In this class you will learn:

• The difference between a business ‘pitch’ and a business ‘plan’ and the advantages of both
• The good, the bad and the ugly approach to a PowerPoint presentation
• Things to consider if you are presenting your business idea to obtain investment
• The different types of investors and which type is right for your business
• How you can determine the amount of investment you really need

OVERVIEW

Once you have decided on your business idea, figured out who your target market is, analyzed the market and picked the best way to reach your ideal customer, estimated your sales, costs of sales and expenses, you have the key elements in place to describe your business. Whether it’s an abbreviated pitch presentation or a complete business plan, the information is now available to you to use in the format that best meets your needs.

DEFINITION

• The Art of the Start, Chapter 3, The Art of Writing a Business Plan.

This is from a webinar given in November 2008. The total is 50 minutes. It divides into four parts.

• Part 1: Back to Fundamentals
• Part 2: The Heart of the Plan
• Part 3: Flesh and Bones of the Plan
• Part 4: Dressing and Growing

Nancy Duarte On Slide Presentations
The book is Slide:ology, and this five-minute video on Bnet is a great summary.

If you can’t get the video off of this site, click here for the source video on bnet.

Tim Berry: Video Summary of Business Planning

This interview is a couple of years old now, but I thought it was a pretty good summary of business planning as applied to real-world companies. It was done on the floor of a trade show of eBay vendors.

This is a nice quick and easy reminder from Seth Godin about PowerPoint presentations:

Seth’s Blog: Nine steps to Powerpoint magic

Must Have:

Your business plan must include as a minimum the following components, identified here as either text topic or table. Most of these were separate assignments throughout the course, and should now combine into a single business plan document.

• Summary (could also be called “Executive Summary.”) Text topic. Should include all of the information detailed in Assignment 1: the Opportunity and you’re welcome to add to that as well.  Business Plan Pro automatically includes the Highlights Chart. Pictures are welcome. You could also use what you did for Assignment 4: Summary Memo and bundle that into the plan. Edit this portion, so it isn’t redundant; you probably used your assignment 1 as a beginning draft for assignment 4.
• Market Analysis. Text topics and at least one table. Should include all of the information detailed in Assignment 2: Market Analysis. Pictures and pie charts and bar charts are welcome.
• Strategy. One of more text topics. Ideally you’ve got something along the lines recommended in the reading, strategy as a combination of identity, market, and strategic focus. There’s an outline example here, and you can click on it to jump to the Heart of the Plan material available online, which you also have in that Heart of the Plan section of The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan book in the readings. In addition, the Heart of the Plan video included in class 11 videos also covers that same material. Pictures welcome.
• Competitive Edge. Also called Secret Sauce. Text topic. Pictures welcome. For more on this, it should come up in class 5 on marketing strategy — ask me about it if it doesn’t — and you should ask our guest speakers as well. Also, read Secret Sauce on the web.
• Startup Plan: Exactly as in Assignment 5: Startup Plan. That’s at least one text topic and two tables, one for startup costs and another for startup funding. The best way to handle the text topic is to make sure that it includes the most important assumptions and explains how you intend to raise the money required (loans, investors, personal savings, etc.)
• Sales Forecast. Exactly as in Assignment 3: Sales Forecast. That’s sales and cost of sales for the first 12 months and then added up into year 1, and then for years 2 and 3 of the plan as well. And it includes a text topic that explains your assumptions, and, ideally, a couple of business charts as well.
• Projected Profit & Loss. Exactly as in Assignment 6: Projected Profit & Loss. At least one text and a table; business charts would also be nice. If it’s obvious how you make money then you don’t need to elaborate, but for some of the more innovative new technology plans, if how you make money isn’t obvious, then please make sure you talk about the business model.

Nice to have:

You’ve got a lot of resources here on this website, including two complete online books, so you can see that there’s potentially a lot to add. Use outlines recommended in the readings, or some other order. Here are some specific suggestions, in more-or-less order of desirability — but not the order they appear in the plan:

• Cash flow. That requires some interaction between the profits, which you already have, and the balance sheet, which you don’t necessarily have. With Business Plan Pro, it’s almost automatic. There’s a lot of detail available in the appropriate sections of  The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan book and Hurdle: The Book on Business Planning ebook found within the software resources.
• Business offering (describing your product or service). This goes well after the summary and before the market analysis.
• Company description: ownership, facilities, and so on. Goes well right after the summary, before the business offering section.
• Business model (as noted in the Projected Profit & Loss point above, only if it isn’t obvious).
• Financial plan: description of funding sources, return on investment for investors, exit strategy.

Remember that business planning requires a lot of flexibility. Every business plan is unique to the business and its specific situation.

If you can’t get the video off of this site, click here for the source video on bnet.

In this class you will learn:

• The difference between cash and profits
• The difference between cash flow and cash balance
• How your business legal structure can affect your taxes
• Tax implications based on a calendar year or fiscal year setup
• Types of tax-deductible business expenses
• Online resources for tax questions

OVERVIEW

Cash is critical. Cash means money in the checking and savings, not just coins and bills.  Critical content is the cash flow, and understanding the difference between cash and profits. This is vital. We’ve left it for the end so the related financials are clear. We’ll also work again on presentation skills, working with Powerpoint, preparing the document to back-up your feasibility plan.

DEFINITIONS

Cash: Normally means banknotes and coins, as in paying in cash. The term is used in a business plan to represent the bank balance, or current account balance.

Cash Flow: An assessment and understanding of cash coming into and flowing out of a business in specific periods of time.

Profit: An accounting concept, normally the bottom line of the Income Statement (also called Profit or Loss statement). Start with sales, subtract all costs of sales and all expenses, and that produces profit before tax. Subtract tax to get net profit.

• 3 weeks to Startup, Chapter 15, Keeping Track
• 3 weeks to Startup, Chapter 17, Paying Taxes
• The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan,  Chapter 5, pages 194-210

The IRS offers free publications to help you wade through all the tax laws and regulations for your business. Click on each link to view the document online or choose the option to download the document in a portable document format. These and other online resources are available at irs.gov

• Tax Guide for Small Business (Publication 334)
• Business Expenses (Publication 535)
• Travel, Entertainment, Gift and Car Expenses (Publication 463)
• Circular E, Employer’s Tax Guide (Publication 15)
• Employer’s Supplemental Tax Guide (Publication 15-A)

Locate an Accountant

• GoodAccountants.com = registry and referral service of certified public accountants, public accountants and bookkeepers
• AccountantWorld.com = free resources, web-based softare solutions, tools and services for accountants; includes a directory of accounting professionals
• 1800accountant.com = Free consultation for businesses with a local neighborhood accountant

Tax Preparation

• TurboTax =online tax preparation for individuals and businesses
• H&R Block =online tax preparation and tax guidance for individuals and businesses