Business Plan Financial Overview

Running head: BUSINESS PLAN NAME
Business Plan Name
Student Name
Kaplan University
AB209: Small Business Management
Instructor Name
Month Date, Year
Project Deliverables Checklist: (All units)
Place a checkmark here as a reminder that you have completed
this particular section of your descriptive business plan!
___Unit 1 (None)
___Unit 2 (Business Description, Vision Statement, Mission,
and Motivation Statements)
___Unit 3 (Description of Products or Services)
___Unit 4 (Marketing Plan)
___Unit 5 (None)
___Unit 6 (Operational Plan)
___Unit 7 (Management and Organizational Plan)
___Unit 8 (Financial Plan) (Descriptive)

___Unit 9 (Executive Summary)
___Unit 10 (None)
Executive Summary (Unit 9)
(This portion of your mini-business plan should contain a brief
overview of everything in your plan. This brief overview
should contain an explanation of your product/service line, the
market you will serve, and a brief summary of your financial
goals. This should be completed in Unit 9.)
Business Description (Unit 2)
(This section of the plan should include what the business will
do, what products or services it will produce or deliver to the
customer. This should be specific.)
Vision Statement (Unit 2)
(This section of the plan should be a statement of what you
visualize the business to be at some definite point in the future
based on present realities.)
Mission Statement (Unit 2)
(This section of the plan should represent a succinct statement
detailing the reason(s) for the business’ existence and the
guiding principles of the business.)
Personal Motivation (Unit 2)
Starting a new business involves making many decisions! Since
it is critical that the entrepreneur make good decisions, it is a
good practice to approach decision making in a consistent and
orderly way. Your text authors discuss the basic five-step
decision-making process on pages 609-610 as it applies to risk

management. At this initial stage of examining your motivation,
you can also apply these steps to your own decisions. These are:
(1) Identify the issue or problem; (2) Evaluate the alternatives;
(3) Select an acceptable alternative; (4) Implement the decision;
and (5) Review and evaluate the decision made. In this section,
you should briefly discuss your motivations for wanting to own
and operate your own business and how you could use each of
these decision steps in your own planning process.
Description of Products or Services (Unit 3)
(This section of the plan should describe how your proposed
product or service fills a gap in the marketplace or how your
product or service will be “better” than those already existing in
the marketplace. It should include any innovative features of
your product or services that would distinguish your venture
including any patent or copyright protections possessed by the
venture as well as any growth strategies for your product or
services and if relevant, any secondary markets the business
will pursue.)
Marketing Plan: Market Analysis (Unit 4)
(This section of the plan should contain a customer profile for
each identified potential target market customer based upon
secondary research for this assignment. Ideally, it should also
be based upon primary research as well. It should outline and
describe what kind of potential customer the business seeks to
reach. It should include customer demographics like age,
geographical areas, ethnicity, religion, culture, income levels,
gender, IF these are relevant to your product or service. It likely
will contain some general things you would most likely want to
know such as the purchasing power of this group (how much
disposable income); their dominant family status (families,
singles); their age ranges; and their leisure habits.)?

(The Market Analysis should also outline and describe principal
rivals for each target market customer group. Be sure to also
include indirect competitors as well as direct competitors.)
Marketing Plan: Marketing Strategy (Unit 4)
(This section of the plan should describe how you propose to
reach the target customer. Will you use a single segmented,
multi-segmented, or non-segmented strategy? Explain how you
will promote the product or service to the target customer.
Explain your proposed pricing strategy and why. Explain your
distribution strategy; how you will deliver your product or
service to the customer.)
(Note: In a “live” business plan, you would also include a
section here containing cost estimates to advertise or promote
your product or service).
Operational Plan (Unit 6)
(This section of the plan should contain:
1. Information about your products or services including how
and where your products or services are produced, production
techniques, quality control, customer service, inventory control,
and product development;
2. Information about your proposed business location including
any location requirements such as space, type of building,
zoning, power, and other utilities, access, parking, etc.,
estimated total location expenses, business hours, any major
required building alteration;
3. Information about your proposed venture’s legal and
regulatory environment including any licenses required, any
health, workplace, or environmental regulations affecting the
business, any special professional requirements, zoning or

