A business plan is your road map to profitability and success. A well-conceived plan describes the vision you have for the business and the path you will take to achieve that vision. It also serves as a communication vehicle for employees, customers and potential financial resources. An effective business plan has nine key elements.

1. Executive summary. The executive summary outlines the plan’s key sections such as the company’s mission and goals, target markets, products and services, primary competitors, marketing strategy and financials. The summary should be one to two pages long and should convince the reader to review the entire business plan.

2. Company description. The company description provides a clear idea of what your company is all about, what it does, and how it will operate. In other words, it articulates your company’s mission statement, which is a brief, formal declaration that describes the specific purpose for your business.

3. Market niche. This section of the plan describes your target customers, the larger environment in which your business will operate and why this environment is viable. The key is to identify your desired niche and to explain why you can be successful. To do this, you must answer three questions:

• Who do I serve (who are my customers, who are the people I want to have as customers)?

• What value do I offer (what are my customers able to do because of me = value proposition)?

• How do I help customers achieve this value (what goods and services do I provide)?

4. Competition. This section of the plan describes your primary business competition, including their strengths and weaknesses. The most important factor is the identification of your competitive advantages. You can effectively develop this section by addressing the following questions:

• Who is my primary competition?

• How does what I provide differ from these competitors (think about your value proposition)?

• What are my competitive advantages and disadvantages?

5. Marketing strategy. The single most important step you can take as an entrepreneur is to effectively market your goods and services. You can have the best products in the world, but if no one knows about them, your business will fail. Creating a successful marketing strategy is all about addressing the 5 P’s:

• Product – What are you selling?

• Price – How much will you charge?

• Person – What is your target market (i.e., market niche)?

• Place – How will your goods and services be distributed?

• Promotion – How will you let potential customers know about your goods and services?

6. Operations. The operations section describes how the work will be done. This is not a particularly detailed section of your business plan, but it should describe your company’s typical business activities.

7. Management and organization. This section identifies the key business managers and the organizational structure. This is a very important section when you have a staff. It is also critical when you are seeking capital. Investors will thoroughly examine the backgrounds of the management team in charge of your business.

8. Long-term development. This section of the plan describes how your business will grow over time. You should provide a specific timetable for the company’s development, including identification of the potential risks your business faces. You can begin this process by addressing the following questions:

• Where do you want your business to be 1 year from now in terms of product, person and place?

• Where do you want your business to be 3 years from now in terms of product, person and place?

9. Financials. The last section of the business plan outlines your financial projections for the first several years of the business. Ideally, this includes the production of several forms including an income statement (describes anticipated profits over a specified timeframe), a cash-flow analysis (estimates the movement of cash into and out of the business), and a break-even analysis (estimates the point at which revenue received equals the cost of generating that revenue).

Why would you think about going to business school as a prelude to doing your startup? My most immediate answer would be, “because you are not ready to do it, or you don’t really want to start a business, at all.” If you want to start a business, start it now.

If you take two years to go to Business School, it will delay your startup by that amount of time. Chances are high that the program intensity will not really allow you to focus on your startup as well. Delaying revenue for two years may be fatal.

Another reason not to go to B-School is the cost. If you don’t make the investment, you’ll have more money to put into the business. So, if going to business school is absolutely not a prerequisite for an entrepreneur, what are the reasons that make an MBA potentially worthwhile.

This advice is freely offered by an entrepreneur who did not attend business school, although he has taught on an MBA program for several years.

Here are twenty good reasons for going to business school before you start your business:

1. Challenge: you will be challenged to re-evaluate what you think business is all about; certainly you will revise some of your cherished assumptions about what you think your startup should look like;

2. New skills: the skills you learn may make you dissatisfied with where you work now and propel you faster into your startup; it is very likely that your startup will be based on what you have been doing, but better, and as you stay longer, the relative experience gain will diminish; if your employer pays for your MBA, you may be locked in for a certain number of years service;

3. Business Plan Competitions: your B-School may have a business plan competition that you can enter-the top 25 offer a total of more than $3 million in prizes; while you may not be looking for funding, the experience from entering will be invaluable;

4. Scholarships and mentoring: some B-Schools have entrepreneurship scholarships and/or offer mentoring programs;

5. Business Incubators: there may be an associated business incubator or accelerator in which you can participate-they may involve fees, but they should be modest by comparison with the benefits of access to all kinds of technical/professional help at no additional cost;

