Help writing a business Plan???

Question

My wife and I have a rapidly growing pet sitting business & I want to write a business plan. I'm having trouble with the key topics.
We also want to incorporate that we eventually want to open a Pet Day care/Boarding facility. What will benefit us if we want to raise capital in the future?

What about Grants?????

Answer 1

To start a business, a business plan is essential to the well being of the business. It not only allows you to evaluate the past present and future views of your company, but others as well. You must first start off by deciding the format of the business plan. There are some default formats that you can find online, but important sections to include are: Description, implementation strategies, target audience, Predicted monthly outflow/inflow, future initiatives, competition, Advantages/Disadvantages over competition.

These plans typically take from weeks to months to develop and require a lot of attention and editing. I myself have gone through at least15 versions before finally realizing my end plan. As well, constant updates of the plan will help. This allows you to communicate to your potential sponser that you are dedicated and willing to work hard.

Hope you do well, Goodluck

Answer 2

If you google "writing a business plan" - you will come up not only with several free sites that will help you write the plan, but there are also several examples of ones that are already done. It's a bit involved - but you can do it yourself. However, if you look over the stuff online and still can't figure it out, there are many other options. Not only paying someone to do it. But there should be an organization in your area of retired business people who volunteer to help people with opening their own businesses. Their help is free. Good luck.

Answer 3

The best routes to take are to research the process of starting a business as well as the industry you're interested in.

I recommend checking out the SBA, Entrepreneur, The Start Up Journal & Nolo. All 4 are great informational resources for the new/small business owner. I posted links for you in the source box.

Research, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can. Here are some book titles that are relevant:

Business Plan Specific:
* Writing a Convincing Business Plan by Arthur R. DeThomas Ph.D., Lin Grensing-Pophal
* The Definitive Business Plan: The Fast Track to Intelligent Business Planning for Executives and Entrepreneurs (2nd Edition) by Richard Stutely
* The Complete Book of Business Plans: Simple Steps to Writing a Powerful Business Plan (Small Business Sourcebooks) by Joseph A. Covello
* The One Page Business Plan with CD-ROM by James T., Jr. Horan

Pet Sitting Specific:
* The Face in the Window: A Guide to Professional Dogwalking by Dianne Eibner
* Entrepreneur Magazine's Start Your Own Pet Sitting Business by Cheryl Kimball
* The Professional Pet Sitter: Your Guide to Starting and Operating a Successful Service Edition 2005 Newly-Revised Includes Business Forms by Lori Mangold

Associations may be a good avenue to explore. These organizations will address many of the thoughts, questions and concerns you'll inevitably have as well as many you haven't anticipated yet. See the source box for some relevant links.

There are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles.

As far as grants are concerned, check with imisidro (#1 Answerer in the Business & Finance section) -- she has very helpful information about grants.

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 4

Oh boy!

This isn't the place to ask those questions. You need a lot of information. Go to a bookstore or Amazon and look for books. Don't read just one...you need to read a few b/c different authors focus more on different areas.

You likely won't be raising capital...you will be getting bank debt. To do that you will need historical f/s, forecasted f/s and either very strong cash flow or assets to collateralize the loan.

I doubt you will be able to demonstrate to a bank that the business is strong enough to support the loans so it will end up being a personal loan, more or less, and the rates will be rather high and you will have to give personal guarrantees.

Go get some books and do a lot of reading.

Answer 5

Here's a general list of what you should have in a business plan if you're thinking about looking for a loan or investors. Most of the list below is important for your own personal planning, even if you decide to seek outside capital. Keep in mind that your business plan should be your roadmap to your business future. Don't put it away to get dusty on a shelf. Look at it every few months and see if you are on target in reaching your planned levels of business.