building code requirements, insurance coverage, and any
trademarks, patents, or copyrights held or required;
4. Information about proposed personnel including the number
of employees (excluding management), type of labor, source of
this labor, pay structure, required training, and any possible use
of contract workers;
5. If Applicable, information about the inventory including the
type of inventory (raw or finished goods), any seasonable
impacts, and ordering lead times;
6. Information about key suppliers including a listing and
discussion of key suppliers, their credit policies, history of
reliability, need for backup suppliers, any expected delivery
problems, and any anticipated increases in supply costs; and
7. Information about your proposed venture’s credit policies
including any plans to sell on credit, needs to sell on credit,
credit policies, credit limits, credit terms, any discounts, and
cost estimates of the use of credit.)
Management and Organization Plan (Unit7)
(This section of the plan should contain information about who
will manage the business on a day-to-day basis. This should
include the experience and special competences that each key
individual brings to the business. You should also disclose any
outside professional advisors such as boards of directors,
advisory boards, attorneys, accountants, insurance agents,
bankers, consultants, mentors, or other advisors who will be
assisting the new venture.)
Financial Plan (Unit 8)
A key part of your Business Plan is the Pro Forma Financial
Statements! This sub-section will provide the following

documentation: An estimated 12-month profit and loss
projection; a pro forma balance sheet; and a pro forma income
statement. In order to accurately make these critical estimates,
it is necessary to conduct primary and secondary research into
the particular market and venture. The goodness of the business
plan rests upon the accuracy of these financial estimates.
While this course examines these financial elements, you will
notcreate these pro forma (forward looking) financial statements
in this descriptive business plan. Instead, you will focus on two
other important sub-sections; the Start-Up Expenses Sub-
Section and the Capitalization Sub-Section.
The Start-up Expenses sub-section of the Descriptive Business
Plan should include a discussion of the following elements:
1. A discussion of the applicable expenses to start the new
business. These could include some (or all) of the following:
costs of sales, professional fees, technology costs,
administrative costs, sales and marketing costs, wages and
benefits. Explain how each of these would impact your
particular venture.
2. A discussion of any contingency percentage to cover any
under estimation along with your rationale for this percentage
The Capitalization sub-section of the Project Template should
include a discussion of the following elements:
1. The sources of all loans (existing or proposed) including
amounts, terms, and collateral.
2. The names and amounts contributed by each investor in the
business including the percentage of ownership of each
investor.

References (Separate Page)
All citations in your text above need to also be in your
references here in APA format. Include no references if you
have not also cited them above.
Appendix (Separate page at end of document, if necessary)
(An appendix would be used in a business plan to contain large
or lengthy elements that would make reading the body of your
plan cumbersome. It would also contain associated elements
like figures, charts, drawings, photographs, etc.)
Running Head: Mod 1 Case
1
Mod 1 Case
2
Quantitative Reasoning Mod1 Case
William Gates
TUI
Dr. Shantel Anderson
Assignment
Being able to read and understand research studies requires
quantitative reasoning. The purpose of this assignment is to
help you get accustomed to identifying the various parts of a
research study. Be sure to review the module homepage and
background information before you begin any of the
assignments in this course.
In general, the best way to approach the assignment is to read
the article through rather rapidly in order to get an impression
of its general content; then read it more slowly and make
appropriate notes so you can complete the assignment as

directed below.
Review the instructions and the ASSIGNMENT
EXPECTATIONS below, and then read this research article,
retrieved from Proquest:
Van Voorhees, Benjamin W, MD, MPH, Gollan, J., PhD., &
Fogel, J., PhD. (2012). Pilot study of internet-based early
intervention for combat-related mental distress. Journal of
Rehabilitation Research and Development, 49(8), 1175-90.
Retrieved from Proquest.
Your task is to identify and summarize the main points of the
research study according to the directions below. This is
different than a typical essay. Read the whole assignment and
ALL instructiions before beginning your paper.
Organize your paper using these headings, in this order. Your
paper should look like the following list/outline, with these
same subheadings listed in the same order. Just provide the
information for each section.
I already know that the authors of the article can identify their
purpose, hypothesis, etc. so you will not earn credit for copying
the information from the article. Show me what you understand
after reading the article. Explain each section very briefly so I
can see what you learned from reading the article. Your
summary of each section must be written in your own words. Do
not copy or simply paraphrase.
Reference: This should be so accurate that the reader can go
directly from your abstract to the original article. Give a
complete APA style reference. (Hint: the reference above is in
APA style, so your reference should like like that)
Purpose of the study: Sometimes the purpose is stated as an
aim, an objective, or a goal. At other times, it is incorporated in
a statement of a problem, leaving the reader to infer the purpose

