The Concept

Obviously, to start a business you need a concept: what service or product will you sell? There are a couple of things to consider and about a gazillion youtube videos willing to teach you how.

1) Find something you are passionate about.

2) Find a problem, need, frustration or a product that could be better.

3) Then create the solution.

Voila! Your business concept :)

Your business plan will consist of multiple parts. This is the first one.

Step 1: Answer the questions on this Google Doc that will organize your ideas.

Step 2: Revise them to make sure they are complete sentences that include the question with no capitalization or spelling mistakes.

Tip: Name the Google Doc "Business Concept" because later you will compile multiple parts to make one whole plan. If you name it right today, you will be able to find it tomorrow.

Before embarking on a business journey, it is important to examine the competition and the market.

Ask yourself questions like:

• Is there room in the market (enough demand) that my company can actually land clients/customers?

• How will my company be unique?

• What are my company's strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats?

This assignment will help you answer those questions. You will need to do some internet research to learn more about your competitors.

The SWOT analysis is a powerful tool to use with your business. It will help you be honest with yourself about the company's viability.

If you are at all serious about starting a business, you MUST watch this video.

Yes, it will help you with the assignment, but the content is so, so valuable!

Please watch!

It is really important that a business owner is able to easily and quickly articulate the product and/or services that the company provides. In the next assignment, you will briefly describe those.

Marketing is the process of determining how you will make your potential customers interested in your product or service.

Your marketing profile will consist of several essential components:

• target market

• sales and distribution

• advertising and promotion

• logo

You will need to assess what legal components you need to address in your business.

Some things to consider:

• permits

• taxes

• incorporation

• payroll

• copyrights, trademarks, patents

Use this assignment to determine what is the best legal course for your business.

Some say that money makes the world go round - and that is not far from the truth! Starting a business requires capital, whether it is for general start-up costs or even for training in the field of choice. It's going to take some investment.

Before starting a business, one must develop a cost analysis. Find out how much it will cost, where the money will come from, and the potential risk involved. This is a great way to not only make safe, calculated decisions, but also to shore up extra, non-essential spending.

Use the assignment to develop a cost analysis and income projection.

Now that you have determined your company's current state and performed a SWOT analysis, you can set some goals. You want to think about short, mid and long terms goals.

Write SMART goals!

S = Specific

M = Measurable

A = Achievable

R = Relatable

T = Time-based

On the assignment below, write 3-5 short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals for your business. Do your best to make them SMART goals!

The executive summary is the last part to be written, but will be the first entry of the actual business plan. This is what the potential investor or bank loan manager will probably read in order to determine the viability of the business.

This is the most important section of a business plan!

It should:

• include the most important information from each section

• be concise

• state the mission and vision

• state the purpose

Now it's time to take all these pieces and compile them into one plan. Follow the directions on the template to compile all your beautiful plans into one concise document.