1. January 31, 2011 Objective: Students will identify the purpose and importance of the Business Plan

2. Business Plan It’s that time to start thinking and building our business plans. Remember that for this class the Business Plan standard is weighted at 50% of your class grade. So these assignments are very serious!

3. STEPS Today’s notes will review information from the STEPS textbook. On my class website is a link to the KEYS text you can reference pages 43 – 66 for additional reference information on writing a business plan.

4. Lack of Adequate Planning is One of the Principal Reasons Most Businesses Fail. 1.All lenders and investors require a business plan. 2.All businesses would operate more profitably with a business plan. 3.Most business owners do not know how to write a winning business plan. Business planning helps to organize the making of business decisions into a logical process. 20% of your time as a business owner will be spent working with your product or service, the other 80% of the time will be busy with managerial and misc. chores needed to keep you business functioning.

5. Why Write a Business Plan? To serve as a guide during the lifetime of your business. – This is the most important reason – Forces you to consider all aspects – The blueprint for your business & keep you on the right track To fulfill the requirement for securing lenders and investors. – If you need a loan or venture capital funds you need a solid business plan – Remember a banker is the caretaker of HIS clients’ monies. Your lender/investor wants to know how the loan will improve the worth of your company.

6. Revising Your Business Plan The Business Plan is not a static document Changes are constantly taking place, every quarter you want to revise your plan to reflect the changes you want to implement.

7. A Winning Business Plan Format Writing a good plan requires many days, if not months. BizBuilder Business Plan Template – DO NOT EVER delete from this template – We will NOT be completing the entire template but when submitting you MUST submit the entire BizBuilder Template. – Save each revision with a new name, this way if there are problems you don’t need to start over from scratch!

8. Computer Lab We will be in the Computer Lab Wednesday and Friday to begin writing the the first section of our Business Plan. I will be gone Thursday and Friday this week. – Thursday: Jude & Anastasia from Junior Achievement will be here. There will be no homework from Junior Achievement, but I expect that you will be on your best behavior! – Friday: Computer Lab My Metro students you will want to upload your Module 2 assignments to Angel. All Module 2 assignments are due SUNDAY, February 6 If are not working on submitting assignments to Angel. You should work on your Business Plan.

9. Assignment 3.4 Create a 200 word cohesive essay discussing: – 3 stand out concepts learned from the reading assignment (Today’s Notes or Keys text online) regarding business planning or writing an actual business plan.