Overview When starting a new business, a business plan is an important tool to help guide your decisions. Think of it as a roadmap to success, providing greater clarity on all aspects of your...

Overview When starting a new business, a business plan is an important tool to help guide your decisions. Think of it as a roadmap to success, providing greater clarity on all aspects of your business, from marketing and finance to operations and product/service details. While some owners may be tempted to jump directly into startup mode, writing a business plan is a crucial first step for budding entrepreneurs to check the viability of a business before investing too much time or money. The purpose of a business plan is to help articulate a strategy for starting your business. It also provides insight on steps to be taken, resources required for achieving your business goals and a timeline of anticipated results. For existing small businesses, a business plan should be updated annually as a way to guide growth and navigate the expansion into new markets. Your plan should include explicit objectives for hiring new employees, market analysis, financial projections, and potential investors. The objectives should indicate how they’ll help your business prosper and grow. Assignment requirements: Initially decide on a business that you will be interested to start and collect as much as possible information regarding your business opportunity with regards to primary and secondary data. For this major assignment you will be required to showcase your understanding of a business plan. Prepare a business plan. A sample structure for your business plan is shown below. ( please note that the subheadings listed in this handout is for reference purposes, however the student has the discretion of organizing the topics in accordance to the business and other related factors). 1. Cover page ( please include your name, student ID number ) 2. Table of content 3. Executive summary 4. Introduction page 4.1. About the business 4.2. Vision and mission 4.3. Business goals and objectives 4.4. Products offered LANGARA COLLEGE – CONTINOUS STUDIES 2 5. Industry analysis 5.1. Trends and statistics 5.2. PEST analysis 5.3. Porters five forces 5.4. Source of competitive advantage 6. Marketing plan 6.1. Segmentation, targeting and positioning 6.2. Application of the marketing mix ( 4p’s or 7p’s) 6.3. CRM applications 7. Operational plan 7.1. Analysis of basic operations 7.2. TQM application 8. Organizational & HR plan 8.1. Organizational structure 8.2. Recruitment process 8.3. Selection process 8.4. Performance appraisal 8.5. Financial and non-financial benefits 9. Financial plan 9.1. Initial investment 9.2. Forecasted income statement (first 2 years) 9.3. Forecasted balance sheet (first 2 years) 9.4. Forecasted cash flow statement 9.5. Break-even analysis (first year of operations) 10. Economic benefit to Canada LANGARA COLLEGE – CONTINOUS STUDIES 3 11. Appendix 11.1. Market research (primary and secondary research) 11.2. Sales forecast (time series application) 11.3. References 11.4. Bibliography Report format requirement • Word count – minimum of 4000 words • Follow APA guidelines