has a stated problem, a purpose, or both. If the purpose is
inferred, you may state it in your own words.
Participants: The term “participant” refers to the sample
studied. Under this heading, you should include a description of
ages, sexes, socio-economic status, school grade, mental level,
number, and/or any other demographic characteristics given in
the article to describe the particular sample used in the study.
Type of Study: Was it a quantitative or a qualitative study? Or
were both types of data used? Please explain why you think so.
Hypothesis: What is the hypothesis of the study? If the
hypothesis is inferred, you may state it in your own words.
Procedure: Sometimes the procedure is referred to as the
“method” and includes a description of control techniques,
measuring devices, materials used and ways of proceeding, in
attempting to achieve the purpose or purposes of the study.
Statistical Tests: Identify the statistical tests used in the article;
examples might be chi square (x2), t-test, f-test, Mann-Whitney,
etc.
Results or Findings: What actual data was reported by the
author of the study? Explain the results -- don't just copy them.
Conclusions: What does the author of the research article
believe the results or findings mean?
Critique: In each of the previous sections, you have been
reporting what the article said. Now, I want you to think
critically about what you've learned, and give me your own
thoughts. Briefly describe your reaction to the article. For
example, was it well-organized? Easy or difficult to understand
(please explain why)? Did it present diverse perspectives about
the topic? Don't limit yourself to just these questions -- be
reflective about what you read.

Reference:
The article investigates an early intervention based on the
internet that combines online cognitive-behavioral therapy with
electronic peer-to-peer support for the sake of promoting mental
well-being and health among soldier veterans. The researchers
carried out the first phase clinical trial, which involved 50
Afghanistan and Iraq veterans, through the use of pre and post
single-arm design. From here, they measured both the
feasibility as well as changes in the symptoms of mental health
such as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, attitudes
towards seeking of treatment at weeks 12, 8, 4 and at baseline
and functional status. The veterans enrolled came from a
diverse group. 66 percent had an income less than $30000 per
year, 90 percent were male, 88 percent had been treated for
depression before and 26% were from an ethnic minority.
Respondents completed an average of 4 of 6 lessons. The results
showed that the depression score and posttraumatic stress
disorder declined from baseline to week twelve. On the other
hand, the willingness of the respondents to accept diagnosis
improved significantly. The limitation in this research was the
lack of control group. However, it was clear that the Internet-
based program that combines CBT-based coping skills training
with peer-to-peer support showed potential feasibility (Van
Voorhees, et al., 2012).
Purpose of the study:
The article investigates an early intervention based on the
internet that combines online cognitive-behavioral therapy with
electronic peer-to-peer support for the sake of promoting mental
well-being and health among soldier veterans.
Participants:
The researchers carried out the first phase clinical trial, which
involved 50 Afghanistan and Iraq veterans, through the use of
pre and post single-arm design. From here, they measured both
the feasibility as well as changes in the symptoms of mental

health such as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression,
attitudes towards seeking of treatment at weeks 12, 8, 4 and at
baseline and functional status. The veterans enrolled came from
a diverse group. 66 percent had an income less than $30000 per
year, 90 percent were male, 88 percent had been treated for
depression before and 26% were from an ethnic minority (Van
Voorhees, et al., 2012).
Type of Study:
The type of study used in this research was quantitative. This is
because quantitative data was collected through the use of self-
report questionnaires filled at baseline as well as weeks 4, 8 and
12. The utilization of the intervention Website was monitored.
This was done by recording the time that each participant spent
on the internet, the number of characters he or she typed, and
the number of logins. The electronic information that the
participants sent or received was also recorded. The
communications were monitored to assess the social workers’
and peers’ adherence to program (Van Voorhees, et al., 2012).
Hypothesis:
The hypothesis of the study is that early intervention based on
the internet that combines online cognitive-behavioral therapy
with electronic peer-to-peer promotes mental well-being and
health among soldier veterans.
Procedure:
The demographic characteristics were obtained by asking the
participants to give their sex, current age, branch of service and
race/ethnicity. The years of education as well as the highest
educational level achieved were used to show the
socioeconomic status.
Feasibility was assessed by measuring the adherence to
program, socio-cultural relevance of the program and
satisfaction with the program. Adherence was evaluated through
the use of the number of completed learning lessons, chats and
the total number of characters that the participants typed in the