--Executive Summary (this is a brief overview summarizing the key elements of your plan so bankers or investors can understand the concept and potential profitability at a glance.
--Company History (founder, date started, etc.)
--Description of the business - what you sell to whom
--Description of the market for what you sell. Who's out there that needs/will buy from you; who competes with you, etc.
--Description of how you'll reach that market (ads? direct mail?)
--Operational plan (how you run the business, anything you do that gives you an edge over the compeitors
- Description of Business Management - this is extremely important - what's your background in this business - what are your strengths, etc.
--Financial Plan - How much do you expect to make (use realistic projections); what will it cost you to bring in that volume of sales and deliver your services, etc. This section should include past and projected cash flow statements, income statements, etc.

For additional tips on the various sections of a business plan, see
http://www.businessknowhow.com/Startup/businessplanning.htm

Once you put together your business plan make an appointment to have it reviewed by either a SCORE office (Service Corp of Retired Executives) or a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) office. Both are affiliated with the US Small Business Administration and both offer free help for small businesses.

Answer 6

According to the book “The ABC's of Writing Winning Business Plans: How to Prepare a Business Plan That Others Will Want to Read -- and Invest In” http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446694150/powerhomebizguid by Garrett Sutton, below are some tips to make a winning business plan that can get funding:

- Money follows management. Investors look first at the people involved in the company. If you are just starting out and don’t have relevant experience, investors expect to see that you have an experienced team of advisors and employees helping you in the business.

- Make sure you “sell” the one reason your business will become profitable.

- State clearly the strategies you will employ to get the word out about your business. Your business plan must show how you will leverage the Internet, public relations, viral marketing, and other strategies to attract customers.

- Present realistic estimates of the time, energy and costs of building a successful business. Do not underestimate or overestimate revenues. While investors know your numbers are simply guesses, they want to see that your numbers are within the “range of reality.” Be careful of your financial statements: this is one area where you can easily lose credibility if presented poorly.

- Benchmark similar companies to show that you’ve done your homework and researched the market.

- Your Executive Summary is your calling card. If it is not a winner, investors may not even read your entire plan. Emphasize your own as well as your team’s track record in the Executive Summary.

- Before sending your business plan to lenders and investors, send it out first to a few in order to get feedback. You’d want to correct your plan if someone tells you that you’re way off mark, rather than have a potential investor tell it to you and lose the chance to get the funding you need.

Here are some resources that can help you write your business plan:

- SBA Business Plan Basics http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
- PowerHomeBiz.com Creating a Business Plan section http://www.powerhomebiz.com/startup/businessplan.htm
- Entrepreneur.com Writing a Business Plan section http://www.entrepreneur.com/bizplan/0,7253,,00.html

You may also want to review some sample business plans to see how it actually looks like:

- Bplans.com http://www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.cfm
- MOOT Corp Business Plan competition winners
http://www.businessplans.org/businessplans.html
- VFinance - View hundreds of real business plans in pdf format. http://www.vfinance.com/home.asp?bps=1&ToolPage=bps_main.asp
- Business Owners Toolkit Sample business plans and information on how to create a plan. http://www.toolkit.cch.com/tools/buspln_m.asp
- PlanWare Planning software and information. http://www.planware.org/
- Virtual Business Plan Walk through the design of a business plan. http://www.bizplanit.com/vplan.html
-SBA Business Planning Guide http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
- Small Business Advancement Center http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/business_plan/businessPlan.pdf
- Sample Business Plan General planning guide created by the Canadian Business Service Center. http://www.cbsc.org/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=CBSC_FE/display&c=GuideFactSheet&cid
- Business Plans Index - A subject guide to sample business plans and profiles for specific business types from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. http://216.183.184.20/subject/business/bplansindex.html

Some recommended books are :

- Business Plans Kit for Dummies
- The Complete Book of Business Plans : Simple Steps to Writing a Powerful Business Plan
- Writing Business Plans That Get Results : A Step-By-Step Guide
- Business Plans For Dummies®
- Your First Business Plan : A Simple Question and Answer Format Designed to Help You Write Your Own Plan

Hope that the above resources help

Answer 7

Try your local chapter of SCORE... Service Corps of Retired Executives

Answer 8

profit. look into an SBA loan from a local bank. They have great materials that will help you.

Answer 9

http://www.score.org/template_gallery.html