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Business
Plans
Handbook
Highlights
Business Plans Handbook, Volume 5 (BPH-5) is a collection of actual business plans compiled by entrepreneurs seeking
funding for small businesses throughout North America. For those looking for examples of how to approach, structure, and
compose their own business plans, BPH-5 presents 25 sample plans, including plans for the following businesses:
• (cid:127)
Bagel Shop Freight Expediting
(cid:127) (cid:127)
Bread Bakery Gift Store
(cid:127) (cid:127)
Car Wash Internet Cafe
(cid:127) (cid:127)
Cigar Shop Marketing Consultancy
(cid:127) (cid:127)
Climbing Outfitter Metal Shop
(cid:127) (cid:127)
Computer Reseller Pasta Franchise
(cid:127) (cid:127)
Detective Agency Taxi Service
FEATURES AND BENEFITS
BPH-5 offers many features not provided by other business planning references including:
(cid:1)Twenty-five business plans, with a focus on the uses and effects of the Internet and various online services within the
small business sector. Each of these real business plans represents an owner’s successful attempt at clarifying (for
themselves and others) the reasons that the business should exist or expand and why a lender should fund the enter-
prise.
(cid:1)Two fictional plans that are used by business counselors at a prominent small business development organization
as examples for their clients. (You will find these in the Business Plan Template Appendix.)
(cid:1)An expanded directory section that includes: listings for venture capital and finance companies, which specialize in
funding start-up and second-stage small business ventures, and a comprehensive listing of Service Corps of Retired
Executives (SCORE) offices. In addition, the Appendix also contains updated listings of all Small Business Develop-
ment Centers (SBDCs); associations of interest to entrepreneurs; Small Business Administration (SBA) Regional
Offices; and consultants specializing in small business planning and advice. It is strongly advised that you consult
supporting organizations while planning your business, as they can provide a wealth of useful information.
(cid:1)A Small Business Term Glossary to help you decipher the sometimes confusing terminology used by lenders and
others in the financial and small business communities.
(cid:1)An expanded bibliography, arranged by subject, containing citations from over 1,500 small business reference public-
ations and trade periodicals.
(cid:1)A Business Plan Template which serves as a model to help you construct your own business plan. This generic outline
lists all the essential elements of a complete business plan and their components, including the Summary, Business
History and Industry Outlook, Market Examination, Competition, Marketing, Administration and Management,
Financial Information, and other key sections. Use this guide as a starting point for compiling your plan.
(cid:1)Extensive financial documentation required to solicit funding from small business lenders. BPH-5 contains the most
comprehensive financial data within the series to date. You will find examples of: Cash Flows, Balance Sheets,
Income Projections, and other financial information included with the textual portions of the plan.
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Business
A COMPILATION
Plans OF ACTUAL
BUSINESS PLANS
DEVELOPED BY
BUSINESSES
THROUGHOUT
NORTH
Handbook
AMERICA
V O L U M E
5
Editors: Kristin and Paul Kahrs
Contributing Desktop Specialist: Shelley Andrews
Project Manager: William Harmer
Contributing Editors: Eva M. Davis and Jennifer Arnold Mast
Assistant Editor: Ellen Sciba
Technical Training Specialist: Gwen Turecki-Luczycka
Managing Editor: Deborah M. Burek
Production Director: Mary Beth Trimper
Assistant Production Manager: Evi Seoud
Production Assistant: Deborah Milliken
Product Design Manager: Cynthia Baldwin
Data Entry Services Manager: Eleanor Allison
Senior Data Entry Associate: Beverly Jendrowski
Data Entry Associate: Timothy Alexander
While every effort has been made to ensure the reliability of the information presented in this publication,
Gale Research does not guarantee the accuracy of the data contained herein. Gale accepts no payment
for listing; and inclusion in the publication of any organization, agency, database product, publication,
or individual does not imply endorsement by the editor or publisher.
Errors brought to the attention of the publisher and verified to the satisfaction of the publisher will be
corrected in future editions.
This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by
misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competition, and other applicable laws. The authors and editors
of this work have added value to the underlying factual material herein through one or more of the following:
unique and original selection, coordination, expression, arrangement, and classification of the information.
All rights to this publication will be vigorously defended.
