Business Plans Handbook, Volume 11

Review by Jeff Lippincott (Prin ceton, NJ USA)
VOLUME 11. I love this resource. I cannot say enough positive things about it. I am a SCORE (Senior Corps of Retired Executives) volunteer who provides business coaching services via email and in-person. I have recommended on almost every occasion that my "clients" who are starting a business and need to prepare a business plan search out for this volume and the others that follow it at their public library, community college library, or university library.

A business plan is a 25-35 page written document that includes the following ten sections:

1. Business History and Outlook
2. Description of Product or Services
3. Market Examination (target market)
4. Description and analysis of Competition (competitors serving target market)
5. Marketing (various options and a plan)
6. Operations
7. Administration and Management
8. Key Personnel
9. Potential Problems and Solutions to those Problems
10. Financial Information (BS, IS, Stmt of Cash Flows)

Included in this volume are the following sample business plans:

1. Adventure Travel Lodging Company
2. Brewpub
3. Cigar Company
4. Construction Development and Real Estate Firm
5. Construction and Home Rehabilitation Company
6. Daycare Facility
7. Food Distributor (template)
8. Giftware Company
9. Handmade Greeting Card Company
10. Handyman Service
11. Hardware Store (template)
12. Homeless Shelter
13. Interior Design Company
14. Interior Painting Service
15. Internet Loyalty Program
16. Internet Services Portal
17. Massage Therapists
18. Mentally Disabled Care Facility
19. Motorcycle Dealership and Racetrack
20. Online Mortgage Company
21. Pizza Parlor
22. Private Investigator

None of the above plans are 25-35 pages long. And few if any have good Financial Information. But what they do provide the reader is examples of how business plans are supposed to present information. You will no doubt see big holes in the sample plans. It is those holes you need to be aware of so you can fill them in when you prepare your own business plan.

Read the plans as if you were going to use them to start a similar business. Ask yourself what you still need to know after reading each plan that you must have an answer for in order to use the plan as a blueprint for actually running your own business. As you do this for each of the plans you will become expert at analyzing and critiquing business plans. And that is what you need to be able to do well when you write your own business plan. 5 stars!