Develop a Business Plan Worksheet This worksheet describes the basic components of any business plan.

Please note that every plan will be unique to its particular company. The Executive Summary Include crisp, clear descriptions of the following elements: Company history Company objectives Product/service offerings The market Competitive advantage (A persuasive statement of why and how the business will succeed) Projected growth for the company and the market Key management team members Funding requirements, including a timeline and details on how the funds will be used The Products and Services Answer the following questions in this section: Why is there a need for your offering? Is your product or service already on the market, or is it still in the research and development stage? If you are still in the development stage, what is the rollout strategy or timeline to bring the product to market? What makes your product or service unique? What competitive advantage does the product or service have over its competition? Can you price the product or service competitively and still maintain a healthy profit margin? What patents, copyrights and trademarks does your company currently own or plan to obtain? What confidential and non-disclosure protection have you secured? What barriers do you face in bringing the product to market, such as government regulations, competing products, high product-development costs, the need for manufacturing materials, etc.? The Market Include the following elements: A detailed description of your market A detailed description of your niche and why you chose it An explanation of the market demand for your product or service offering (Requires supporting documentation) What percentage of market share do you project you can capture? What is the growth potential of the market? (Requires supporting documentation) Will your share of the market increase or decrease as the market grows?

 How will you satisfy market growth? How will you price your goods or services to remain competitive in a growing market? Note: If you are launching a new product, include your market research data. Likewise, if you have existing customers, provide a customer profile, detailing their purchasing habits and their buying cycle. The Marketing Strategy The following are some promotional options to consider: TV Radio Print Web Direct mail Trade shows Public relations Promotional materials Telephone sales One-on-one sales Strategic alliances If you have current samples of marketing materials or strategies that have proven successful for you, include them with your plan. Discuss your distribution strategy: Will you mail order, personally deliver, hire sales reps, contract with distributors or resellers, or use some other method? What are the costs associated with your proposed delivery methods? How will you track the effectiveness of the methods you choose? The Competition Specific areas to address in this section are: Who are your closest competitors and what are their product/service offerings? Where are they located? What are their revenues? How long have they been in business? Who is their target market? What percentage of market share do they currently hold? Do they service a local, geographic market or a national customer base? Is that the same or different from your approach? In what other ways do your operations differ from each of them? How are they similar? What do your rivals do well? Where is there room for improvement? In what ways is your business superior to the competition? How is their business doing? Is it growing, declining or stable? Are there certain areas of the business where the competition surpasses you (management team, economies of scale, better distribution, volume discounts, etc.)? If so, what are those areas, and how do you plan on compensating for them?

Operations This section of the plan should describe the following requirements of your business: Manufacturing R&D Purchasing Staffing Equipment Facilities Note: Provide a rollout strategy as to when these requirements need to be purchased and implemented. In addition, describe the vendors you will need to build the business. Do you have current relationships, or do you need to establish new ones? Who will you choose and why? The Management Team When preparing this section of the business plan, you should address the following five areas: 1. Personal history of the principals Business background of the principals Past experience -- tracking successes, responsibilities and capabilities Educational background (formal and informal) Personal data: age, current address, past addresses, interests, education, special abilities, reasons for entering into business Personal financial statements with supporting documentation 2. Work experience Direct operational and managerial experience in related businesses Indirect managerial experiences 3. Duties and responsibilities Who will do what and why? Who is responsible for final decisions? Organizational chart with chain of command and listing of duties 4. Salaries and benefits A simple statement of what management members will be paid, by position Listing of bonuses in realistic terms Benefits (medical, life insurance, disability, etc.) 5. Resources available to your business. They might include: Insurance brokers Lawyers Accountants Bankers Consulting groups Small Business Association Local business information centers

