.

5) Debt Management Services

Students with MBA in Finance and Marketing are apt for this business idea. You need financial knowledge and people skills to operate a profitable debt management business.

Debt management services providers work on the behalf of creditors. They negotiate with debtors and chart out a plan to pay the debt conveniently without stress. Your prospective clients are companies dealing in financial products, manufacturers, distributors, and others.

6) Market Research

Every business needs market information, target customer behaviour, demand for their products or services, etc. You can employ your MBA skills and provide them with crucial insights about market trends and customer data.

Browse leading market research firms like Nielson, Gartner, IQVIA, and others. Explore them and learn from their success stories to start your business.

7) Logistic Business

Students with MBA in Logistic Management and MBA in Logistics and Supply Chain Management should venture into the Indian logistics business. It has considerable potential with exceptional ROI.

The logistics industry contributes around 14.4 per cent of the Indian GDP, but around 90 per cent of the sector is unorganised. Therefore, it needs MBAs like you to organise and transform into a well-functional business category.

8) Corporate Event Planner

Indian event management industry was valued at around 10,000 INR in FY 2019-20. It was badly affected due to the Covid outbreak and bounced back in 2022.

According to an interview with Mr Deepak Choudhary published in Outlook, the event industry is expected to grow by 25% to 30% in 2023.

MBA graduates should encash this excellent turnaround and start their business of organising corporate events. You can also venture into social events to widen the horizon of business.

9) PR Agency

PR Agency is an ideal business idea for students with MBA in marketing and MBA in Media Management.

It is about creating buzz for the brands of your client/s. You should be well-versed with media management and crisis handling.

PR agencies curate brand stories, promote them, and retain them at the desired position through several tools and techniques.

10) Life Coach

If you are a good listener and can provide solutions for people’s problems, a life coach is the perfect business idea for you. You can do this face to face, through a podcast, on YouTube or other video streaming platforms, etc.

We have shortlisted trendy business ideas for fresh MBA graduates. These ideas suit the respective best MBA courses. Most of these ideas do not require huge investment and ensure quicker ROI on the business. Start today your journey of entrepreneurship with one of these business ideas.

Bennett University Noida-Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Bennett University , being one of the best university for MBA, offers the facility for specialised MBA courses. It boosts innovation and the spirit of enterprise among management students. BU brings the experience with its partner, the globally renowned Babson College, Massachusetts (providing entrepreneurship education since 1919).

The four-part idea behind operating the CIE at Bennett University

• Entrepreneurship is a teachable skill
• The study of entrepreneurship requires hands-on training and classroom skilling.
• Entrepreneurship requires a suitable environment for the seeding and germination of ideas
• Entrepreneurship skills help to run startups and existing businesses. It also helps to manage events in life.
• MBA students at Bennett University can realise their business dreams with Bennett Hatchery and Student E-cell facilities.

What does CIE offer to materialise your business ideas with the Best MBA courses?

Bennett university helps to materialize your business aspirations through the following steps..

• Ideation and Team Formation
• Market Analysis
• Solution Validation
• Business Viability
• Launch and Beyond

Learn more at the Bennett University website. Visit and apply for MBA admissions 2023-24.

Reference Links

https://www.bennett.edu.in/innovation-centre/

https://www.ibef.org/industry/ecommerce

https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/market-research-companies/

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/indias-logistics-sector-big-opportunity-for-investors/articleshow/95526299.cms

https://www.outlookindia.com/outlook-spotlight/event-industry-is-poised-to-grow-at-a-rate-of-25-30-in-2023-deepak-choudhary-news-188784

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Mba capstone project ideas | example & outline, bob cardens.

• September 2, 2022
• Essay Topics and Ideas

MBA Capstone Project Ideas and Topics To Write About

Completing an MBA is no small feat. In addition to completing coursework, students must also complete a capstone project in order to graduate. The capstone project is designed to showcase the student’s knowledge and skills learned throughout their MBA program.

If you’re looking for ideas and topics for your MBA capstone project , look no further! This article will provide you with some great ideas that you can use for your project.

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List of Fifty MBA Capstone Project Ideas (MBA Capstone Project Ideas and Topics To Write About)

• Develop a new product or service for your company.
• Create a marketing plan for your company’s product or service.
• Conduct a customer satisfaction survey and analyze the results.
• Develop a social media strategy for your company.
• Write a business plan for a new venture.
• Develop a financial plan for your company.
• Write a human resources policy manual for your company.
• Research and write a report on a current business topic of interest to your company.
• Develop an advertising campaign for your company’s product or service.
• Write a public relations plan for your company.
• Design a new company logo or update an existing one.
• Create a company website or update an existing one.
• Develop a direct marketing campaign for your company’s product or service.
• Write a market research report on a current business topic of interest to your company.
• Plan and execute a special event for your company (e.g., a grand opening, trade show booth, etc.).
• Develop a sales training program for your company’s sales force.
• Write an operations manual for your company.
• Develop a quality control plan for your company’s products or services.
• Create a customer service training program for your company’s customer service representatives.
• Research and write a report on a current industry trend of interest to your company.
• Develop a business continuity plan for your company.
• Develop an environmental health and safety plan for your company.
• Create a corporate giving program for your company.
• Plan and execute a fund-raising event for your favorite charity.
• Develop a social media strategy for promoting your company’s product or service.
• Write a marketing plan for launching a new product or service.
• Conduct customer focus groups to gather feedback on a new product or service concept.
• Write a report on your findings from customer focus groups testing a new product or service concept.
• Develop a promotional campaign for a new product or service launch.
• Plan and execute a trade show booth display to promote your company’s products or services.
• Develop an advertising campaign for a new product or service launch.
• Write a public relations plan for promoting a new product or service launch.
• Create point-of-purchase displays to promote your company’s products in retail stores.
• write an article about your company’sproducts or services for a trade publication.
• Develop a direct mail campaign to promote your company’s products or services.
• Plan and execute a grand opening event for a new retail store location.
• Develop a social media strategy for promoting your company’s grand opening event.
• Write a press release about your company’s grand opening event.
• Create a TV commercial to promote your company’s products or services.
• Produce a radio commercial to promote your company’s products or services.
• Plan and execute a media relations campaign to promote your company in the news.
• Develop an online marketing strategy to promote your company’s products or services online.
• Create banner ads and other online advertising to promote your company’s product or service online.
• Optimize your company’s website for search engine visibility to attract new customers online.
• Write and distribute press releases about your company’s product or service launches, events, etc., online and offline.
• Develop a blog and post regular entries about your company, its products, services, industry, etc.
• Create and maintain active social media accounts for your company (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.).
• Plan and execute a direct marketing campaign to promote your company’s products or services.

