WOW, so you’re thinking of starting a business. How exciting, and how scary at the same time. I’m hoping that your devotion to this objective is strong because in order to accomplish your goal, you have work to do. And no one else is going to do it for you.
There is good news, however. The hard work is the result of the many items that must be completed correctly combined with the fact that you probably don’t know much about what these steps are. After all, you are the best at what you do, but not at company building.
That’s why reaching out for help from those who do know what these steps are is the smartest thing you can do. After all, as well as you know your business after doing it for years or decades, so does the individual who can help you move towards success.
The most important aspect of this entire process of moving from idea to launch is to move slowly and break it all down to individual steps. The number of items that you need to consider will vary as a function of the particular business you are starting. Regardless of your specific business and industry, and how many or few items must be planned and completed, the old saying “by the inch, it’s a cinch” isn’t truer than in the startup business process.
As you are starting down the road to realizing your business, keep in mind that everything that you do is being done in the name of strong brand building. If you want a strong brand, then prepare strong foundational documents, contracts, and a strong team.
One of the first things you need to do is to be writing a business plan with every step you take. This business plan is initially going to be for a close group of your friends and others who want to join to help with this process. You might let everyone participate in the process to develop their sense of ownership in your business.
The better name for what I’m suggesting is an executive summary.
By its name, you can tell that this first easy draft of your ultimate business plan is really a “fly over” of what you foresee in terms of scope and direction. Don’t forget that ultimately, the business is yours. The groupthink that you may ask for from your early team is merely for suggestions only. Don’t let them turn your dreams into something that is ultimately not yours.
1.YOU NEED AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
An executive summary is typically a brief statement that summarizes your business idea, explaining your company’s purpose and why you believe that it will be successful in the modern market. You should add your mission statement, an outline of your products or services, and information about your management team, staff, and your location.
Your executive summary should be as detailed as you can produce at that time. It’s like putting together a painting that starts with the overall outline of the subjects, only to be filled in thereafter with details of shading, lighting, textures and colors.
As a friendly note, because you are at a very early stage of your launch process, you should have a very strong NDA (non-disclosure and confidentiality agreement) signed by everyone to whom you show your executive summary for the obvious reasons.
2. Description of Your Company
Your company description is an integral part of your executive summary. In this area of your business plan, you should explain your vision for your new company. In this section go further than just a brief outline if you value the feedback that you can get from your team members.
Add this information in order to make this section be of significant value to you after you receive some input:
- A detailed look at the problem your business solves.
- Detailed information about your company.
- Who is your ideal customer?
- What competitive advantages you have to ensure your success in your target market?
- is your market dominating position?
- e. Who are the expert members of your team? If you don’t have all of the positions filled in yet, then include a description of who would make an ideal candidate.
3. Analysis of Your Target Market
This is always critical to include in your executive summary. You can’t be serious about starting a new business if you don’t have a good idea of who might/will be interested in what you will be offering.
I would advise you to bring the detail of your target market down to specifics as much as possible. This is where your market research will be of great help. When writing a marketing plan sooner than later, you will need to have a good idea of your ideal customer so you can develop strategies to focus your marketing messages to that person
In this section, add some research into competitors to identify their strengths and weaknesses, identify industry trends, pricing, and what their proprietary advantage is, according to them. Here is where you can shine and show how you’ll set yourself apart from similar brands. This market research is essential for proving that your business idea can and will work in spite of competition. and helps identify your target customers.
4. Organization and Management
Even a simple business plan template will include a detailed section on organization and management. In your executive summary, provide some explanation of your company’s structure and who the management team will be.
If you know it yet, this could be a good time to describe your business’s legal structure, with which an experienced business lawyer can help. Let the reader know whether you’ll incorporate your company now or in the future. Are you thinking of an LLC or a corporation as your preferred form of ownership? What about moving forward as a sole proprietor, or a partnership?
