CISB 334 E-Business BUSINESS PLAN

What is Business Plan ?  A document that provides a framework for testing the business from conception through early development to capitalized on strengths, compensate for weaknesses, and serve as a resume for potential investors.

CONTENT OF BUSINESS PLAN  Executive Summary  Business Description  Market Analysis  Overall (effort, creativity)

Executive Summary  Synopsis of the key points of the entire e-business plan.  Purpose : Explain the fundamentals of the business in a way that both informs and excites the reader.  Length : Short.

Executive Summary (cont.)  Content : Company mission statement and company description The management The competition The market and customer Product / service Marketing and sales Operations

Business Description  Describes the nature and purpose of the business.  Includes : firm’s mission statement, goals, value proposition, and description of products and services.  Purpose : To objectively explain and justify business idea in a positive and enthusiastic manner.

Business description (cont.)  Includes 2 sections :- Business concept section. Product and services section.

Business Description (Business Concept Section)  Industry analysis : a group of business that manufacture, distribute, or sell similar product or services.  Mission Statement : declaration of what a business aspires to be.

Business Description (Business Concept Section)  Business goals : Clearly describes actions to be taken or task to be accomplished by a company.  Business model : The business model your proposed business follows, such as virtual merchant, community portal, etc.

Business Description (Product and Services Section)  Complete enough to give the reader a clear idea of the products/services.  If the product is unusual or not easy to described, include a picture or drawing.  The description should tell the reader what makes your company’s product / services unique in the marketplace.  Benefit to customer from purchasing the product or services.

Market Analysis  Target market : who are the customers? We will be selling primarily to private sector (%), wholesalers (%), retailers (%), government (%), user (%), others (%). How will we be targeting customers? : product line, geographic area, etc. How much our selected market spend on the type of product / service offered this coming year ?

Market Analysis (Cont.)  Competition Who are the competitors : name, address, year in business, market share, price/strategy, product/services features. How competitive is the market ? High, medium, low. Our strengths and weaknesses (location, reputation, personnel, etc.)

Market Analysis (Cont.)  Environment Important economic factors that will affect the product/ services. Example industry growth, economic trends, taxes, rising energy prices, etc. Legal factors that will affect the market. Government factors that will affect the market. Etc.

Market Analysis (Cont.)  Marketing strategies Image :- cheap, exclusiveness, customer oriented, convenience, speed, etc. Features Pricing Customer service provided. Advertising and promotion (sources)

Links  Example business plan: inc.com/plans.org/mootcorp.html p/sample.html