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Small
Business plan
A
business plan can provide the owner-manager or prospective owner-manager
of a small manufacturing firm with a pathway to profit. This publication
is designed to help an owner-manager in drawing up a business
plan.
In building a pathway to profit you need to consider the following
questions: What business am I in? What goods do I sell? Where
is my market? Who will buy? Who is my competition? What is my
sales strategy? What merchandising methods will I use? How much
money is needed to operate my company? How will I get the work
done? What management controls are needed? How can they be carried
out? When should I revise my plan? Where can I go for help?
No one can answer such questions for you. As the owner-manager
you have to answer them and draw up your business plan. The pages
of this publication are a combination of text and workspaces so
you can write in the information you gather in developing your
business plan-a logical progression from a common sense starting
point to a common sense ending point.
A
Note on Using this Publication
It takes time and energy and patience to draw up a satisfactory
business plan. Use this publication to get your ideas and the
supporting facts down on paper. And, above all, make changes in
your plan on these pages as that plan unfolds and you see the
need for changes.
Bear in mind that anything you leave out of the picture will create
an additional cost, or drain on your money, when it unexpectedly
crops up later on. If you leave out or ignore enough items, your
business is headed for disaster.
Keep in mind, too, that your final goal is to put your plan into
action. More will be said about this step near the end of this
publication.
What's in this for Me?
Time was when an individual could start a small business and prosper
provided you were strong enough to work long hours and had the
knack for selling more than the raw materials or product cost.
Small stores, grist mills, livery stables, and blacksmith shops
sprang up in many crossroad communities as Canadians applied their
energy and native intelligence to settling the continent. Today
this native intelligence is still important. But by itself the
common sense for which Canadians are famous will not insure success
in a small business. Technology, the marketplace, and even people
themselves have become more complicated than they were 100, or
even 25, years ago.
Common sense must be combined with new techniques in order to
succeed in the space age. Just as one would not think of launching
a manned space capsule without a flight plan, so one should not
think of launching a new small manufacturing business without
a business plan.
A business plan is an exciting tool that you can use to plot a
"course" for your company. Such a plan is a logical
progression from a common sense starting point to a common sense
ending point.
To build a business plan for your company, an owner-manager needs
only to think and react as a manager to questions such as: What
product is to be manufactured? How can it best be made? What will
it cost me? Who will buy the product? What profit can I make?
Why Am I in Business?
If you are like most business people, you're in business to make
money and to be your own boss. But, few business people would
be able to say that those are the only reasons. The money that
you will make from your business will seldom seem like enough
for all the long hours, hard work, and responsibility that go
along with being the boss.
Then, why do so many stay in business?
This is hardly the time for philosophy. If you're starting or
expanding a business, you have enough to think about. But, whether
or not you even think about it, the way you operate your business
will reflect your "business philosophy."
Consider this. An owner-manager inspects a production run and
finds a minor defect. Even though in nine out of ten cases the
user of the product would not notice the defect, the owner decides
to scrap the entire run.
What does this tell you? It shows that he (or she) gets an important
reward from doing what is the right thing - in this case, providing
a quality product.
The purpose of this section is not to play down the importance
of making a profit. Profits are important.
They will keep your business going and attract additional capital
into your business. But you should be aware that there are other
rewards and responsibilities associated with having your own business.
In your planning, you might give some thought to your responsibilities
to employees, community, stockholders, customers, product, and
profit. Jot these down. Later when you've lined up your management
team, discuss this subject with them. This type of group thinking
will help everyone, including yourself understand the basic purposes
for each day's work.
Even though you may not advertise it through your market, the
way you operate your business will reflect your business philosophy.
When you write a letter, you are trying to convince someone to
act or react in a positive way. Your reader will respond quickly
only if your meaning is crystal clear.
Put yourself in the reader's shoes and write in a friendly and
helpful tone. Don't represent your company as one that cannot
make a mistake and must always be in the right. Try not to reply
in the normal bland and defensive way of organizations-write a
sincere and helpful letter.
Show you are interested in the reader's circumstances. If he or
she has mentioned something personal in the letter, refer to it
in your reply. This builds a bridge between you and the reader.
Read the original letter carefully and see if there is something
you can put in your letter to show your interest.
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FactSheet
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