Write a Business Plan

[chachadiva]

I know a lot of people are intimidated by the idea of having to write a business plan. Well, the process doesn’t have to be scary using the One Page Business Plan process. It’s from the book series by Jim Horan. Please visit his site at: http://www.onepagebusinessplan.com/index.htm .

In the book, he shows us that because of modern business practices, most start-up companies do not need the one-inch thick business plans of the past. This is because of two reasons:

1. Most start-up companies will be financed with the owner’s personal money or with casual investments from family and friends. Since most banks will not finance a start-up company, there’s no need for five financial projections and all of the other stuff included in a thick business plan.

2. The rise of home based businesses and technology has made it easier for people to start a business in their kitchen or a corner of their bedroom. They need a quick, easy, and flexible method of planning.

So, I thought that I would breakdown the One Page Business Page process as described in the book.

I suggest everyone go out and buy a copy of the book. It has worksheets, templates and a lot of other useful information that I can’t include in this thread. It even comes with a CD of electronic forms and templates. BUY THE BOOK.

The One Page Business Plan is broken down into five parts:

1. Vision Statement
2. Mission Statement
3. Objectives
4. Strategies
5. Action Plans

The Vision statement is a paragraph that outlines the type of business, the geographical area, projected sales, core product and customer description.

I made up the below scenario:

Latisha Johnson has always loved clothes. Everywhere she goes, people are asking her about her style and the way she puts together outfits. She sews and has always had a dream to start her own fashion line. Well, Latisha has decided to start her clothing line called Allura Designs and decides to prepare a one-page business plan. Here is her vision statement:

Vision Statement
Within the next 3 years, grow Allura Designs into a $150,000 national apparel company providing stylish and chic clothing and accessories to young career women. Consumers will be able to buy our clothing in retail stores, catalogs and directly from our company website.

See how easy that was. Tomorrow, I’ll continue with Latisha as she adds her Mission Statement.

Note: All ideas taken from the One Page Business Plan books by Jim Horan. BUY THE BOOK. If you pass on this info to others, please quote the original source.

[soapinphilly]

This portion of the business plan is what was always a challenge to me***grow Allura Designs into a $150,000 national apparel company***. I started out as an accounting major and believe it or not financial projections gave me the most trouble.

[BeautifulFlow]

This is exactly the stage I'm in now...and I was looking at this book online the other day!

[chachadiva]

Today, we continue with our budding entrepreneur Latisha. She has been working on steps 2 (mission statement) & 3 (objectives) of the One Page Business Plan process.

The Mission Statement simply explains why the company exists. Every business exists for a reason. A good MS contains a description of your ideal client and the benefits you hope your products provide to the client.

Latisha’s big thing is seeing women dress inappropriately at work. She hopes to do something about that with her clothing line. Her mission statement:

Mission Statement
We provide fashion conscious career women with styling clothes that are appropriate for the workplace and can easily be accessorized to go from day to evening.

Next, Latisha has to create her business objectives.

Objectives are statements that define business success. What do you need to achieve to consider yourself success over a certain period of time? They clarify the business results you want to achieve. Objectives should include the actions to be taken, graphable results and completion dates.

Latisha has come up with 8 objectives for her first season of business, the Fall 2011 season. Note that in the fashion industry, wholesale selling seasons have certain beginning and end dates.

Objectives
1. Achieve sales of $25,000 by close of the Fall 2011 selling season May 31, 2011.
2. Design and sample 10 pieces for the Fall 2011 season by November 30, 2010.
3. Have clothes in 15 retail brick and mortar stores and one major online retailer via by May 31, 2011.
4. Make 30 in-person retail store visits by April 30, 2011.
5. Attend and exhibit at two Fall 2011 trade shows by April 30, 2011.
6. Create and execute a direct mail postcard marketing campaign reaching 200 retailers by February 15, 2011.
7. Get clothing in one showroom by January 31, 2011.
8. Hire a sales rep by January 31, 2011.

Latisha is one her way to creating a successful business plan. Tomorrow, we’ll continue as Latish develops some Strategies for Allura Design.

[chachadiva]

Today, Latisha is working on her business strategies.

Strategies come out of a simple question. How will this business be built? Strategies determine the direction, philosophy, values and methods used to build and manage your business. Your strategies will guide you and provide boundaries as you make business decisions. When considering a certain action, ask yourself does that action fit in line with your business strategies.