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What You'll Learn

MBA Capstone Project Topics

Choosing a capstone project for your MBA can be a daunting task. But never fear! We have compiled a list of fifty potential topics and ideas to help get you started.

• Developing a marketing plan for a small business
• Creating a business model for a new startup
• Conducting a feasibility study for a proposed new product or service
• Analyzing the competitive landscape for a particular industry
• Evaluating the financial performance of a publicly-traded company
• assessing the impact of political, economic, or social factors on business operations
• Developing an international expansion strategy for a multinational corporation
• Investigating the root cause of customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction
• designing and implementing a lean manufacturing process
• Streamlining the supply chain for a manufacturing company
• Implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in a manufacturing company
• Creating a human resources plan for a small business
• evaluating the effectiveness of training and development programs in an organization
• designing and conducting employee engagement survey
• Writing a research paper on any business-related topic of your choice
• Develop a new business process for your company.
• Implement a new software system for your company.
• Write a business continuity plan for your company.
• Develop a crisis management plan for your company.
• Create an employee handbook for your company.
• Develop an onboarding program for new employees at your company.
• Write a job description for a new position at your company.
• Conduct a salary survey and write a report on the results.
• Develop a benefits package for employees at your company.
• Write an Employee Code of Conduct for your company.
• Develop a performance management system for your company.
• Write a report on best practices for recruiting and hiring employees.
• Develop a retention strategy for your company.
• Conduct an exit interview with departing employees and write a report on the results.
• Write a paper on the legal aspects of human resources management.
• Develop a plan for managing workplace conflict at your company.
• Write a report on effective communication in the workplace.
• Develop a plan for managing change in the workplace.
• Write a report on employee motivation and morale in the workplace.
• Develop a wellness program for employees at your company.
• Write a report on employee stress and its impact on the workplace.
• Develop a plan for managing work-life balance in the workplace.
• Write a report on the impact of technology on the workplace.
• Develop a social media policy for your company.
• Write a report on effective teambuilding in the workplace.
• Develop a plan for managing remote employees.
• Write a report on cross-cultural communication in the workplace.
• Develop a plan for managing diversity in the workplace.
• Write a report on ethics and compliance in the workplace.
• Choose any other topic related to business management and write a research paper on it.

Current MBA Capstone Project Ideas

MBA students are often required to complete a capstone project as part of their degree program. A capstone project is typically an intensive research project that addresses a real-world problem or challenge faced by businesses or organizations. Students may work on their projects individually or in teams, and they may have the opportunity to present their findings to faculty, peers, and/or industry experts.

The following is a list of thirty ideas for MBA capstone projects:

• Develop a marketing plan for a new product or service launch
• Conduct a customer satisfaction survey and analyze the results
• Develop a social media strategy for a business or organization
• Create a financial plan for a small business
• Analyze the impact of a change in the tax code on businesses
• Study the feasibility of starting a new business in a specific industry
• Research and write a white paper on a hot topic in business or management
• Developa human resources plan fora small business
• Evaluate the effectiveness of a sales training program
• Designa customer loyalty programfora retail company
• Evaluate the risks and rewards of expanding into international markets
• Compare and contrast two differentbusiness models
• Develop a business plan for a new venture
• Write a case study on a successful or unsuccessful business
• Research and write a report on a current trend in business
• Developa social media policyfora company
• Analyze the financial statements of a publicly traded company
• Develop a marketing campaign fora new product or service
• Evaluate the effectiveness of an advertising campaign
• Conduct market research fora new product or service
• Create a brand identity fora new business
• Designa customer retention programfora business
• Develop a sales strategy fora new product or service
• Write a business plan fora new small business
• Evaluate the risks and rewards of starting a franchise
• Research and write a report on sustainable business practices
• Develop an employee handbook fora small business
• Write a case study on an ethical dilemma faced by a business
• Research and write a report on the impact of technology on businesses
• Develop a business continuity plan fora small business

Find out more on  How to write DNP capstone project Methodology Chapter ,  How to write a DNP Capstone Project Literature Review ,  How to write a DNP capstone project chapter 1 – Introduction , and  DNP Capstone project Abstract Examples [Outline & How-to]  (how to write your nursing dissertation pdf)

