How to Write a Business Plan

How to Write a Business Plan by Mike McKeever ISBN: 0873375440 | Nolo © 1999 , 220 pages How to Write a Business Plan Introduction: How to Use This Book Chapter 1: Benefits of Writing a Business Plan Chapter 2: Do You Really Want to Own a Business? Chapter 3: Choosing The Right Business Chapter 4: Potential Sources of Money to Start or Expand Your Small Business Chapter 5: Your Resume and Financial Statement Chapter 6: Your Profit and Loss Forecast Chapter 7: Your Cash Flow Forecast and Capital Spending Plan Chapter 8: Write Your Marketing and Personnel Plans Chapter 9: Editing and Finalizing Your Business Plan Chapter 10: Selling Your Business Plan Chapter 11: After You Open—Keeping on the Path To Success Chapter 12: Good Resources for Small Businesses Appendix 1: Business Plan for a Small Service Business Appendix 2: Business Plan for a Manufacturing Business Appendix 3: Business Plan for a Project Development Appendix 4: Blank Forms How to Write a Business Plan Mike P.McKeever Editors Lisa Goldoftas & Peri H. Pakroo Illustrations Mari Stein Cover Design Toni Ihara Book Design Terri Hearsh Manuscript Preparation Stephanie Harolde Proofreading Joe Sadusky Index Sayre Van Young Printing Consolidated Printers, Inc. Copyright © 1984, 1986, 1988, 1992 and 1999 by Mike P. McKeever. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. This book was last revised in: November 1999. Fifth Edition NOVEMBER 1999 An Important Message to Our Readers This product provides information and general advice about the law. But laws and procedures change frequently, and they can be interpreted differently by different people. For specific advice geared to your specific situation, consult an expert. No book, software or other published material is a substitute for personalized advice from a knowledgeable lawyer licensed to practice law in your state. Keeping Up to Date To keep its books up to date, Nolo issues new printings and new editions periodically. New printings reflect minor legal changes and technical corrections. New editions contain major legal changes, major text additions or major reorganizations. 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Call 800-955-4775 or write to Nolo.com, Inc., 950 Parker Street, Berkeley, CA 94710. Dedication This book is dedicated to the memory of my late grandmother, Elizabeth Eudora Woodall Darby, whose influence I acknowledged only recently. Acknowledgments After more than a decade of working with various revisions and editions of this book, I am amazed at the uniform spirit of goodwill and cooperation given me by many people. Without that spirit, this book would not have seen the light of day or continued helping people. My first editor, Ralph “Jake” Warner, showed infinite patience in working with a first-time author. My second editor, Lisa Goldoftas, challenged every punctuation mark and sentence structure while gracefully deferring to my knowledge about the subject. Also at Nolo: Steve Elias designed many of the helpful charts and made a number of editorial suggestions; Adam Stanhope educated me about computers; Mark Stuhr lent his expertise by fine tuning and updating computer-related material; Stephanie Harolde worked her word processing wonders on the manuscript; Terri Hearsh designed the book and lent her vast experience to enhance the quality of the book and financial forms; Eddie Warner gave helpful suggestions on online information; and many more helpful and professional folks at Nolo improved the book greatly. A special thanks to a number of generous individuals, each of whom knows a great deal about starting and operating a small business. Peg Moran, author of Invest in Yourself: A Woman’s Guide to Starting Her Own Business and Surviving the First Two Years: A Woman’s Guide to Running Her Business Successfully, made several suggestions that helped the book greatly and has been a good and support friend from the first. Terri Hearsh, a former Vice President for Bank of America, made a number of suggestions from the bank officer’s point of view. Roger Pritchard, a Berkeley, California small business consultant who has counseled hundreds of small business owners, reminded me that small is often beautiful. Also, thanks to two people who took the time to read the book carefully and offer suggestions. Their input was extremely useful—but I am responsible for any information that is incorrect: Jason Wallach is a friend and a CPA in Santa Rosa; his input was very helpful. Harry Keller of the Santa Rosa SBA office was kind enough to explain several intricacies of that system to me. Dan Peters took time from starting his new manufacturing business to read the manuscript and offer valuable suggestions. Sharyn Simmons kindly allowed me to use her business concept as an example of a service business. Larry Healy let me modify his business plan as an example of a manufacturing business. Hugh Codding and Leroy Knibb of Codding Investments shared details of retail operations. Finally, I want to thank all my readers, clients and students who have shared their hopes, dreams and problems with me over the years. Many of their stories and suggestions appear here in disguised form. I hope you will profit from their experiences as I have. Mike P. McKeever Santa Rosa, California ... - tailieumienphi.vn