chats (Van Voorhees, et al., 2012).
Symptoms were measured using three widely accepted
instruments with established reliability and validity. These are
the general distress and depressed mood, PTSD symptoms as
well as functional status. Last, a 12- Item Short Form Health
Survey was used to measure functional status. The mental and
physical components of the instrument were taken at baseline as
well as weeks 4, 8 and 12.
Statistical Tests:
The study used paired t-tests in comparing the continuous
measures. In addition, McNemar test was used for the
categorical measures.
Results or Findings:
The results showed that the depression score and posttraumatic
stress disorder declined from baseline to week twelve. On the
other hand, the willingness of the respondents to accept
diagnosis improved significantly.
Conclusions:
From it was clear that the Internet-based program that combines
CBT-based coping skills training with peer-to-peer support
showed potential feasibility.
Critique:
Despite the fact that the article is well organized, and the
research was well conducted, it has a single limitation, which
involves the lack of control group.
Reference:
Van Voorhees, Benjamin W, MD, MPH, Gollan, J.,
PhD.,&Fogel, J., PhD. (2012). Pilot study of
internet-based early intervention for combat-related mental
distress. Journal of
Rehabilitation Research and Development, 49(8), 1175-90.

Retrieved from Proquest.
To access articles in the Library for this class and others, please
refer to the instructions on the Syllabus and in Case 1.
Read ALL of the directions below carefully before you begin
your paper. You are not writing a typical report-style essay for
this assignment.
Review a description and sample of an APA style annotated
bibliography. Save this link because you will be asked to write
more annotated bibliographies in future modules.
1. Begin with an introduction that tells me what the hypothesis
you developed for the Module 1 SLP is. If you received
feedback asking you to improve it, please use the improved
version.
2. Use ProQuest or Ebsco to search for 3 articles related to the
area of interest you chose in the Module 1 SLP. They must be
articles that would help you answer your research question. In
other words, they have to be related to what you are trying
to find out, as if you were a researcher investigating this topic.
The articles must be from scholarly journals. They must be no
more than 5 years old. Save the articles because you will use
them in other assignments. Review the Background Information
in this module regarding how to conduct a literature review.
3. Write an annotated bibliography for each article (not an
essay). Before you begin, please review a description and
sample of an APA style annotated bibliography
at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/03/Save this
link because you will be asked to write more annotated
bibliographies in future modules.
ASSIGNMENT EXPECTATIONS: Please read before
completing the assignment.
· Copy the actual assignment from this page onto the cover page
of your paper (do this for all papers in all courses).
· Assignment should be approximately 2 pages in length
(double-spaced).

· Please use major sections corresponding to the major points of
the assignment, and where appropriate use sub-sections (with
headings).
· Remember to write in a Scientific manner (try to avoid using
the first person except when describing a relevant personal
experience).
· Quoted material should not exceed 10% of the total paper
(since the focus of these assignments is on independent thinking
and critical analysis). Use your own words and build on the
ideas of others.
· When material is copied verbatim from external sources, it
MUST be properly cited. This means that material copied
verbatim must be enclosed in quotes and the reference should be
cited either within the text or with a footnote.
· Use of peer-reviewed articles is required. Websites as
references should be minimal and must meet guidelines noted
above.
· Cite all references in APA style.
To access articles in the Library for this class and others, please
refer to the instructions on the Syllabus and in Case 1.
For this assignment, you will use one of the scholarly research
articles you chose for the SLP in this module.
Look at the subheadings below and make sure you choose an
article that will have enough information to complete the
assignment. You will not earn points by stating that the article
did not include all of the information required to answer each
part of the assignment. It is your responsibility to find an article
that does contain the information.
Note: This assignment asks for more information than you
provided in the previous module, so please be sure to read the
instructions.
Before you begin writing, review the subheadings again and
make sure the article you chose has all of the information
needed to complete the assignment. If it does not, you should