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Real-World Business challenges

In the Applied Management Research (AMR) field study, you’ll work on a team to address a challenge for a client organization. After a deep dive into research, you’ll present key insights and your recommendations. The Business Creation Option gives you the chance to work with a team of classmates to launch your own business. Students who participate in the Student Investment Fund (SIF) manage a $2 million fund, while visiting leading companies to learn about strategies and philosophies. The Anderson Strategy Group (ASG) is a capstone project that involves a commitment during your first and second years, and gives students focused on consulting a chance to work on and manage a project with classmates. Students who participate in the NAIOP Real Estate Case Competition earn capstone project credit through this six-month assessment of a local property, determining the highest and best use for real estate development. Finally, Anderson has partnered with XPRIZE and their Visioneers program to put students on the front line of designing XPRIZE competitions to address the world’s grand challenges.

In this field study, you’ll work in a team to address a challenge for a client organization. After a deep dive into research, you’ll present key insights and your recommendations.

Bcp gives you the chance to work with a team of classmates to launch your own business., this set of capstone options is more tailored to students' various career paths and interests, and includes: global social impact consulting entertainment & sports analytics early stage investing a/b testing marketing behavior change in marketing.

Students who participate in SIF manage a $2 million fund, while visiting leading companies to learn about strategies and philosophies.  

ASG is a capstone project that involves a commitment during your first and second years, and gives students focused on consulting a chance to work on and manage a project with classmates.

Students who participate in the NAIOP case competition earn capstone project credit through this six-month assessment of a local property.

• Team determines best use for a real site in Southern California
• Case competition against USC + write up
• Fall & Winter quarter of second year

Visit Ziman Center

NEWS RELEASE:

UCLA Excels in Local and National Real Estate Case Competitions

Los Angeles (November 20, 2018) — UCLA graduate student teams won the 2018 NAIOP SoCal Real Estate Challenge and placed second in the 2018 National Real Estate Challenge hosted by the University of Texas at Austin. Both case competitions took place on November 15, 2018, at UCLA and UT Austin, respectively.

NAIOP team (left to right): UCLA Anderson Professor Paul Habibi, Jeffrey Eigenbrood (’19), Daniel Polk (’19), Ben Morrison (’19), Robert Anthony (’19), Nicholas Marino (’19)

The NAIOP SoCal Real Estate Challenge team consisted of Class of 2019 UCLA Anderson MBA students Robert Anthony , Jeff Eigenbrood , Nick Marino and Ben Morrison , and UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture student Daniel Polk. The annual event, sponsored by the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP), presents a specific real estate case challenge to a team of students at UCLA and USC. In addition to providing a rich learning experience that requires participating students to produce high-quality professional work within a limited time frame, the competition is designed to showcase the talents and creativity of the next generation of real estate professionals.

This year, the NAIOP Challenge involved two undeveloped parcels on 11 acres of land located at the southwest corner of Del Amo Avenue and Newport Avenue in Tustin, California. The city acquired the property in 2007 and it has been vacant since that time. The site is a highly visible infill adjacent to the 55 freeway and near the massive Tustin Legacy, the 1600-acre former Tustin Marine Corps Air Station, which is currently being redeveloped. The site sits in an area of the Pacific Center East Specific Plan, which is a major employment center in Tustin that will continue to grow.

UCLA’s team proposed a project they titled Solana (Spanish for solarium or sunny spot) that was inspired by strawberry farming that had once taken place on the site. Solana is a natural extension of the nearby Tustin Legacy project, which involves the transformation of 16,000 acres of raw land into a massive master-planned commercial and residential community.

Video fly-through of the UCLA NAIOP “Solano – Tustin” Development

UCLA’s Solana consists of two select service hotels (305 keys), 240 multifamily units, 10,000 square feet of retail, 75 units of 80 percent affordable housing and more than 150,000 square feet of community space. “I am enormously proud of our NAIOP Challenge team,” said Tim Kawahara, executive director of the Richard S. Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA. “Our students proposed a very thoughtful project that provides both commercial value and community benefits to the City of Tustin.”

In its 21st year, the NAIOP Real Estate Challenge celebrates the rivalry between USC and UCLA and illustrates the robust real estate programs at both universities. The winning team is awarded the Silver Shovel, which is inscribed with all past winners’ names. In addition, a $5,000 contribution is made in the name of the winning school to the Challenge for Charity (C4C), benefiting the Special Olympics.

National Real Estate Challenge team (left to right): DaJuan Bennett (’20), Austen Mount (’20), Anne Sewall (’20), James Blake (’20), Robert Walls (’20)

The National Real Estate Challenge team from UCLA consisted of Class of 2020 UCLA Anderson MBA students DaJuan Bennett , James Blake , Austen Mount , Anne M. Sewall and Robert Walls . The challenge, held annually at the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin, is an invitation-only case competition for student teams from the nation’s top-ranked business schools. The case competition involves the analysis of a recent real estate transaction consummated by a leading global real estate firm. Judging panels consist of senior executives from leading real estate companies across the U.S., creating outstanding opportunities for learning, networking and recruitment.

