
P1: OTA/XYZ P2: ABC
c18 JWBT144/Gordon September 16, 2009 16:23 Printer Name: Courier Westford, Westford, MA
18
Develop a Simple,
Effective Business Plan
N
o journey of any consequence begins without a plan. The same applies
to starting and operating your business. If you want to get where you
intend to go, you need a road map. Without it, the outcome of all your labors
will be strictly random—and probably disappointing. A business plan is gen-
erally a lengthy document and the product of a great deal of research and
effort. At this point, however, you don’t need a complete business plan; a
miniplan—an executive summary—is enough to get you going. This chap-
ter provides you with three things you need to develop your own executive
summary:
1. An executive summary outline
2. An example of a well-written executive summary
3. A 10-point self-critique
The recipe is here; all you need are your ingredients and draftsmanship.
By way of definition, the business plan
1
is just what it says: It is the complete
plan, the road map, the blueprint for the start-up and growth of your business.
It could be 30 to 50 pages in length and require considerable effort and research
to develop. The body of the plan (about 25 pages) should discuss the following
topics:
r
Company description: products and services
r
Industry dynamics
r
Customer analysis
183