Funding requirements Financial projections should be summarized and highlighted

This section should not be completed until the business plan is written. It will highlight all milestones in the company’s development over the next five years. It should sum up the following areas:

• Purpose of the plan

• Product or service and its advantages

• Market opportunity

• Management team

• Track record, if any

• Financial projections

• Funding requirements Financial projections should be summarized and highlighted. The following format is suggested as a guide: Remember that potential investors often make a provisional judgement based on the executive summary, and that their decision to read the main body of the business plan will depend on the information presented here. The appendices at the back of the plan contain more detailed information to support the main text of the business plan.

Description of the people involved in starting the business:

• Promoters

• Management structure and areas of responsibility

• Shareholders names, no. of shares, % shareholding and cash investment to date Advisors << Financial, legal, and other advisors should be listed, with names, addresses and contact details. >> Products and services << Explain clearly what your product or service is and what it does.

• Background to its development

• Benefits and Features

• Unique selling points

• Advantages to customers

• Disadvantages or weak points

• Future developments >> This section sets out your strategies for reaching your target market, arousing their interest in your product or service, and actually delivering the product or service to them in sales. >> Marketing Strategy << How you will position your product or service in the market and differentiate it from its competitors: • Which segments of the market will be targeted first and why? • How will this be developed to reach the full target market? • How will you differentiate your product or service? • What key benefits will be highlighted? • What potential customers have you already targeted? • Have you a test site in operation, and what feedback is coming from this? • What contacts can be used to generate market awareness and sales? • Who will do the marketing: staff, agency, reps? >>