This year, the case centered on a hold/sell analysis for a recently delivered, eight-story office building in “River Valley” (later revealed to be Austin, TX). The property had been a successful 80-percent leased development for the fund. Teams were given the following options: sell the building immediately; hold on to the property with the existing debt; re-finance the property at a higher leverage point (either 65 or 75 percent LTV instead of the 50 percent LTC loan in place); or sell the property and use the proceeds to pursue another office development in “West Hamilton” (later revealed to be Santa Monica, CA). Student teams were prompted to model the two investments to determine the quantitative benefits of each option, but also to look at the national office market, consider the impact of interest rates on cap rates and determine whether co-working and remote working would impact leasing either of the projects.

The UCLA team recommended holding on to the existing property and refinancing the building at 65 percent LTV. The thought process was, while the base case scenario provided was likely to occur, the team wanted to ensure a comfort level with the investment in a downside scenario, which made the pipeline investment and 75 percent LTV financing options too risky. Conversely, the team suggested that selling the property now or maintaining the 50 percent LTC loan were too conservative given the quality of the property and the strength of the “River Valley” market.

“The UT Austin McCombs School of Business National Real Estate Challenge is among the most prestigious real estate case competitions in the nation, so even to place is a huge accomplishment,” said Tim Kawahara. “The team’s success represents the caliber of students at UCLA Anderson and the strength of our real estate curriculum and programs.”

An investment fund managed by student portfolio managers dedicated to the pursuit of favorable risk-adjusted returns.

Applied Management Research

We pioneered practical learning with the applied management research program.

UCLA Anderson launched the first MBA field study program 54 years ago. The AMR program has worked with over 5,000 clients, including Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, microfinance institutions and startups. You’ll work with a team of peers on a two-quarter project that will solve an organization’s key business problem, while expanding your professional network and experience working in a new field, and inviting you to explore your career options. The AMR program takes place during fall and winter quarters of the second year.

Ballard Metcalfe (’19), Ariel Wang (’19), and Cris Erdtsieck (’19) analyzed how a Peruvian non-profit organization could maximize revenues and lower transaction costs while increasing client satisfaction and engagement.

Global Reach of AMR Projects in 2019–2020

Project Industries

Student impressions of amr.

From The Blog

Sustaining Effective NCD Screen in a South Africa community Requires an Ecosystem of Strategic Partners

Improving the Quality of Sustainable Coffee Production in San Martín, Peru

Prestigious Awards for UCLA Anderson Class of 2017 Field Study Teams

BCP Team KPOP Foods (clockwise from top left): Alex Kim (’17), Ryan Kennelly (’17), Mike Kim (’17), Theo Lee (’17), Erica Suk (’17).

BCP Success Stories

BodySpec (Class of 2014)

BodySpec provides individualized information to health-conscious individuals. We offer full-body scans utilizing dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanning technology.

Project Description: BodySpec provides individualized health information to health-conscious individuals. We offer full-body scans utilizing dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanning technology. These scans provide data about an individual’s muscle mass, body fat and bone density at a more granular, accurate and actionable level than any other body composition technology currently available in the fitness industry. Revenue will primarily be generated through scanning fees from individuals (an average of $90 per scan) and subscription fees from personal trainers to access client data.

Update: BCO project is thriving. They've hit many significant milestones and are enthusiastic about BodySpec and helping out current Anderson students.

SmartestK12 (Class of 2014)

To help teachers better understand their students, SmartestK12 transforms all assignments, assessments or classroom interactions into rich student data that allows teachers, parents and school administrators to track each child’s learning in real time and take actions to ensure academic growth.

SMARTESTK12 (CLASS OF 2014)

Project Description: To help teachers better understand their students, SmartestK12 transforms all assignments, assessments or classroom interactions into rich student data that allows teachers, parents and school administrators to track each child’s learning in real time and take actions to ensure academic growth. We feel that education is the foundation for human progress, and that each student deserves an education custom built to her or his needs. SmartestK12 aims to unleash the individual and create a sustainable, never-ending supply of future scientists, historians, mathematicians, authors, scholars and creative geniuses.

Update: The company is still up and running, rebranded as Formative for a new application the founders created that is proving very promising.

Sportifik (Class of 2014)

Sportifik is a web- and mobile-based league management platform that engages college students in recreational activities. Adopted by over 25 universities across the country, including UCLA, Stanford and UC Berkeley, Sportifik empowers university recreation programs with the ability to effectively coordinate sports leagues and tournaments and engage students in healthy and active lifestyles.

SPORTIFIK (CLASS OF 2014)

Project Description:  Sportifik is creating a community of athletes and changing the way people participate in sports. We are providing amateur athletes and avid sports fans with the best means to easily organize and manage their sporting activities through a user friendly one-stop-shop mobile and web solution. Our platform will enable users to seamlessly partake in sporting activities in a fun and rewarding way while enabling them to meet members of their local communities who share a passion for the same sports.

Update:  Still working on their startup and the project is ongoing in LA. They've raised a seed round, grown their user base and client base significantly. They’re still implementing the pivot they started during BCO and are looking to add another part to their project.

Student entrepreneur taps into UCLA resources to 'grow' his news website

No Guesswork, No Guilt: Goodbye Hangry, Hello officebites

AMR: Business Creation Option (BCP) Spotlight on GOshopping

BCP Mentors

Internet, Business and Intellectual Property Attorney Cohen Business Law Group

Investor Upfront Ventures

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Newsmoor.com is an educational website for online learning. It Provides information: on verbal and nonverbal communication elements, noise, models, and theories, print, broadcast, and online journalism, and feature article writing. It also includes business models, theories, plans, profile examples, advantages and disadvantages of several models, facts, research methodology, research proposal writing, assignment writing, a study abroad, including top public and private universities and educational consultants.

