Barney School of Business

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Barney School of Business

• 2008 Business Plan Competition Requirements
• Our sponsors Schupp Grochmal, LLC

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2008 Business Plan Competition requirements

• Deadline for the registration form submission
  November 5 (MGT Department)
• Deadline for the Business Plan submissions is
  November 23, 500PM. Submit your plan
  electronically in pdf format to
  naoumova_at_hartford.edu
• 5-minute elevator presentation in front of judges
  on December 3 and 5
• Participation at Barney School Award Ceremony on
  December 10 (Club 1877) 530 7PM.

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2008 Business Plan Competition requirements

• Prizes in each category (undergraduate and
  graduate) 1st place - 500 2nd place - 250
• Formal Plan Submissions should include the
  following sections
• Executive summary
• Product/service description, including unique
  aspects
• Target market niche
• Competitive landscape
• Management issues
• Sales and distribution plan
• Business model
• Amount of new investment sought and intended use

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Business Plan

• Tells your business story
• Includes a marketing plan
• Outlines financial needs
• Identifies limitations and favorable conditions
• Duality of its function external and internal

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Main questions

• Does your business idea really match the
  opportunity?
• Do you have enough resources to implement it?

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Do you need a plan?

• I dont need one.
• I have one in my head.
• I dont know how to begin.
• I dont have enough time.
• Im not a numbers person.

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Why do you really need a plan?

• Attract investors
• Organize your thoughts
• Tool of internal control
• Communication tool
• Tool of external control

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Entrepreneurs

• Get someone to write a plan for them
• Buy a plan
• Write own plan

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Investors for entrepreneurial company

• Banks
• Angels
• Venture Capitalists
• Networks (family, friends, colleagues, etc.)

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What investors and bankers like

• Description of your unique business idea (What
  problem/need does it meet?)
• Description of target market and evidence of its
  capacity
• Description of managerial skills and experience
  of the founder
• Clear financial arrangement
• Customized business plan

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Intent to decline

• No story
• No mission
• Unrealistic business idea
• Inability to identify the target market and its
  potential
• Unrealistic financials
• Inability to compete with rivals or poor
  understanding of their strengths and weaknesses
• A standard plan or fill in the blanks

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Business Plan Structure

• Executive summary
• Product/service description, including unique
  aspects
• Business model
• Target market niche, number of prospective
  customers and the annual demand in units
• Competitive landscape
• Sales and distribution plan
• Amount of new investment sought and intended use

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Executive Summary

• 1-2 Pages of the overview of the business plan
• A story
• Structured
• Well written
• Shows strengths of the idea
• Describes briefly your business model

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Product/service description

• Start with the brief company overview (size,
  location, funds available, mission, ownership)
• Detailed description of each product and service
  that you sell (price, market need, and uniqueness
  - why people would buy them?).
• Point out your competitive advantages
• Advertising
• Delivery channels

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Target market niche

• Describe the market problem/need
• Solution for the problem
• Be specific in describing the customer need that
  your product would serve
• Does the need exist already, or you would have to
  develop it? If the need exists already, then who
  is serving it now, and how?
• If the need does not exist yet, then how would
  you develop it?
• Goals (measurable, reachable, time frame,
  efforts)

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Target market niche

• Target groups of customers (use demographic,
  professional, psychographic, or geographical
  classifications for customer segmentation)
• Provide the number of your prospective customers,
  list them (in B2B case), and annual projections
  for sales in units.
• If available, provide the information on industry
  growth (cite the resources used). What are the
  major factors that affect your market growth?

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The Competitive Landscape

• Industry
• General structure of the industry
• Concentration
• Nature of its competition
• How does the regular customer choose from the
  competitors products/services
• Price
• Quality
• Image
• Other
•  

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The Competitive Landscape

• Divide competitors in groups (large and small
  businesses), or use the other classifications
  (international, national, and regional/local).
• Describe the closest competitors (2-3) in respect
  to your business model. If possible provide their
  main strengths and weaknesses (2-3) for each of
  them.
•  

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Research Resources

• www.census.gov
• Provides a wealth on the demographic
  characteristics of individuals and organizations.
  Can be used to produce population-based analyses
  to support market size estimates.
• http//www.census.gov/mcd/asmhome.html
• Annual Survey of Manufacturers. Contains
  information on industry segments.
• http//www.census.gov/mcd/asm-as2.html
• Annual Value of Product Shipments.
• http//www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html
• County Business Patterns. Contains information
  on Business Activity in Geographic Units.
• www.claritasexpress.com
• You Are Where You Live Provides information
  regarding the demographic and psychographic
  characteristics of residents in a particular
  geographic area. Useful for determining site
  location and marketing strategies.
• www.infobel.com/teldir
• Can be used to produce lists of companies by
  industry sector and geographic area.
• http//www.galenet.com/servlet/AU?finalAuthtrue
• Associations Unlimited. Contains access to
  specialized associations that may be contacted
  for market analyses.
• http//rdsweb2.rdsinc.com/texis/rds/suite2?Session
  43f262a3aTBLisCachednipCnt1
• Table Base. A Google-like search engine for
  tables. You cant tell what youre going to get.
• http//www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm
• EDGAR Search for filings of companies. Can be
  used to look for the 10K forms for existing firms
  in an industry. These 10K forms often contain
  industry analyses.
• http//edgarscan.pwcglobal.com/servlets/edgarscan

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Management Team and Other Personnel

• Personnel
• Top management team (knowledge, skills and
  experience, management compensation ownership)
• Strengths of your existing personnel
• Personnel to hire
• Number of employees of each category
• Their responsibilities
• Salaries
• What would be the personnel needs, and costs?
• Board of directors/advisors
• Investors

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Business Model

• Components of a Business Model
• Core Strategy (mission, objectives and basis for
  differentiation)
• Strategic Resources (core competencies, and
  strategic assets, both tangible and intangible)
• Partnership Network (suppliers, and other
  partners)
• Customer Interface (target customer groups, how
  you reach them, what are your complementary
  services if any, your pricing model)

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Sales and
Distribution Plan

• Provide growth rates in sales (based on your
  study of the industry trends) per month and for
  the first 3 years. Estimate your annual sales in
  units (and dollars).
• How will the product/service be delivered to the
  customer (distribution channels)? What is your
  advertising plan? What are your strengths and
  weaknesses in distribution against your rivals?

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Financials

• Balance Sheet
• Income Statement
• Profit and Loss Analysis
• Cash Flow Analysis
• Startup Capital/Resource Needs
• Financial issues
• Enough cash flow
• Revenue and Major Expenses
• Current Financing Available
• Additional Funds Required Needed Investments