The IESBDC has prepare a comprehensive Business Plan Development guide to help you create the plan for your business' success.

1. Developing a Business Plan
for Success
Inland Empire
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
Inland Empire
Small Business Development Center
Robert Usher, Business Consultant
rusher@iesmallbusiness.com
(951) 235-0669

2. Business Plans
• Why do a Business Plan? (4 reasons)
• Lack of planning often leads to a business failing
• Ten (10) or fewer written pages plus financials and
supporting documents
• Clear; organized; grammatically correct; based on facts;
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
• Clear; organized; grammatically correct; based on facts;
and backed up by facts
• Keep growth projections realistic
• Two ways of writing a Business Plan
• Don’t answer sections if they don’t apply to what
you are doing (R&D, Product / Service)
• Sample plans: www.bplans.com

3. Anatomy of a Business Plan
• Cover Sheet
• Table of Contents
• Executive Summary
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T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
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• Business Development
• Organization Plan
• Marketing Plan
• Financial Plan / Assumptions
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• Appendix

4. Business Development
• Industry analysis – total size? your subsegment?
trade group data? trends of industry?(www.naics.com)
• Legal form of organization (include documents)
• Product / Service offered
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
• Product / Service offered
• Insurances, business licenses / permits,
regulatory requirements, zoning issues / CUPs
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• Description of location / advantages offered
• Building description, condition, renovation needed
• Terms of lease

5. Organization Plan
• Owners
• Key managers
• Employees
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
• For each of these:
– Duties and responsibilities
– Qualifications and experience
• Why are they the right people to run this business?
• Outside resources: attorney / accountant /
insurance agent / consultant

6. 1. Define the product/service
2. Consider wants/needs the product/service can
satisfy
3. Identify market segments
Marketing
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
4. Rank the segments
5. Choose initial segments to target (how many?)
6. Define how (specifically) you are going to get your
message in front of these segments?
7. Estimate how many customers you will have (will
lead to the Revenue line item in your FPs)
8. Make sure you factor in Competitors / Geography

7. 1. Do you have a formal Marketing Plan?
2. If so, are you using it or is it on a shelf gathering dust?
3. Or is it in your head? (ties into giving up some control)
4. What are your existing revenue streams?
Marketing – Some additional thoughts
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
4. What are your existing revenue streams?
5. Your marketing versus your advertising?
6. Do you track where / how people find / use you?
7. Do you know what works and what doesn’t?
8. Relying on Social Media to save your day?
9. Do you have your accounting system broken down by
revenue stream?

8. Marketing for Growth
• Quickest and most cost effective method to increase sales:
Get your existing customers to buy more or more often!
• 2nd best method: have your customers refer new potential
customers in to you – may need to use incentives
For both of these, sometimes all you have to do is ask!
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
For both of these, sometimes all you have to do is ask!
• 3rd best method: source new customers (most expensive)
Are you marketing the feature (a prominent or conspicuous
part or characteristic) or the benefit (something that is
advantageous or good)? Changing this alone may give you
a boost in sales.
Feature → Advantage → BENEFIT!

9. Marketing
• Marketing pulls it all together
• Marketing is more than placing an advertisement
• It’s about developing the right product(s) or
service(s), at the right price, at the right place,
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
service(s), at the right price, at the right place,
in the right quantities at the right time, and
offering it to the right customer
• Marketing drives sales
• Sales drive profits

10. Marketing Plan
The schedule of all the planned marketing activities to
be performed over a period of time
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
– Turn this into a monthly budget for projections!!

11. Online Marketing / eMarketing
Website AudienceAudience
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
SEO
Company Message
Audience
Social Media
Audience
Newsletters

12. eMarketing Tools
• Website / Blog
• Newsletter
• Online Directories – Google / Yahoo Local
• Social Networks – Facebook
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
• Social Networks – Facebook
• Rich Media – YouTube, Pinterest
• Review Sites – Yelp (helps verify the quality of your services)
• Micro Blogging – Twitter

13. Marketing Workshops
• Part of this City of Riverside Summer Series:
– July 25th - Marketing Your Small Business
– August 22nd - Customer Bait
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
• Other SBDC locations:
– July 16th – Introduction to Wordpress
– August 27th – Social Media 101
– September 10th – Social Media Marketing Made Simple
– September 16th – Using Census Data

14. Financial Projections
• There are two types of financial feasibility
– Can I get the doors open? (how much / from where)
– Can I keep the doors open? (it’s about ENOUGH sales)
• What items are included in your Project Cost?
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
• What items are included in your Project Cost?
• What are your Revenue Streams going to be?
• Are your projected unit sales numbers realistic?
• Developing projections
– Who collects data on your industry?
– Regulatory agencies, trade groups, BizStats.com
• Using % of sales data (COGS, marketing, etc)

15. Financial Statements
• Income Statement
– A summary of the revenues produced and
monies expended in a given period of time by the
business
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
business
• Cash Flow Projections
– A summary of the cash inflows and cash outflows
incurred by the business in a given period of time
– A crucial tool for entrepreneurs in managing the
cash of the business

16. Financial Projections
What documents should be included?
• Sources and Uses of Funds / Project Cost
• Amortization table?
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
• Amortization table?
• Revenue projections
• Cash flow projections
• Balance sheet
• Financial assumptions (serves as a cover page)
• SBDC Financial Projections Template

17. Inland Empire
Small Business Development Center
Additional Offices
Full-time
• High Desert SBDC
• Ontario SBDC
Inland Empire SBDC
T h e l e a d i n g r e s o u r c e f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s
Part-time
• Chino
• Eastvale
• Moreno Valley
• Menifee
• Rancho Cucamonga
• San Bernardino
• San Jacinto
• Temecula
• Upland
3780 Market Street
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 781-2345
www.iesmallbusiness.com
Open Monday through Friday