Business Plan Examples and Sample For Students

Business Plan Examples For Students. Business Proposal Examples for Students. Also, Business Plan Sample pdf for Students. Business Plan Examples For Students Entrepreneurship PDF.

Business Plan

The business plan refers to the company’s written statement explaining the company’s background and business details. This plan includes the executive summary of the company, product and service, operation, marketing, and financial plan.

The employee creates the business plan to represent and improve the organization’s image to stakeholders, customers, and affiliates. It proposes the business strategy entirely mentioning how the company profits and survives in markets. So, a business plan is also known as a business proposal that is crucial for corporate branding. The business plan is essential for every company to build rapport with stakeholders and business partners as well as achieve competitiveness.

The key elements of a business plan or proposal are an executive summary, background, product and service, organizational structure , sales and marketing strategy, financial and operational plan, and more.

Business Plan Examples

A business plan example refers to a business proposal sample that thoroughly explains the business, including the executive summary of the financial statement. It is also known as a business report example or business proposal format. An example of a business plan certainly includes the executive summary of the business, operating strategy, start-up financial projections, financial projections, etc. The business plan example for students is also known as the business report format.

Business plan writing is a mandatory assignment for students in entrepreneurship. It is also a compulsory assignment for business students. The importance of a business plan is growing day by day for selling products on digital platforms and managing the organization virtually.

The business proposal is also compulsory for getting a bank loan. The organization needs it to make agreements with other organizations. The bank authority surely asks the organization to submit a business plan with the bank loan application. The other names of a business plan are business proposal, report, profile, and more. A business plan example is also known as an example of a company profile , business proposal example, sample, and format.

Elements of Business Plan Example

The Nine Components of a Business Plan are as follows:

Business Plan Examples For Student Entrepreneurship

Today, the authors present a business plan example for students. They wrote it while they were students in entrepreneurship courses at the Faculty of Economics and Management University Putra Malaysia (UPM). The lecturer sets group assignments for the students; therefore, the students make the business plan example to complete the group assignment. Thus, this business plan or proposal example for students certainly assists business administration students. It also assists students in BBA, MBA, economics, finance, and business communication courses and researchers.

The author also wrote business plan examples for students about food and an Example of Business Report.

The students set the company name “BambooS.” It sells reusable and eco-friendly bamboo straws. Straws are a unique product in Malaysia that can be customized for length and diameter. Besides, the company offers engraving services for customers. So, customers can customize a meaningful word on the bamboo straw for engraving. In addition, it provides a designed pouch as packaging for our straw that looks smart.

Business Plan Example For Students

1.0 Executive Summary Of Business Plan

BambooS Sdn. Bhd. company was created by a group of 10 students in the Basic Entrepreneurship course. This company is named BambooS. It produces and sells bamboo-based products. The capital S in the company’s name stands for straw. The original idea came from a student. And we chose Bamboo as the main ingredient of the products. Currently, we focus on producing eco-friendly straws to serve our customers. The products are the best quality yet affordable straws.

Our product is also biodegradable as it is made from Bamboo. We also guarantee that customers can use our products many times. It is reusable and easy to wash and carry. The straw size is customizable. So customers choose the size based on their preferences. In addition, our specialty is not only in our product but also in our packaging.

There are ten members in a group and each member will contribute RM 100. The total paid-up capital is RM 1000. We set up our warehouse in the Serdang area to produce, package, and store our products. We are making the straw as per the customer’s demand and request. For the marketing part, we are advertising and promoting our product through social media sites, such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, and e-commerce, such as Shopee. We adopt the lean canvas business model tool to assess the outcome of the business.

2.0 Background of the Company

2.2 Company overview

2.3 Vision And Mission Statement

2.3.1 vision statement.

To become the most notable company in Malaysia for producing eco-friendly bamboo straws.

2.3.2    Mission Statement

We want to fulfill the objective of satisfying customers with our eco-friendly products. We want to reduce pollution by using reusable straws anywhere and anytime.

2.4 Keys To Success

The Keys to Success for BambooS Include the following: 

Table: 4 Keys of Success

2.5 Organizational Chart

3.0 Administration anD Human Resource Plan

3.1 business strategies.

Business strategy is crucial to maintain business growth.

The personal preferences of corporate management do not influence good business strategies. We emphasize every department’s function. It ensures the plans run smoothly to meet goals. We need to achieve them. We have put as much emphasis on the efficiency of each Department.

Our company has set several strategies to achieve the company objectives. However, these strategies have been made based on every Department’s suggestion.

a. Administration and Human Resources Department

• The admin and human resource department monitors all the business operations. It manages employees’ and management problems.
• It also solves problems that affect people management programs in the long run.
• Moreover, it follows the five-gap model of service quality to ensure service quality.

b. Marketing Department

• This department handles marketing of the product and promotional activities in order to reach the products to a vast amount of potential clients.
• It also promotes the business and mission of an organization through social media.

c. Operational Department

• This department ensures that all the equipment and material are ready to run the operation smoothly. It ensures that all products are of good quality. This department follows the eight principles of TQM to ensure product and service quality.
• Additionally, this department has the ultimate accountability for profit and loss and seeks to maximize shareholder return on investment.

3.2 Management Team

3.3 Job Descriptions

4.0  Market Plan

4.1  introduction.

