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The United States Small Business Administration offers business plan assistance and resources to start-up and existing businesses. In addition to their informative and educational website, the Small Business Administration offers free seminars and workshops on business plan development, as well as free counseling and referrals. Several organizations work with the SBA to provide non- profits and for-profit businesses with the ability to produce an effective and comprehensive business plan for their new or existing business idea in need of funding.
A great business plan is essential in presenting your idea to the business world and a necessity to any company seeking outside funding. Contrary to most notions, a business plan will never be a completed work, but rather a continual work in progress that requires constant renewal depending on industry trends, market research, and your company’s goals, objectives, and growth. The United States Small Business Administration has a website that provides valuable guidance in developing a business plan and covers the Business Plan Basics as well as writing and using the plan. The SBA’s Business Plan Basics outlines the highlights of your business and helps identify company goals and objectives. The SBA illustrates that a business plan must indicate what sets your company and it’s services apart from others, how your company plans to repay loans/grants, handle unforeseen circumstances, reach it’s potential customers, and market it’s products and services.
The Small Business Administration provides a comprehensive outline for writing a business plan and details it’s contents. A well-written business plan will first contain the basic cover sheet with contact information, followed by a Table of Contents and an Executive Summary. According to the Small Business Administration, your business plan must then contain a detailed description of the business, including it’s financial setup and owners, the status and stage of the business (new, existing, purchase, etc.), the type of business, a description of it’s products and services, and it’s long and short-term goals. Management must then be introduced and its principal employees identified, including any consultants utilized by the business. This should be followed by a Marketing overview including an explanation of your market analysis and strategy, the competition, and company location. Perhaps the most difficult of sections is the financial section of the business plan which, according the Small Business Administration, includes a summary of the financial needs, a Profit and Loss Statement, and a Balance Sheet. Finally, the supporting documents must be attached including personal resumes, owner’s financial statements, credit reports, letters of reference, copies of lease agreements and mortgages, contracts, and taxes.
The task preparing a business plan from scratch can seem daunting at first sight, but the Small Business Administration provides enough resources to remove much of the anxiety behind the job. In addition to it’s own resources for business plan writing, the Small Business Administration offers links to additional offices that offer writing assistance, counseling, and free workshops and seminars. These include SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Engineers), SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research), links to it’s own regional and district offices.
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Tags: business, Business and Management, company goals and objectives, comprehensive business plan, developing a business plan, Other and General, profit businesses, sba, small business administration, small business administration, writing a business plan
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