THE COMPANY BUSINESS PLAN
The business plan (along with the e-commerce website and annual report) is one of the three essential components of the virtual business experience. It is the point in which the students take their idea and flesh it out. The practical purpose of the business plan is for the students to organize their idea, give a greater understanding of how the business will function and challenges the business will face. In addition, the plan has a competitive component, if teams that wish to move into the arena with their business plan, they will need to prepare a written plan for regional competitions. The business plan can be an overwhelming task for students (and teachers) and is usually developed by the company leadership team early in the early fall and should be completed by early November. I will be breaking the plan down into the planning, writing and presentation phases.
Planning Your Business
Whats the Problem?
One of the key elements of a successful business is solving a problem that exists in the world. You need to start with this and make sure your business is solving a problem that has value to the customer. Watch this video by clicking the image below.
Lean Plan
A lean plan is a good place for your business plan team to start. It is essentially a 1-page business plan. A lean plan can be done very quickly. Canvanizer & LeanStack are free tools for your business idea and asks essential questions as you go through the process.
Writing Your Business Plan
Following the planning phase, it is time to start digging into your full company business plan. The traditional business plan has standard sections that are required and should be included in all plans. They include; the Executive Summary, Business Rationale, About the Business, External Environment, Marketing Plan and Financial Planning. I have dedicated a whole section to the marketing plan so the details for that section will be covered in that section.
How to write a B-Plan
There are several good resources online to help you as you start writing your business plan. For students, who typically have no experience in this areas is it good to give them a foundation and Bplans is a good place to start as they have a comprehensive library of resources and a good articles to help students. Click the image below and watch the introduction video.
About the Business
Coming Soon - This area is in the process of being developed and will be completed shortly
Executive Summary
A 1-4 page overview of the business plan that includes important details such as the mission, products/services, company goals, business rationale, & financial highlights. This section should outline where your company is, where you want to go & highlight the strengths of the plan. This actually should be written at the end of this process. This article is a good guide for students. Click on the image below and watch a video about writing an executive summary. See examples of Executive Summaries at this link
External Environment
Coming Soon - This area is in the process of being developed and will be completed shortly
Business Rationale
Customer Empathy: A summary of your understanding of your customers’ needs or frustrations and how it translates to your approach for your business. Problem Statement: Provide the reader with a summary of the problem your business is trying to solve and its root causes and associated emotions. Ideal State: A brief statement that describes how your product or service addresses the problem statement you identified. Company Goals: Indicate the goals and objectives of your business. Identify strategies to achieve each goal. See Value Proposition above.
Financial Planning
There are 3 main areas that should be covered in the financial highlights of the business plan. For the Executive Summary, you will need the Breakeven Analysis, Profit/Loss Projections for the year, and the Income Statement and Balance Sheet as of the end of the last month before the plan is submitted. In addition, you will need projected sales through the end of the year
Student Written Business Plan Samples
STATE QUARTERFINALS 2018
CENTURY HIGH • CALIFORNIA
FIRST PLACE 2018 NATIONALS
BAKERSFIELD HIGH • CALIFORNIA
SECOND PLACE 2018 NATIONALS
MURRIETA VALLEY HIGH * CALIFORNIA
THIRD PLACE 2018 NATIONALS
FRANCIS LEWIS HIGH * NEW YORK
FOURTH PLACE 2018 NATIONALS
GREER HIGH * SOUTH CAROLINA
Presenting Your Business Plan
Coming Soon - This area is in the process of being developed.