Latisha has thought a long time about this and has developed the following business strategies for Allura Designs:

Strategies
1. Design attractive career clothing with separates that offer the flexibility to be mixed and matched together to create a variety of day to evening looks.
2. Connect with career women by cultivating relationships with business and career-oriented women’s groups.
3. Teach women about clothing coordination and personal style and image development via live seminars and online educational tools.
4. Build networking relationships within the fashion and garment industry.
5. Maintain manufacturing processes with both domestic and overseas contractors.
6. Identify, develop, and mentor young design talent.
7. Create opportunities to “give back” to the community by donating to local charities and other benevolent actions.

Tomorrow, we will finish up with Latisha as she develops her action plans.

[chachadiva]

Latisha is at the final section of her One Page Business Plan. She’s created her Action Plan.

Action Plans are the projects, programs and other actions you will undertake that implement your Strategies and bring about your Objectives. They are comprised of business building projects and completion dates. The steps on the Action Plan should be important business building projects and NOT normal, daily tasks and routines.

In order to move forward, Latisha has committed to the following Action Plans. Note that because her industry is seasonal, she only has actions for the Fall 2011 season. She can go back and revise her plan for each subsequent season.

Action Plan
1. Finalize all designs and patterns by August 31, 2010.
2. Join one fashion industry networking group and one women’s business group by September 1, 2010.
3. Determine final fabric sources and sewing contractor by Nov. 15, 2010.
4. Apply as exhibitor at two trade shows (Atelier in NY; StyleMax in Chicago) by Dec. 1, 2010.
5. Create hardcopy marketing materials (line sheet, lookbook, order forms, postcards) by January 1, 2011.
6. Compile a master marketing list of price point appropriate retail stores by January 1, 2011
7. Launch website by January 15, 2011.
8. Have salesman samples completed by January 15, 2011.
9. Create and present 3 “Dress for Career Success” seminars to local college graduates by June 30, 2011.

Latisha has now completed her business plan. Because it’s only one page, she can easily make changes and refine as needed. She now has a good framework to launch her business.

[chachadiva]

Allura Designs

Fall 2011 Season

Vision Statement
Within the next 3 years, grow Allura Designs into a $150,000 national apparel company providing stylish and chic clothing and accessories to young career women. Consumers will be able to buy our clothing in retail stores, catalogs and directly from our company website.

Mission Statement
We provide fashion conscious career women with styling clothes that are appropriate for the workplace and can easily be accessorized to go from day to evening.

Objectives

1. Achieve sales of $25,000 by close of the Fall 2011 selling season May 31, 2011.
2. Design and sample 10 pieces for the Fall 2011 season by November 30, 2010.
3. Have clothes in 15 retail brick and mortar stores and one major online retailer via by May 31, 2011.
4. Make 30 in-person retail store visits by April 30, 2011.
5. Attend and exhibit at two Fall 2011 trade shows by April 30, 2011.
6. Create and execute a direct mail postcard marketing campaign reaching 200 retailers by February 15, 2011.
7. Get clothing in one showroom by January 31, 2011.
8. Hire a sales rep by January 31, 2011

Strategies

1. Design attractive career clothing with separates that offer the flexibility to be mixed and matched together to create a variety of day to evening looks.
2. Connect with career women by cultivating relationships with business and career-oriented women’s groups.
3. Teach women about clothing coordination and personal style and image development via live seminars and online educational tools.
4. Build networking relationships within the fashion and garment industry.
5. Maintain manufacturing processes with both domestic and overseas contractors.
6. Identify, develop, and mentor young design talent.
7. Create opportunities to “give back” to the community by donating to local charities and other benevolent actions.

Action Plan

1. Finalize all designs and patterns by August 31, 2010.
2. Join one fashion industry networking group and one women’s business group by September 1, 2010.
3. Determine final fabric sources and sewing contractor by Nov. 15, 2010.
4. Apply as exhibitor at two trade shows (Atelier in NY; StyleMax in Chicago) by Dec. 1, 2010.
5. Create hardcopy marketing materials (line sheet, lookbook, order forms, postcards) by January 1, 2011.
6. Compile a master marketing list of price point appropriate retail stores by January 1, 2011
7. Launch website by January 15, 2011.
8. Have salesman samples completed by January 15, 2011.
9. Create and present 3 “Dress for Career Success” seminars to local college graduates by June 30, 2011.

[Perkisha]

Thanks so much for providing this example! I'm going ot purchase this book asap!

[pnutbuta33]

I like this. I'm gonna write out me a business plan.

[mscoffee42]

ChaCha thank you so much I needed to see that in black & white, something that I can relate too. I will be getting that book asap!!