Copyright © 1998
Gale Research
Address until September 15, 1998:
835 Penobscot Bldg.
645 Griswold St.
Detroit, MI 48226-4094
Address after September 15, 1998:
27500 Drake Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ISBN 0-7876-1263-4
ISSN 1084-4473
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a
reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages or entries in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine
or newspaper.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
i
Contents
Highlights....................................................................................................................ii
Introduction................................................................................................................ vii
Business Plans
Bagel Shop
USA Bagels .....................................................................................................3
Bread Bakery
Breadcrafter...................................................................................................11
Car Wash
J&A Ventures, Inc. ..........................................................................................25
Cigar Shop
Holy Smokes..................................................................................................43
Climbing Outfitter
Rockhound Outfitters ......................................................................................61
Computer Reseller
Computech Management ...............................................................................85
Ellipse Technologies, Inc...............................................................................113
Detective Agency
Barr Detective Agency................................................................................. 123
Fire Equipment Retailer
Gallagher's Fire Service.............................................................................. 137
Franchise Postal Service
Express Postal Center................................................................................. 145
Freight Expediting
Gazelle Expediting Inc. ................................................................................ 163
Gift Store
Crystal Creek Gifts ...................................................................................... 171
Internet Bid Clearinghouse
Opexnet, LLC.............................................................................................. 183
Internet Cafe
Wired Bean................................................................................................. 209
Marketing Consultancy
Meridian Consulting..................................................................................... 223
Metal Shop
Krosnow Metal Works ................................................................................. 245
Novelty Shop
v
The Great Pretender.................................................................................... 267
Office Furniture Retailer
Powerline of Northern Minnesota................................................................. 275
Parts Manufacturer
Zemens Metal Corporation.......................................................................... 281
Party Supply Store
Celebrations................................................................................................ 297
Pasta Franchise
Pasta Express............................................................................................. 313
Restaurant
Kelly House Inn............................................................................................ 327
Rock Island Tavern....................................................................................... 339
Restaurant/Microbrewery
Homesteaders' Pub & Grub......................................................................... 359
Taxi Service
Lakeview Taxi.............................................................................................. 381
Appendixes
Appendix A - Business Plan Template............................................................... 395
Fictional Plan 1 - Food Distributor ............................................................... 401
Fictional Plan 2 - Hardware Store................................................................ 405
Appendix B - Organizations, Agencies, & Consultants.................................... 417
Associations ............................................................................................... 419
Consultants ................................................................................................. 420
SBA Regional Offices ................................................................................. 434
Small Business Development Centers......................................................... 435
Service Corps of Retired Executives Offices ............................................... 488
Venture Capital & Finance Companies........................................................ 516
Appendix C - Glossary of Small Business Terms ............................................. 571
Appendix D - Bibliography ................................................................................. 597
vi
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Perhaps the most important aspect of business planning is simply doing it. More and more business owners are begin-
ning to compile business plans even if they don't need a bank loan. Others discover the value of planning when they
must provide a business plan for the bank. The sheer act of putting thoughts on paper seems to clarify priorities and
provide focus. Sometimes business owners completely change strategies when compiling their plan, deciding on a
different product mix or advertising scheme after finding that their assumptions were incorrect. This kind of healthy
thinking and re-thinking via business planning is becoming the norm. The editors of Business Plans Handbook, Volume
5 (BPH-5) sincerely hope that this latest addition to the series is a helpful tool in the successful completion of your
business plan, no matter what the reason for creating it.
This fifth volume, like each volume in the series, offers genuine business plans used by real people. BPH-5 provides 25
business plans used by actual entrepreneurs to gain funding support for their new businesses. The business and personal
names and addresses and general locations have been changed to protect the privacy of the plan authors.
NNNNNEEEEEWWWWW BBBBBUUUUUSSSSSIIIIINNNNNEEEEESSSSSSSSSS OOOOOPPPPPPPPPPOOOOORRRRRTTTTTUUUUUNNNNNIIIIITTTTTIIIIIEEEEESSSSS
As in other volumes in the series, BPH-5 finds entrepreneurs engaged in a wide variety of creative endeavors. For
instance, business plans that discuss capitalizing on new trends include those for a rock climbing equipment outfitter
that takes advantage of nearby climbing terrain; an upscale bread-only bakery; a cigar, coffee and wine emporium,
which is one entrepreneur's effort to ride the crest of more than one trend; and an Internet Cafe, providing both Internet
access and the coffee that Internet savvy customers seem to enjoy. Another Internet-related business is discussed in the
OpExNeT business plan. This is an example of a revolutionary approach to bidding and contracting that takes advan-
tage of Internet technololgy. The franchise business plans included in this volume will offer an excellent introduction
to this alternative way of starting a business. Franchises highlighted in BPH-5 include a take-out fresh pasta restaurant,
a postal services center, and an office furniture retailer. Popular and traditional businesses are featured in BPH-5 as well.
