Creating a Business Plan Project: Part 1
A business plan provides a business with a vision for the future and a clear strategy for expanding the business. Understanding the components of a business plan can help identify the needed resources, timeline, and steps to achieve the business’s goals, grow the business, track the growth, help to forecast and plan for potential risks, and help investors see the viability of a company.
For your course project that you will finish in Unit VII, you will create a basic business plan for a fictional start-up health care company. This unit III assignment will be the first part of your business plan project.
Complete the following for your assignment that is due in this unit:
Research
Feel free to research an organization similar to the one you would like to complete the project on as a guide for creating the business plan.
In this assignment include:
the executive summary,
the business description,
a short explanation of the importance of the time value of money, and
the four basic financial statements.
Executive Summary
The executive summary is the first and one of the most critical parts of a business plan. It provides an overview of what the business plan will cover. You can always go back and update this section in Unit VII before posting the final course project.
Include the following in your executive summary:
mission statement,
products or services you offer, and
why you started the business.
Business Description
The business description should include the following:
type of entity (e.g., a sole proprietorship, or an LLC) and name of the company;
information regarding the industry your company will serve;
your team experience in the industry;
business goals (two long-term and two short-term plans);
product or services;
target customer;
trends and major competitors; and
what will set your company apart from the competition.
Time Value of Money
Briefly explain the importance of the time value of money and how you would use it to maximize profit for your company.
Financial Tools
Create the four key financial statements, and explain the importance of each for your company. Refer to the examples in your text, and research similar companies online. Remember this is a start-up company and may not have a lot of resources. The main consideration is adding the right information for each of the financial statements.
Identify three critical ratios that are important to review.
This Unit III Course Project should be at least two to three pages in length. As this assignment will also be part of a larger project that will be due in Unit VII, no abstract or title page is needed at this time. You must use at least two sources, including the textbook. Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. APA formatting, however, is not necessary.