 Chambers of Commerce Local colleges and universities Federal, state and local agencies Board of Directors World Wide Web (various search engines) Personnel Consider the following questions in completing this section of the business plan: What are your current personnel needs (full- and/or part-time)? How many employees do you envision in the near future, and then in the next three to five years? What skills must your employees have? What will their job descriptions be? Are the people you need readily available? If not, how will you attract them? Will you pay salaries or hourly wages? Will you provide benefits? If so, what will they be, and at what cost? Will you pay overtime? Financial Data Have a certified public accountant establish your accounting system before the start of business to provide you with data in the following four areas: Balance Sheet - indicates what the cash position of the business is and what the owner's equity is at any given point (the balance sheet will show assets, liabilities and retained earnings). Break-Even Analysis - Shows the volume of revenue from sales that are needed to balance the fixed and variable expenses. Without exception, all businesses should perform this analysis, which is based on the income statement and cash flow. Income Statement (also called the profit and loss statement) - Indicates how well the company is managing its cash, by subtracting disbursements from receipts. Cash Flow - Projects all cash receipts and disbursements. Healthy cash flow is critical to the survival of any business. Supporting Documentation You will need to include all documents that lend support to statements made in the body of your company's business plan. Please be aware that this list is not complete and may vary depending on the stage of development of your business. Resumes Credit information (include in appendix) Quotes or estimates Letters of intent from prospective customers Letters of support from credible personal references

 Leases or buy/sell agreements Legal documents relevant to the business Census/demographic data Business Plan Glossary ACCRUAL BASIS OF ACCOUNTING is wherein revenue and expenses are recorded in the period in which they are earned or incurred regardless of whether cash is received or disbursed in that period. This is the accounting basis that generally is required to be used in order to conform to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in preparing financial statements for external users. ACCRUED ASSETS are assets from revenues earned but not yet received. ACCRUED EXPENSES are expenses incurred during an accounting period for which payment is postponed. ACCRUED INCOME is income earned during a fiscal period but not paid by the end of the period. ACCRUED INTEREST is interest earned but not paid since the last due date. ACCRUED LIABILITY are liabilities which are incurred, but for which payment is not yet made, during a given accounting period. Some examples in a manufacturing environment would be: wages, taxes, suppliers/vendors, etc. ASSET is anything owned by an individual or a business, which has commercial or exchange value. Assets may consist of specific property or claims against others, in contrast to obligations due others. BALANCE SHEET is an itemized statement that lists the total assets and the total liabilities of a given business to portray its net worth at a given moment of time. The amounts shown on a balance sheet are generally the historic cost of items and not their current values. BOTTOM LINE, in accounting/finance, is specifically net income after taxes. In general, it is an expression as to the end results of something, e.g. the net worth of a corporation on a balance sheet, sales generated from a marketing campaign, or final decision on most any subject (Often said: give me the bottom line). BRAND NAME A brand identifier that can be spelled and spoken BRANDING

The process of establishing the elements of a brand, including its name, identifying symbols and related marketing messages. BRAND Any name, symbol or other identifier used individually or in combination to identify the goods and/or services of a seller and differentiate them, on any tangible or intangible basis, from similar goods and/or services of competitors. BREAK-EVEN ANALYSIS is an analysis method used to determine the number of jobs or products that need to be sold to reach a break-even point in a business. BREAK-EVEN POINT is the volume point at which revenues and costs are equal; a combination of sales and costs that will yield a no profit/no loss operation. BUDGET is an itemized listing of the amount of all estimated revenue which a given business anticipates receiving, along with a listing of the amount of all estimated costs and expenses that will be incurred in obtaining the above mentioned income during a given period of time. A budget is typically for one business cycle, such as a year, or for several cycles (such as a five year capital budget). BURN RATE is the rate at which a new company uses up its venture capital to finance overhead before generating positive cash flow from operations. It is the rate of negative cash flow, usually quoted as a monthly rate CASH BASIS OF ACCOUNTING is the accounting basis in which revenue and expenses are recorded in the period they are actually received or expended in cash. Use of the cash basis generally is not considered to be in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and is therefore used only in selected situations, such as for very small businesses and (when permitted) for income tax reporting. See also Accrual Basis. CASH FLOW The amount of money which flows in and out of a business, the difference between the two being the important number. If more money flows into a business than out of it, it is cash positive. If more money flows out than in, it is cash negative. CASH AND EQUIVELANTS The value of assets that can be converted into cash immediately, as reported by a company. Usually includes bank accounts and marketable securities, such as government bonds and bankers' acceptances. Cash equivalents on balance sheets include securities that mature within ninety days. COST OF GOODS SOLD (COGS) is a figure representing the cost of buying raw material and producing finished goods. Included are precise factors, i.e. material and factory labor; as well as others that are variable, such as factory overhead.

