Creating Business Plans
Get up to speed fast on essential business skills. Whether you’re looking for a crash course or a brief refresher, you’ll find just what you need in HBR’s 20-Minute Manager series—foundational reading for ambitious professionals and aspiring executives. Each book is a concise, practical primer, so you’ll have time to brush up on a variety of key management topics.
Advice you can quickly read and apply, from the most trusted source in business.
Titles include:
Creating Business Plans
http://hbr.org/product/creating-business-plans-20-minute-manager-series/an/16998-PBK-ENG
Delegating Work
http://hbr.org/product/delegating-work-20-minute-manager-series/an/16999-PBK-ENG
Finance Basics
http://hbr.org/product/finance-basics-20-minute-manager-series/an/16864-PBK-ENG
Managing Projects
http://hbr.org/product/managing-projects-20-minute-manager-series/an/16862-PBK-ENG
Managing Time
http://hbr.org/product/managing-time-20-minute-manager-series/an/17001-PBK-ENG
Managing Up
http://hbr.org/product/managing-up-20-minute-manager-series/an/16863-PBK-ENG
Presentations
http://hbr.org/product/presentations-20-minute-manager-series/an/16865-PBK-ENG
Running Meetings
http://hbr.org/product/running-meetings-20-minute-manager-series/an/17003-PBK-ENG
Creating Business Plans
Gather your resources
Describe the opportunity
Get buy-in
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW PRESS
Boston, Massachusetts
HBR Press Quantity Sales Discounts
Harvard Business Review Press titles are available at significant quantity discounts when purchased in bulk for client gifts, sales promotions, and premiums. Special editions, including books with corporate logos, customized covers, and letters from the company or CEO printed in the front matter, as well as excerpts of existing books, can also be created in large quantities for special needs.
For details and discount information for both print and ebook formats, contact [email protected], tel. 800-988-0886, or www.hbr.org/bulksales.
Copyright 2014 Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to [email protected], or mailed to Permissions, Harvard Business School Publishing, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02163.
The web addresses referenced in this book were live and correct at the time of the book’s publication but may be subject to change.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Creating business plans.
pages cm. — (20-minute manager series)
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-62527-222-5
1. Business planning.
HD30.28.C7325 2014
658.4′01—dc23
2014000382
eISBN: 978-1-62527-227-0
Preview
Writing a business plan is an important first step in starting any new venture. Your goal is to provide a detailed description of your new product or service and a concrete strategy for making it a success, while also conveying a hearty dose of enthusiasm that inspires investors and other supporters to want to be involved with your project. This book walks you through the basics:
• Articulating your business idea
• Communicating your goals
• Analyzing the industry
• Introducing your management team
• Distinguishing your business from rivals
• Developing a compelling marketing plan
• Describing your business’s daily activities
• Providing sound financial projections
• Anticipating potential stumbling blocks
Contents
Why Write a Business Plan?
Getting started
The structure of a business plan
Describing the Opportunity
Presenting your idea
Executive summary
Business description
Analyzing the business environment
Industry background
Competitive analysis
Market analysis
Introducing Your Management Team
Highlighting qualifications
Presenting the team as a unit
Bringing Your Product to Market
Operations plan: Articulating day-to-day business
Marketing plan: Promoting your value proposition
Projecting Financial Risk and Reward
Preparing your financial plan