search again for a suitable article. If you are unsure of how to
proceed, please ask for clarification before you start your paper.
Write a 2-page summary of the article, using the exact same
subheadings listed below, in the exact same order, and
following the instructions below. You only have to write a
couple of sentences under each subheading.
Your summary must be written in your own words. I already
know that the authors of the article can identify their purpose,
hypothesis, etc. so copying the information from the article will
not show me what you understand. Do not copy/paste or simply
paraphrase. Explain each section to me so I can see what you
learned from reading the article.
The purpose of this assignment is to show that you can identify
these sections of a research article. This is an exercise in
critical thinking -- it is never ok to simply copy or paraphrase
the article's abstract.
Introduction: Write a couple of sentences to introduce the topic
you chose.
Reference: This should be so accurate that the reader can go
directly from the abstract to the original article. Give a
complete APA style reference.
Kind of research: Identify the kind of research, i.e.,
experimental, quasi-experimental, observational (descriptive,
case study, historical, etc.). Although the article may not be a
clear example of one of these, it can usually be classified under
one of these.
Purpose: Sometimes the purpose is stated as an aim, an
objective, or a goal. At other times, it is incorporated in a
statement of a problem, leaving the reader to infer the purpose
has a stated problem, a purpose, or both. In case the purpose is
inferred, you may state it in your own words.
Design: If the article is an experimental or quasi-experimental
research, it is usually possible to identify the design of the
study. Descriptive and historical research articles may or may
not have a design that can be categorized. Try to identify the
design for each article. Comment if you are unable to determine

the design, and explain why.
Participants: The term “participant” refers to the sample
studied. Under this heading you should include a description of
ages, sexes, socio-economic status, school grade, mental level,
number, and/or any other demographic characteristics given in
the article to describe the particular sample used in the study.
Procedure: Sometimes the procedure is referred to as the
“method” and includes a description of control techniques,
measuring devices, materials used and ways of proceeding, in
attempting to achieve the purpose or purposes of the study. Are
measures of validity and reliability reported by the author? If
so, what measures were used? When such are not reported it
should be so stated.
Variables: Identify the variables in the study. Identify the
independent and dependent variables. The independent variables
are usually the cause, stimulus, antecedent treatment or the
identified groups (males-females; young couples, middle aged
couples, mature couples; Baptist, Catholics, Methodists,
Mormans; upper class, middle class, lower class; etc.) whereas
the dependent variable is usually the effect, response, or
consequence.
Level of Measurement (data): Although this is often unclear,
you should try to identify the level of measurement such as
nominal, ordinal, interval, and/or ratio.
Instrumentation: The names of the instruments (if any) used in
the study should be listed. This would include such things as:
The Maryland Parent Attitude Survey (MPAS), the Locke-
Wallas Marital Adjustment Test (MAT), the Taylor-Johnson
Temperament Test (TJTT), or other tests named in the article.
Sample: Sample refers to whether the sample(s) is related
(dependent) or non-related (independent). Related sample
usually means that the different scores represent the same
individuals or logically connected individuals (spouses,
daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, etc.) whereas independent
samples refer to different groups.
Sampling Technique: Sampling technique refers to such things

as random sampling, cluster sampling, selected sampling,
stratified sampling, time sampling, volunteers, solicited,
snowball sampling, intact groups, etc.
Statistical Tests: List the statistical tests used in the article;
examples might be chi square (x2), t-test, f-test, Mann-Whitney,
etc.
Results or Findings: These should be confined to actual data
reported by the author.
Conclusions: Conclusions are the generalizations that the author
believes the results or findings justify. These should be
expressed in the language of the author.
Critique: Up until now, you have been telling me about what the
authors of the article described. In this part of the paper, please
give your own opinion about the study (not about the topic, but
about the way the study was done). Please comment on the
study’s strengths and any possible weaknesses or limitations.
ASSIGNMENT EXPECTATIONS: Please read before
completing assignments.
· Copy the actual assignment from this page onto the cover page
of your paper (do this for all papers in all courses).
· Assignment should be 1 - 2 pages in length (double-spaced).
You are not restricted to a certain number of words, as you
would be if you were preparing an abstract for publication.
· Please use major sections corresponding to the major points of
the assignment, and where appropriate use sub-sections (with
headings).
· Remember to write in a scientific manner (try to avoid using
the first person except when describing a relevant personal
experience).
· Quoted material should not exceed 10% of the total paper
(since the focus of these assignments is on independent thinking
and critical analysis). Use your own words and build on the
ideas of others.
· When material is copied verbatim from external sources, it
MUST be properly cited. This means that material copied

verbatim must be enclosed in quotes and the reference should be
cited either within the text or with a footnote.
· Use of peer-reviewed articles is required. Websites as
references are not acceptable for this assignment.

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