CURRENT ASSETS are those assets of a company that are reasonably expected to be realized in cash, or sold, or consumed during the normal operating cycle of the business (usually one year). Such assets include cash, accounts receivable and money due usually within one year, short-term investments, US government bonds, inventories, and prepaid expenses. CURRENT LIABILITIES Debts owed by a company which are due for settlement within 12 months. These include creditors and taxes due etc. CURRENT CASH DEBT RATIO measures ability to pay current liabilities in given year with cash derived from operating activities. Calculated using net cash from operating activities divided by average current liabilities. DEPRECIATION The charge in a company's accounts which reflects the reduction in value of an asset over time as its useable life is exhausted GROSS PROFIT is net sales minus cost of sales. GROSS PROFIT MARGIN ON SALES (GPM) is one of the key performance indicators. The gross profit margin gives an indication on whether the average markup on goods and services is sufficient to cover expenses and make a profit. GPM shows the relationship between sales and the direct cost of products/services sold. It measures the ability of both to control costs and to pass along price increases through sales to customers. The gross profit margin should be stable over time. A persistent gradual decrease is likely to indicate that productivity needs to be increased to return profitability back to previous levels. GROSS RECEIPTS is the total amount received prior to the deduction of any allowances, discounts, credits, etc. LIABILITY, in accounting, is a loan, expense, or any other form of claim on the assets of an entity that must be paid or otherwise honored by that entity. MARKET POSITIONING Positioning refers to the user's perceptions of the place a product or brand occupies in a market segment. Or how the company/library's offering is differentiated from the competition's. MARKET SHAREA proportion of the total sales/use in a market obtained by a given facility or chain. MARKET OPPORTUNITYAn attractive arena of relevant marketing action in which a particular organization is likely to enjoy a superior and competitive advantage. (Kotler) marketing plan A document composed of an analysis of the current marketing situation, opportunities and threats, analysis, marketing objectives, marketing strategy, action programs, and projected income statement

NET INCOME is the difference between a businesses total revenue and its total expenses. This caption and amount is usually found at the bottom of a company's Profit and Loss statement. Same as Net Profit. NET PROFIT is the company's total earnings, reflecting revenues adjusted for costs of doing business, depreciation, interest, taxes and other expenses. Same as Net Income. PROFITABILITY is company's ability to generate revenues in excess of the costs incurred in producing those revenues. SG&A refers to the indirect overhead costs contained within the Sales, General and Administrative expense / cost categories. POSITIONING Defining, within the minds of the market, a brand (corporate, product, or service) relative to the competition. It is the latter part of the definition -- i.e., relative to the competition -that separates positioning from other marketing communications messages. PRODUCT POSITIONING The way users/consumers view competitive brands or types of products. This can be manipulated by the organization/library. The library's video collection, available for free, is competitive with local video stores that charge, if video collections are comparable. If the collections are not, the library is differentiating the video collection from the video store. SITUATION ANALASIS (SWOT) An examination of the internal factors of a library to identify strengths and weaknesses, and the external environment to identify opportunities and threats. TRADEMARK Legal protection given to a brand name and/or logo. WORKING CAPITAL A companys current assets (cash, debtors, work in progress) less its current liabilities (creditors, taxes due).