BambooS Sdn. Bhd. support the “Save The Earth” campaign by producing eco-friendly Bamboo straws. These straws are environmentally friendly products. Therefore, these products are alternatives to plastic straws. The government has imposed restrictions on the use of plastic straws. They also create social awareness of to use of natural products.

Hence,  It is an important driving factor of our market strategy. In addition, the surging demand for drinking beverages, including juices and Boba drinks and then the save the turtle campaign, is also propelling the demand for bamboo straws across the globe. Bamboo straws are reusable compared to plastic; they are better for health, durable & robust, and it is an environmentally friendly product. The products will contribute to reducing global warming and preventing climate change globally .

4.2 Objective of Marketing

Our objective in producing Bamboo straws is to encourage consumers to use natural, eco-friendly products. Why are bamboo straws better than metal? Firstly, Bamboo comes from a natural source. So it is naturally sturdy and easy to collect. We do not need to use chemicals to make straws.

Additionally, metal straws are not pocket-friendly compared to Bamboo. Moreover, metal will rust when in contact with water and oxygen. Bamboo stock is much cheaper, less work, and easy to collect. Our marketing strategy will focus mainly on reusable principles and are much more trendy to youngsters because we have an engraving service to attract them.

4.3 Analysis of Marketing

4.3.1 market trend.

The demand for bamboo straws has risen due to growing environmental attention. Additionally, plastic straws have been reduced due to state restrictions. However, the bamboo straw market is expected to achieve high growth shortly. In addition, BambooS Sdn. Bhd is a unique company in Malaysia. We produce our straw ourselves, and we provide safety and hygiene assurance. The buyer can engrave their name on the straw. Nowadays, customers want recognition for something they buy or support. They are also sincere about ‘Save the Earth’ and deserve to flex.

4.3.2 External Environment Analysis

Our first demographic psychographic and geographic target market is the University Putra Malaysia (UPM). Since we are students of UPM, it is easier to approach our target customers, including students and staff. Students tend to bring their water bottles or flasks to classes. It is one step toward being environmentally friendly; thus, we promote their effort by selling bamboo straws. In addition, we will promote our product at cafes or food courts at the faculty and library. We also establish a booth at super shops.

4.3.3 Internal Environment Analysis

(SWOT ANALYSIS)

4.3.4 Market Opportunities

Our bamboo straw comes with a pouch; thus, it is hygienic and easy to bring everywhere. We also provide a small brush to ensure deep cleaning of the inner straw. Our product is able to be used again and again. So students and staff can save money. They do not need to bring straws in large volumes. The structure of our bamboo straw is strong and sturdy; thus, it will not break if soaked in water for a long time, unlike paper straws.

4.4 Target Market

4.4.1    segmentation.

• S size is fit for ordinary drinks, fully liquid
• L size is suited for Boba drink or any drink that has topping.
• People use straws for drinking tea, juice, frappe, and Boba.
• Restaurants, cafes, food court, canteen, food stalls, super shops around UPM

4.4.2 Consumer Market and Buyer Behaviour

(i) Students and staff at UPM (ii) Cafe and Restaurant at UPM

4.4.3 Positioning

• New business strategy for eco-friendly products in the market.
• Our production, process, and packaging materials match zero pollution.
• Providing Engraved service
• Customized and Eco-friendly bamboo straws of different sizes
• Made of organic material
• Unique punch made by the jute bag.

4.5 4 P’s Marketing Strategy

4.5.1 product strategy.

To make our product unique, we ensure the quality and safety of our products always satisfy our customers.

Our product comes neatly packaged in a unique eco-friendly punch. It is made of a jute bag. The natural bag is designed to make people use bamboo straws every day.

Labeling/Customised

Our company provides customized products. We resize and engrave the bamboo straws to attract more customers. So, our customers can request any size and imprint their straw with any logo or design they like. Our product comes in two sizes: the regular size for the standard drink, fully liquid, and the large size for the Boba drink or drink that has topped. Customers can send us their logo or name on social media sites. Personalized bamboo straws look fantastic across social media.

4.5.2 Price Strategy

Price is the payment given by one party to the other in order to get the return for goods or services. It is necessary as it determines our profit and business survival. Two factors affect our pricing strategy to increase our profits. The internal factor that affects our pricing strategy is production and management cost. At the same time, the external factor is the competitive environment.

Our management team decided to sell the straw in four sets: A, B, C, and D. Our company decided to set the price at RM 10.00 for set A. This set includes the common Bamboo straw, brush, and pouch. Then SET B cost RM 12.00, including the Boba size straw, brush, and pouch. SET C and SET D are more special because they include the engraving service. The engraving cost is RM 8.00 for each Set. As we mentioned before, we resize products for clients. So our customers can personally request to resize the straw. We charge it costs RM 9.00 per set.

4.5.3 Place Strategy

Place strategy is also known as distribution strategy, wherein the organization decides the mode of distribution for the product. The pacing strategy plays an important role in selling the products. We have chosen the market, cafe, or restaurant adjacent to the University Putra Malaysia. Our main target market is UPM staff and students.

Furthermore, we also decided to make it easy for our customers to find our product by using the shopping app, Shopee apps. We chose these apps because Shopee is the best option if you want to start selling online at a low cost and big money.

4.5.4  Promotion Strategy

Promotion is the advertising process to provide information to different parties about the products. It is a communication process that influences the customer to buy products. In order to get customers’ attention and obtain a more significant market share, Bamboos Sdn. Bhd uses digital and internet marketing.

