In order to have a successful business, you need to have a plan. In order to have a detailed and thorough plan, you need a business plan outline. It will help you construct your plan. The truth is there are different kinds of templates you can use for your plans; you just need to find one that is right. One that you can modify the way you deem.

Usually parts of the business plan outline are as follows: the executive summary which serves as the introduction to the plans itself. The history of the company should also be mentioned especially if have a very well developed business. This will encourage future investors to investing in our company because of your track record. The vision of the company is also important. It gives a background on what you stand you for. It should also include market analysis, your strategy on how you are going to attain the end result which is what the plans are for.

There are actually many parts to a business plan outline but what you have to remember is you only include what you need. You do not need a complicated business plan especially if it will make it confusing for you. Keep it as simple as possible. So you will be able to follow it all the way through. It is not enough to have a great idea. You need to follow through with an outline and a plan. It is the backbone of the success of each company.

What does it take to convey your idea to financiers?

- How will you organize all that information? What you need is a clear outline and focus.

- First you must identify your audience. Who are your potential stakeholders.

- Rank them according to importance, but most importantly have a plan on how they affect your future business.

In terms of an effective and well accepted layout, the following is a good start.

Business Plan Layout

Executive Summary – Who are you and what are you planning to do?
List of managers, key people involved, roles and experience.

Company – Where is your company located and what’s your specialty?
Area located, physical, distribution etc.

Product or Service – what is your service and why is it better.
You need to provide greater value than currently in the market.

Market – Who are you distinctly selling your product to and why will they buy it?
Is it because of price, service, new technology?

Competition – Who is your competition in terms of product, pricing and placement strategy in and outside of your local area?
How do you differentiate from competition in order to maintain long-term staying power and drive customer choice.

Sales and Marketing – How, where, when and to who are you going to sell your product or service and what makes it special?

Operations – Who will be operating your company, managing and what systems will be in place?

Financial – How much money do you need to operate your company in the next 6 months to 5 years?, How will you spend it specifically?
Break it down into short and long term finances, fixed and non-fixed assets. Can you lease products?

Appendix -pertinent information, contracts, references, etc.

Business Growth Coaching Solutions @2005

As we have discussed, many formats can be used to develop your personal business plan. However you choose to present it, it is important to have a well structured plan that provides thorough information and research to your potential lenders, financiers, or partners. The following is the conclusion of a ten-segment business plan that can be used to help you better understand what your readers will be looking for. The first four sections included the executive summary, product or service description, market research, and marketing and advertising strategy.

5. Competition- The old saying, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” surely applies to the process of starting and running a company. In this section of your business plan, you may want to include a separate file for each competitor in your area. Include in each competitor’s file their location, revenues, date opened, and other such pieces of information. Is their company growing, declining, or stable? Your readers will be looking for evidence that your enterprise will be able to stand its ground in your local market. Include your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, and describe how you will approach these aspects. Also include a diagram of each competitor’s share of the market. This is also another good place to emphasize the differences between your product and your competitors’.

6. Operations- The operations section of your business plan should describe the logistical requirements of your business’ operation. Break this section down into segments addressing products and raw materials required, staffing, facilities, equipment, and production strategy. These are all pretty much clear-cut. Production strategy should include a description of how your product will be manufactured, as well as any potential problems that may arise, with solutions. Also include your company’s hours of operations in this section. Your lenders will be looking for what you have done so far to get your venture off the ground and that you have a thorough understanding of the manufacturing process.

7. Management- Here you will provide a complete profile of each member of your upper management team. Include duties and responsibilities of each position, as well as salaries and benefits. If any of the positions are already filled, include personal background information of each of these individuals.

8. Personnel- This section will describe employee information. Include amount of employees needed, as well as future projections. Detail a list of all positions required to operate your business. Describe what skills your employees will need to possess. Also include how you plan to pay these employees, such as hourly, salary, overtime, etc.

9. Financial Data- Here you will include all financial data pertaining to your business. If you are not financially acute, find someone who is to help you with this section of your business plan, as this section is crucial as to whether or not you will be considered for loans. Include a balance sheet, break-even analysis, income statement, and a cash-flow sheet.

10. Supporting Documents- This is where you will include any other documentation or research that has not already been included. It is basically an appendix of resumes, credit info, quotes and estimates, leases or buy/sell agreements, census/demographic data, and any other legal documents that are relevant to your business plan. It is also a good idea to include any credible references you may have.

Opening a business takes a lot of research and a lot of careful planning. In order to ensure that a new sports bar is going to produce profit margins there are considerations to be made. Easy to follow guidelines are available over the internet and in book stores that will aid in the creation of sports bar business plans.

Below are some items that you will want to be covered within any business plan to ensure that there is a detailed strategy that any owner can follow. These areas of information are important to the success of the business and the preparation for growth within the future of the business. There are many plans available to help guide the structure of the company and prepare for obstacles. Below is a proven method that has lead many other businesses to running successfully.

Executive Summary – the executive summary will give the detailed information pertaining to the background of the sports bar and will outline the initial growth that is perceived based on the first year’s numbers. This section will also include the outline, mission, objectives, and keys to success.

Company Summary – this section will be used as maintenance to sports bar business plans as it will include the information pertaining to company ownership, locations, and history of the company’s past performance.

Market Analysis Summary – in this section, the information provided within the past performances and location summaries would be represented in pie charts and/or graphs to show growth in income and success.

Strategy and Implementation Summary – as the company grows, there will be need to plan for future events within the company. This strategy section will help to provide information on marketing and sales to include pricing, promotions, projected sales and how to overcome any milestones that may be crossed.

Management Summary – within the sports bar there will be managers. Some of these will come and go and this information will need to be kept up to date. Information that needs to be included are:

Organizational structure Management team Management team gaps Personnel plan Personnel

Financial Plan – the financial plan is the last section of sports bar business plans. This information is pertinent to the successful growth and development of the sports bar. Many pieces of information should be included in this section to ensure that all areas have a plan for development.

Key areas to cover include:

Important assumptions Key financial indicators Break even analysis Projected profit and loss Projected cash flow Projected balance sheet Business ratios

Though the information that is covered in a plan such as the one illustrated above can be overwhelming and time consuming, it will benefit the company and help to reduce the amount of mistakes made that could prove damaging. Through proper coverage of all areas of successful sports bar business plans, growth of the business will be at a higher rate and prove more profitable. Maintaining this information will also benefit the stability of the company and allow for an easier transition into larger industry management.

Writing a full business plan is a ton of work no doubt. If you are a student it could take 6 months or more to make a full plan. If you aren’t seeking funding or don’t want to create that full on business plan then what options do you have? I still think you should create a plan, just because it will be incredibly beneficial for your business, but there is a shortened business plan that you can create that will give insights into the industry and business you are looking to run without the time investment of a full plan. This shortened plan is known by many as a preliminary venture analysis. (called a PVA for short) A PVA give you the info needed to create a fairly quick decision on whether or not your business is feasible or if you have a smaller decision that needs to be made such as whether or not a new product line should be launched. A PVA is most comparable to the executive summary part of a full business plan. The big difference between the two is that to make a PVA you will spend a lot less time gathering information and researching. This means it will not have the same depth as an executive summary.

A PVA is quite useful to show to various organizations and to circulate around. It is sort of like a paper version of the Elevator pitch and there are several companies you can send PVA’s too that review and circulate them so that you can hopefully find angel investors around the country. For business plan competitions with the right PVA’s you can show them off to receive reviews or even funding if its good enough. By making a mini business plan you are saving yourself the time and effort needed to make a full on business plan but still have something concrete and real to show.