I have found that when describing your organizational structure of your company, a visual aid tells your story much more clearly than a write up will accomplish. A chart that lays out your entire management structure, is good not only for a reader but also for you. It will encourage organization of your business in your mind. In each visual presentation, you might want to include a short summary of that individuals resume. I would also just put placeholders where you know there is a need, but you don’t have anyone specific in mind for that position yet.
5. Marketing and Sales Plans
All businesses need a section in their business plans that describes the company’s marketing plans! Without sales, you can’t operate. End of story.
Explain how you’ll attract customers to your company and how you’ll retain them over time, creating a loyal client list. Describe how a sale will happen, and the journey your target customer will go on to get to your door.
This could well be the single most important area of your executive summary and your full business plan as well. You must be cash-flow positive at the earliest possible time and it is here that the “rubber meets the road” to borrow a phrase that comes to mind.
Spend time on this section of your business plan! It will pay you back many times over.
6. Funding Requests
This section is exceedingly important. But if you haven’t completed your budget yet, you won’t be able to adequately understand how much money you will need and when. Additionally, if you don’t have your current balance sheet and income statements prepared, trying to decide on the value of your company as it relates to what investors will get for their investments will be nothing more than just a guess.
Additionally, every fundraising effort will need to be prepared by a knowledgeable individual in order to remain in full compliance with all applicable securities laws. And almost every set of offering documents will require the financial statements of the company to be included.
Please do not go forward with any attempts to raise money without talking to a securities attorney is my recommendation.
7. Financial Plan and Projections
While you might not have balance sheets or a statement of cash flows yet as a startup, it’s a good idea to include some projection regarding your finances. Here, you should apply your reasonable expectations as you prepare these projections. You might put together a bit of an explanation of the justification of each number in your forecasts.
Often business plans add a 5-year projection of the state of their company. Add income statements that you can forecast, capital expenditure budgets, and any other financial information you have the tools to predict (such as balance sheets).
Be very specific in your first-year projections and aim to create quarterly predictions, clearly explaining how they’ve been calculated.
8. Appendix
I believe that it is always wise to add an appendix at the end of your plan. In this section, add any additional and explanatory documentation. This could include product pictures, industry data, legal documents, information on your competition, lists of intellectual property owned by the company and other important and necessary information.
9. Use a Startup Business Plan Template
Recognize that you are a startup and that you probably won’t have much of the information for a more complete executive summary or certainly a business plan. Because of this, your use of a standard business plan template will only depress you with question after question that you have no answer to yet.
If you want to do the best job possible at this important task, I suggest that you look for a business plan template online that is specifically developed for startup businesses. Emphasize that which you know and do not try to include anything about which you know nothing yet!
TO WHOM DO YOU SHOW THIS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY?
First make sure that your summary no matter how complete or in need of more information, is professional, logically laid out, printed on good paper, prepared for a digital presentation to others. This is your brand!
This will let the reader get a glimpse into what your value proposition will be as you start your business. Little things like poor spelling, poor grammar, sloppy margins, and anything else that indicates a lack of attention to detail will speak volumes about how you will deal with your own business when operating.
Make sure that the finished summary has separate sections for all of the information included. This is where it might be appropriate to have a professional graphic designer lay it out for you. I know that this involves spending money, but some expenses pay big dividends, and this may well be one.
HELP GET YOUR BUSINESS OFF TO A GOOD START
Writing a business plan or your executive summary is a great start and will be a big task to tick off your to-do list! But there’s a lot more involved in setting up a company and doing it on your own can be overwhelming.
Our lawyers at Replin Law Group, experienced and focused startup and business attorneys are here to help you with every aspect of your new and exciting business!
Our experienced lawyers can help advise you on how best to set up your business and deal with any legal complications that might arise. When setting up your company, we’re a great team to have on your side! Let’s start building your company and brand together.
From idea to business launch in 30 days or less! A “DONE-FOR-YOU” startup program. Call us for more information about how we can get you ready to do business, and fast!
Stephen D. Replin, Esq.
The Replin Law Group LLC.
sreplin@gmail.com
replinlawgroup.com
