Describe in overview and in detail what you are offering to the market.

Choose a company that is new and can be a sole proprietorship in your own local neighborhood. This will be a business you can start with minimal capital and the intent is to own and operate it indefinitely so selling the business is not a consideration.
Here is a list of business types you may choose from. If you want to do some other business, be sure to get permission from your professor first. The business must be a local service. It may not be selling a specific product or an app of any sort except as an add on or support of the business. These may not be franchises but new small businesses and brands only.
Food Truck
Food Delivery Service
Coffee Shop
Sandwich Shop
Art Gallery
Pet Store
Small Restaurant
Landscaping and Lawn Service
Custom T-shirts
Language Lessons
Homemade Chocolate and Candy
House Cleaning
Small Jewelry Store
Homemade Chocolate and Candy Store
Ride Sharing Service
Pet Boarding and Day Care Facility
Day Care for Kids Facility
Handyman Service
Garage Door Installation
Pet Grooming Shop
Donut/Bagel Shop
Junk Disposal Service
Ice Cream Store.
Format
Cover page
Table of contents
Executive Summary
Section A: Business Concept
Section B: Industry Analysis
Section C: Regulation and Legal Review
Section D: Competitive Analysis
Section E Target Market and Segmentation:
Section F: Value Proposition
Section G: Pricing Strategy
Section H: Marketing Promotion Strategy
Section I: Day-to-Day Operations:
Section J: Facilities and Equipment Plan
Section K: Technology Plan
Section L: Use of Funds
Section M: Sales Forecast:
Section N: Breakeven
Appendix- Primary Research
References
Section A: Business Concept:
Describe in overview and in detail what you are offering to the market. What does it “do”? What are the benefits to your customers? How do the customers now accomplish the same task? How is your approach better than the competition?
Section B: Industry Analysis
Research industry averages for profitability in your marketplace. Use this information to determine the validity of your own projections and make changes if necessary.
Section C: Regulation and Legal
Determine your location and business environment. Address all legal, zoning, and licensing concerns your business will face. Visit your state’s Secretary of State website. What form of business will you set up? Why? The level of detail required for this section will depend on your type of location (virtual, retail, warehouse, office, restaurant, etc.) and on your idea. Demonstrate that you have completed your research. DON’T say “We will obtain all of the appropriate permits”; instead, summarize them. When you explain your form of business—remember your audience. For example, if you select an S corporation, explain your reasoning for that selection in the context of your potential business, rather than providing the definition of an S corporation. Address any pending regulations which may have an impact on your business.
Section D: Competitive analysis
Describe the competitive landscape. Who are the key competitors? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How will you take share from them? How will they most likely try to stop you if you are successful? Who are your indirect competitors? What do they offer your prospects? Include a map of their locations in your local area.
Suggested length: one page (double space) per section, which means a minimum of 4 pages for this section of the project. Be sure to indicate the section you are responding to. Do not submit one block of writing. Break it down into sections.

Section E: Target Market and Segmentation:
Describe your market. Where is it? How big is it? What is the growth rate? What are the unique features or dynamics of this market? What causes people to buy? What are the demographics and psychographics of your target customer?
Section F: Value Proposition
Specific evidence that people will buy your product or service. What is your “hook?” Describe your primary research, and explain how the results validate the value of your product or service to your target audience. Primary market research is the key to this evidence. Prove that if you make this investment, customers will buy what you are selling. What is your competitive edge?
Section G: Pricing Strategy
Describe your pricing strategy and specific prices. How did you arrive at these prices? What are competitive prices? Why are yours different? How do your prices relate to costs and your development investment?
Section H: Marketing Promotion Strategy
Describe the role, the strategy, and the execution of your total communications plan. What is your message? What are your specific communication vehicles, such as advertising, literature, promotion, the Internet? What type of scheduling or timing will you use? Show your budget by year and type of expense.
Section I: Day-to-Day Operations:
Describe how your business will “operate.” If you make a product, describe the production. If you offer a service, describe each step of that service. If you are a retailer, location, product mix, and suppliers are important. Think through your business’ daily operation and explain it in detail. Then, think about who, what, and how each of those steps will happen. Realistically, how much of this can one person do? Strategically, how will you plan for growth?
Section J: Facilities and Equipment Plan
Describe and cost your capital assets, such as production lines, office equipment, and buildings. If you plan to have a physical location, include a floor plan if possible. Address your build-out strategy. Are you leasing a location that meets your specs (fairly unusual); if not, include a build-out plan with high-level milestones, dates, and costs? What are your startup timelines? Expansion timelines?
Section K: Technology Plan
Describe your company’s IT needs and how much they will cost and how you will implement. Will you have a web presence, and if so, what type of functionality will it include? If you need a particular software program, explain its function. Will you need licenses for each employee? Will you handle your IT requirements with “in-house” or outsource to IT consultants—explain your decision.
Paper/References
Properly formatted with APA format paper, citations and sources.
Suggested length: one page (double space) per section, which means a minimum of 7 pages for this section of the project. Be sure to indicate the section you are responding to. Do not submit one block of writing. Break it down into sections.

Section L: Use of Funds
Describe how you plan to use the startup requirements in detail providing a start-up budget which includes all initial capital expenditures, build-out and start-up expenses. The details must be realistic and well researched. Data that does not make sense will cost you points. In other words, if you are starting a restaurant and your remodeling startup costs are $5,000, you would be penalized, since that amount is unrealistic.
Section M: Sales Forecast:
Create your 5-year forecast (See lecture for details). Units, dollars and assumptions are critical. Create the sales forecast in a narrative. These may be based on the optional worksheets. (Remember, you don’t submit the spreadsheet created using the course financial software, so restate important numbers in the form of charts, tables or excerpts from the SalesProj tab in your spreadsheet.) Your forecast is the description of the units you plan to sell, the services (amount of them) you plan to provide, and your growth projections of these numbers. Document all assumptions, and provide external source information for all assertions.
Section N: Breakeven
Include a graphical representation that shows when your company will start making a profit.
Paper/References
Properly formatted with APA format paper, citations and sources.
Primary Research Appendix
You must use primary research as described in the Marketing section. Your Appendix must include evidence of that research. Examples might include survey responses, or interview notes. Faculty will confirm primary research—failure to provide evidence is an automatic 50-point deduction. Faculty, type in 0 points for the entire section if no primary research is provided in the final plan.

Use a title page.
Font: Use Times New Roman, 12 point.
Place your name in the upper left hand corner of the page.
Each section of your paper should be headed by the bold and capitalized item described above. For example- Section N: Breakeven Include these in the table of contents.
Use indent paragraphs.
Insert page numbers at the bottom right.
Use APA citations throughout the paper. If you are not familiar with APA citations.
Include a separate reference page at the end of the paper.
Save your paper in the following format. Your last name, your initials of your first and middle name, and the business name
Example: If your name is Edward R. Jones and you are writing a business plan on xyz, then the file name for your paper would be joneserxyz.doc

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