6. Filling knowledge gaps: you will fill in gaps in your knowledge base, e.g., if you’re a marketing person who knows nothing about finance, and say, managerial accounting is a required course, you’ll get a rounded appreciation for business as a whole;

7. Valuable contacts: you’ll meet some very interesting people and may find partners for your venture;

8. Meet entrepreneurs: there will be entrepreneurs that you’ll meet and can be good for advice and feedback;

9. Entrepreneurship courses: there may be an entrepreneurship course where you can test out your ideas;

10. Meet companies and researchers easily: when companies or researchers come to campus, you can meet with them;

11. Like-minded people: you are likely to be surrounded by more like-minded people than anywhere;

12. Events to show off your startup: some B-Schools have year-end entrepreneurship showcases and/or elevator pitch events;

13. Internships: internships at entrepreneurial companies are often available through the B-School-ones that you might mnot get on your own;

14. Entrepreneurship clubs: entrepreneurship, venture and hi-tech clubs often exist within the school and can provide opportunities to get feedback on your startup ideas;

15. Technology transfer: there are connections to other faculties, especially, science and engineering, whence technology transfer possibilities may exist;

16. Events for potential funders: B-Schools organize venture weeks and expos, sometimes inviting VCs or Angels to attend;

17. Capstone Projects: as part of an MBA program, there is often a Capstone, where students can build their startup as part of their degree (and get a ‘free’ mentor/advisor); they are a way of bringing together all the student’s learning on the program, so give a great opportunity to refine ideas;

18. Action learning and consulting projects: action learning programs exist in some schools, where groups of students can undertake consulting projects, frequently with entrepreneurial companies;

19. Access to the Business School’s advisory board members: B-Schools generally have an advisory board, with business luminaries of various kinds and who are accessible to students;

20. A place to recruits fans: fellow students will be cheerleaders!

William Keyser, a veteran entrepreneur, is Managing Director of Venture Founders-Sustainable Startup Strategies. Startup Owl offers a wealth of free information and advice to would-be and early stage entrepreneurs.

Will is a veteran entrepreneur with VC experience and he is committed to help business startups to: clarify their business purpose; sharpen their business model; better their business plan; speed their market entry; offer customer value; finance their business right; grow their business strongly; survive their business challenges-more effectively than they might do on their own.

Your business plan is your company’s calling card. It allows you to see your business through your investor’s eyes. As the name suggests it is a plan of your business; your communication tool; selling your marketing, sales and operations.

Every time you meet with a property manager about leasing space for your business or you have a meeting with a potential lender/investor it is your business plan that will do most of the talking.

Use your business plan to present your business concept in away others can understand. You should focus on exactly what you want to achieve, where you want your business to go and how you plan to get it there. Projected sales and monthly expenses will also be included in your plan. All of this information will influence your choices, including the type of location you will be looking for. Your business plan will monitor whether you are achieving these objectives and maximise your changes of success by allowing you to keep adding to it.

A business plan is the key to long term success for new and old businesses. Your business must have a foundation to start from and you have to give your business time as success will take longer then merely weeks.

If you’re a new retail business you should think about things such as will you have a walk in store? A catalogue? Will your store have an internet site? Will it enable Internet ordering? What will your delivery methods be? You should also think about who your competition is and how you are better than your competition.

Your business plan will:

o Help clarify/focus and research your businesses development and prospects.

o Provides a considered and logical framework within which a business can develop and pursue business strategies not just for the near future but throughout your business

o Serves as a basis for discussion with third parties such as shareholders, agencies, banks, investors etc.

o Offers a benchmark against which actual performance can be measured and reviewed.

Your business plan is a framework which your business must operate within. It will ultimately determine whether your business succeeds or fails. For management or entrepreneurs seeking external support, the plan is the most important sales document that they are ever likely to produce. It acts as the key to raising finance. Preparation of a comprehensive plan will not guarantee success in raising funds or mobilizing support, but having no plan at all will more than likely result in failure.

Some of the things that are worth thinking about before you start writing your business plan are:

o Clearly defining your target audience

o Determine your businesses requirements in relation to the contents and levels of detail

o Map out your plan’s structure

o Decide on the likely length of your plan

o Identify all the main issues to be addressed within your plan

For many people the mere process of planning, thinking, discussing, researching and analysing can often be just, if not, more helpful than the actual outcome, which is your plan.

No businesses are the same, just as no plans are the same. Your business plan might seem like a daunting task but the results it will produce will be worth it and if you are having trouble writing the plan yourself there are many websites that offer help and, along with your help, will actually write the business plan for you.