We have set up social media accounts, Instagram, Facebook, Shopee, and Blogspot, to promote our business. The marketing team will upload the promotional content to social media sites. This is because most people stay on social media sites mostly. With that, social media sites are the easiest way to buy anything we want without going out. Moreover, online shopping has become popular in this era, and all these social media sites have become the hottest sites, especially Instagram, which has a high rating in advertisements. Many companies use social media to sell their products and services by putting corporate information in their accounts.

Social Media Advantages

Social media are free sites where we can reach a large number of customers. Hence, we use social media to do hard and soft selling.

We fully develop every post to attract customers. In addition, we will always update our posts and story feeds. We ensure that customers are more exposed to our product. Next, we also use social media hashtags. We use hashtags such as #Bamboos, #SafeTheEarth, and more to make it easier for customers. The marketing team uses social media for the ordering process.

Similarly, we will place the generated links on each social media to encourage the product ordering process. Our company also makes sure transactions with our customers are easy. Finally, we also produce videos to promote our sales. The video will achieve the highest social media reach for views and engagement.

We tend to focus more on WhatsApp groups, Shopee, and Instagram since our target audience is UPM students. Many students are involved in WhatsApp groups, such as on faculty, college, hostels, and clubs. WhatsApp and Instagram are more popular among students as the places they spend most of their time. WhatsApp is the most popular social media site in Malaysia.

5.0 operations planning

5.1  location and address.

We will mainly sell the straw on social media sites. The production team will handle the production process. They resize and wash the Bamboo at the warehouse in Selangor, Malaysia. The social media sites are Instagram, Facebook, Shopee, Blogspot, and WhatsApp. Supplies will be directly delivered to the responsible members for further processing based on our buyer’s order.

5.2 Objective of Operations

We aim to produce and deliver good quality Bamboo Straw. Our team ensures that all products are effective and attractive. We also must gain customers’ trust and happiness with our service, including price and delivery. We also make sure our products are cleaned and safe for use. Our team is very responsive to making good-quality straws. In addition, our company has ultimate responsibility for profit and loss. However, we seek partners for more investment.

5.3 Operation Strategies

A few strategies have been set up to ensure that our business runs smoothly throughout the week and meets our objectives.

5.4 Supplier

The bamboo stock was from a supplier via the Shopee platform, and the pouch supplies were from Giftstalk Sdn. Bhd. The company logo’s printing service was also included when we ordered the pouch from suppliers. Moreover, we order coconut fiber cleaning brush stock and packing Boxes from Shopee. We also surveyed purchasing and made sure that our supplies were reasonable. All the supplies are ordered online and delivered to our company via specialized courier service companies.

The bamboo straw will be customized and delivered to the customer using J&T Express, Ninja Van, and cash-on-delivery service, which will ease our delivery.

Thus, we have decided on the following suppliers as our supply providers:

• Wing.DIY – Shopee- For Bamboo Stock
• GIFTSTALK SDN BHD)- For Pouch Supplies
• Gd. Pack -Shopee)- For Paper Boxes Stock – Sandpaper Holder with Plastic.

5.5 Process Planning

5.6 Implementation Schedule

5.7 Machinery and Equipment Including GST

6.0 Financial Plan

6.1 introduction.

A financial plan can be defined as a process of framing procedures and budgets regarding the financial activities of concern. This is done to ensure good financial and investment procedures.

Generally, the financial plan is used to know an investor’s current pay and future financial state by using current known variables to predict future income, asset values, and withdrawal plans.

A financial plan is one of the most crucial parts of a business. Some of the importance of a financial plan are:

• A financial plan provides the direction of one’s business.
• It also helps understand how finances impact one’s business.
• Additionally, it helps to manage income better.

6.2 Purpose of the Financial Department

A few purposes are as below:

• Firstly, it determines capital conditions.
• Secondly, it operates the fund nicely for different purposes.
• Finally, it maintains proper cash flow.

6.3 Project Implementation Cost

Source of Fund

Our money is used as the start-up capital with a contribution of RM100.00 per shareholder, bringing the total investment to RM 1000.00.

6.4 List of Expenses

Twelve partners funded a total of RM1000.00 to cover all business costs, which is RM 617.29. Expenses are in terms of buying raw materials, equipment, and delivery fees. We will not invest all amount to the business.

The equipment is counted as fixed cost as they are bought in bulk. Refer to 6.4 (List of Expenses) for detailed information.

6.5 Record of List of Sales

6.6 Income Statement

After one month of business, BambooS ended up with RM 1600.00 from 7 different products. This includes selling 15 units of Set 1, 25 of Set 2, 35 of Set 3, and 30 of Set 4. Leftovers for bamboo straws are found. The income statement shows that the business’s net profit after one month of operation is RM 988.39, approximately 98.8% of capital invested into the business.

6.7 Cash Flow Statement

The case flow statement shows that the initial capital on hand is RM 1000.00, and at the end of the business, the total surplus (after deducting all expenses) is RM 1982.71.

The RM 1982.71 includes RM 100 capital invested by every shareholder at the beginning of the business. By dividing the remaining money after deduction, each shareholder would find themselves receiving an extra RM 98.27. Hence, every

6.8 Balance Sheet

At the start of the business (22 March 2021), the initial capital share is RM 300.00. There is no liability such as a loan.

At the end of 9 weeks’ business (22 June 2021), the cash on hand increased to RM 1982.71, as well as the owner’s equity. The firm’s net worth is RM 1982.71, done by subtracting liabilities from assets.