Among them are a taxi service seeking to make inroads in an underserviced area, a detective agency seeking start-up
funding, a gift shop exploiting the lucrative summer tourist trade, a retailer of party supplies and accessories, and a gag
and costume store located in a prominent downtown area. The omnipresent nature of computers gives rise to numerous
businesses related to them. Also included in this volume are two very different business plans for computer resellers that
provide hardware, software, and support.
Comprehensive financial documentation has become increasingly important as today's entrepreneurs compete for the
finite resources of business lenders. Our plans illustrate the financial data generally required of loan applicants, includ-
ing Income Statements, Financial Projections, Cash Flows, and Balance Sheets.
EEEEENNNNNHHHHHAAAAANNNNNCCCCCEEEEEDDDDD AAAAAPPPPPPPPPPEEEEENNNNNDDDDDIIIIIXXXXXEEEEESSSSS
In an effort to provide the most relevant and valuable information for our readers, we have updated the coverage of
small business resources. For instance, you will find: a directory section, which includes listings of all of the Service
Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) offices; an informative glossary, which includes small business terms; and a
bibliography, which includes reference titles essential to starting and operating a business venture in all 50 states. In
addition we have updated the list of Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs); Small Business Administration
Regional Offices; venture capital and finance companies, which specialize in funding start-up and second-stage small
business enterprises; associations of interest to entrepreneurs; and consultants, specializing in small business advice and
planning. For your reference, we have also reprinted the business plan template, which provides a comprehensive
overview of the essential components of a business plan and two fictional plans used by small business counselors.
vii
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If you already have the first four volumes of BPH, with this fifth volume, you will now have a collection of 131 real
business plans (not including the one updated plan in the second volume, whose original appeared in the first, or the
two fictional plans in the Business Plan Template Appendix section of the second, third, fourth, and fifth volumes);
contact information for hundreds of organizations and agencies offering business expertise; a helpful business plan
template; a foreword providing advice and instruction to entrepreneurs on how to begin their research; more than 1,500
citations to valuable small business development material; and a comprehensive glossary of terms to help the business
planner navigate the sometimes confusing language of entrepreneurship.
AAAAACCCCCKKKKKNNNNNOOOOOWWWWWLLLLLEEEEEDDDDDGGGGGEEEEEMMMMMEEEEENNNNNTTTTTSSSSS
The Editors wish to thank William Harmer of the Small Business Resources and Technology team for his diligence in
coordinating this title.
The Editors also wish to sincerely thank Palo Alto Software, makers of Business Plan Pro, the premier business planning
software tool, for providing the use of several business plans in this volume.
Thanks are also in order for the many contributors to BPH-5, whose business plans will serve as examples to future
generations of entrepreneurs, as well as the users of the title who called with their helpful suggestions. Your help was
greatly appreciated.
CCCCCOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMEEEEENNNNNTTTTTSSSSS WWWWWEEEEELLLLLCCCCCOOOOOMMMMMEEEEE
Your comments on BPH-5 are appreciated. Please direct all correspondence, suggestions for future volumes of BPH, and
other recommendations to the following:
Business Plans Handbook, Volume 5
(Address until September 15, 1998)
Gale Research
835 Penobscot Bldg.
645 Griswold St.
Detroit MI 48226-4094
(Address after September 15, 1998)
Gale Research
27500 Drake Rd.
Farmington, MI 48331-3535
Phone: (313)961-2242
Fax: 800-339-3374
Toll-Free: 800-347-GALE
Telex: 810 221 7087
E-mail: [email protected]
viii
Business Plans Handbook, Volume 5 BBBBBAAAAAGGGGGEEEEELLLLL SSSSSHHHHHOOOOOPPPPP
BBBBBaaaaagggggeeeeelllll SSSSShhhhhoooooppppp
BUSINESS PLAN USA BAGELS
5535 Winston Blvd.
Troy, MI 43846
This business plan is an example of a niche food
service operation that capitalizes on the ever-
growing popularity of bagels. The store offers
affordable and fresh products attempting to cater
to those who wish to eat in a more healthful way. It
also hopes to ride the crest of another very
complementary trend: gourmet coffee consumption.
•
MARKET ANALYSIS
(cid:127)
KEY POINTS
(cid:127)
EXPANSION
(cid:127)
DISTRIBUTION SITE
(cid:127)
PROMOTION OPTIONS
(cid:127)
COMPETITION
(cid:127)
USA BAGELS COMPARISON
(cid:127)
LOAN SUMMARY STATEMENT
(cid:127)
BREAKDOWN OF COSTS
(cid:127)
MANAGEMENT
(cid:127)
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
3