6.9 Financial Analysis

BambooS has a net profit margin of 61.42%. BambooS also has a break-even point of RM 126.50. Sales passing this break-even point means that BambooS can start making profits.

Set 1 has a break-even point of RM 11.90, and set 2 have it at RM 23.72. The break-even point for set 3 is RM 55.34, while set 4 has a break-even point of RM 35.58.

The interest for the business is 0.9827 or 98.27%. This means for every RM 1 capital invested in the business; the shareholders can get back RM 0.98 as profit.

7.0 Conclusion

  Based on the business plan template or business proposal example that we have made, BambooS will give us profitable returns. The assumptions we made for these three months are conservative as we know that our company is still in the beginning, and the marketing and promotion are still in the early phase. The company sets systematic planning to reach the target. Thus, BambooS is very confident that our company will be able to grow in the future and become the most popular brand in the world.

We will always ensure that everyone in the company cooperates well in order to achieve the business target profit. We hope that BambooS will be the best company for producing eco-friendly straws in Malaysia. Our company assists UPM students and staff in reducing plastic usage.

Problem Faced and Solutions in Business

Every business will need to face many challenges to sustain success. As a new business, we also must face many things to achieve our business goal.

Firstly, we confirmed the product we would sell; everyone gave their opinions and ideas. This leads to 10 different products and services on the list. So we need to vote for the best one. We had faced a healthy argument on picking the best product. After discussion, we finally came out with the idea of producing an eco-friendly product. We focused on global warming issues and finally decided to produce and sell bamboo straws.

Moreover, we also have to face a conflict in fixing the vendors. We need to find the best vendors that offer the most reasonable price for us to produce the bamboo straw. The cost must be tele with our starting capital. In order to solve this, everyone has done their research on all the possible suppliers until we find the best one to choose from.

To avoid extreme market competitors, our team chose a blue ocean strategy to create a new market to achieve competitive advantages.

Business Proposal Examples For Students PDF

A business proposal is a short business plan. The business proposal describes the business process. However, a business proposal includes an executive summary, problem statements, product, finance, and solution. The example of a business proposal for students certainly guides others to create a business plan. This business plan sample teaches how to write business plan assignments for students. Students might learn how to write a simple business plan and proposal.

The importance of a business plan is crucial to stakeholders, employees, students, and entrepreneurs.   Additionally, the business plan example assists employees in creating a professional business proposal.

Author: M M Kobiruzzaman

M M Kobiruzzaman, Content Writer View all posts by M M Kobiruzzaman

16 thoughts on “Business Plan Examples and Sample For Students”

this is wonderful ,,nice work

I need more info

Nice work keep on educating me I bet your help

Good Day! Can I ask your permission to use your template in my class discussion? It is very detailed and all the components present in this format.

Yes, You Can.

Great work,keep it up

great article . check out datatoleas.com

This template is the best I have seen It’s so detailed You have everything you are looking for

It’s a good sample for up coming entrepreneurs,keep it up 👍🏻

Mr Kobiruzzaman thanks so much am Kimera Kenneth from Uganda but your content is so useful.

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Biden's new student-loan forgiveness plan has already received over 24,000 comments. There are 2 weeks left to give the administration input.

• There are two weeks left for the public to comment on Biden's new student-debt relief plan.
• Once the public comment period ends, the administration will move toward final implementation.
• Still, legal challenges and the election pose threats to the debt cancellation.

The American people have just two weeks left to give President Joe Biden's administration input on its new student-loan forgiveness plan .

On April 17, the Education Department published its draft rules for a broader version of debt relief to the Federal Register. First unveiled in early April, the new plan is expected to benefit over 30 million borrowers through a range of provisions, including canceling unpaid interest for borrowers and providing debt relief to those who have made at least 20 years of payments.

This new plan is intended to replace Biden's first attempt at relief that the Supreme Court struck down last summer. In contrast to the first plan, this one requires the administration to undergo a process known as negotiated rulemaking, which entails a series of negotiations with stakeholders and an opportunity for the public to comment on the plans before final implementation.

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The plan is now in the public comment period, and there are two weeks left for anyone who wishes to provide input on the administration's proposals. So far, according to the Federal Register , the plan has received 24,532 comments as of Friday morning.

The comments are available to be viewed publicly, and some of them were supportive of Biden's plan. One stated:

"The more student loan debt that can be forgiven the better. My mom's loans were forgiven last month, and it has changed her life. The period of time when my loans were paused allowed me to buy a home. My loans are currently in repayment, and if that burden could be lifted it would be life-changing for me."

Meanwhile, others were more critical:

"No if you borrow money you need to pay it back. why should people who are hard working pay for a lazy person school. student loans needs to be payed back by the borrower not by people who are working for a living."

Once the public comment period ends on May 17, the Education Department can choose to adjust its proposals based on the feedback it received or move ahead toward final implementation. In the coming months, the department also plans to unveil a separate proposal to get relief to borrowers experiencing financial hardship, which will also have a public comment period.

The department has said it plans to move as quickly as possible with the relief this fall, but not only does the presidential election bring uncertainty to the fate of the relief — it's highly likely legal challenges will once again attempt to block it from carrying out.

For example, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey wrote on X that he would see Biden in court after the release of new details for the debt relief, and he already filed a lawsuit to block the SAVE income-driven repayment plan , arguing it was an overreach of the administration's authority.

Watch: Why student loans aren't canceled, and what Biden's going to do about it

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