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What does the business stand for now and what will it be in the future?  \na. This question addresses the questions of mission and vision for the business  \nb. It should not only address what the business is but also what the business is not  \n2. What does success look like?  \na. This is about goal setting. If you don’t know what success looks like than you can never find it  \nb. Goals should be set for specific timeframes  \nc. Ask yourself: “What do I have to accomplish by the end of this year to achieve my definition of success”  \n3. What do you make?  \na. Every business must create value and ultimately make something  \nb. This is about basic value proposition of the business  \n4. How do you make it?  \na. This question is about your craft, systems, and way of doing business  \nb. It addresses your inputs, processes, and outputs of the Question  \n5. How do you sell it?  \na. While making something is about the creation of value, this question is about marketing or capturing value  \nb. Many entrepreneurs are great at creating value but many fail to capture it by dropping the ball when it comes to marketing execution  \nc. As management author Peter Drucker wrote,“There are only two functions of a business: Innovation and Marketing”  \n6. Who are the customers? This question addresses the people that the business serves. Most successful small businesses operate in turbulent and uncertain marketing catering to small  \nniches of customers that a big business doesn’t want to serve. By doing this they are able to stay off the competitive radar screen of the big companies who  \ncan’t afford to take huge gambles on such uncertain market segments.  \nWhat can your business contribute to the world that no one else can?  \n∙ This is about the understanding of what your “one big thing” is.  \n∙ It involves a deep passion, understanding of what you can be the best in the world at, and a sufficient economic engine to drive it.  \nQuestion \\#8: Who will be the key players in your business?  \n∙ Who are the people who will operate and grow the business and how will they be organized.  \n∙ This speaks to the organizational structure of the business, as well as, the legal structuring.  \n∙ Having a great idea is never enough. Great ideas are common-the people who can successfully implement them are rare.  \nQuestion \\#9: How will you make a profit?  \n∙ At the end of the day, a business must be profitable or it’s not a business.  \n∙ You should be well versed in the revenue and cost drivers that make your business profitable.  \n∙ Without profits a company cannot grow and will never be anything more than just a lifestyle business.  \nQuestion \\#10: What stands in the way of success and how will you overcome it?  \n∙ This is about your future story-the enemy and how you will overcome it and ultimately win.  \n∙ Up until now, you have been addressing questions that concern your business model which is essentially your business in a vacuum.  \n∙ But sooner or later, your business will confront internal forces or external competitors that will  \npotentially keep you from achieving your  \ngoals.  \n","cbCaie2UbeFhQHoP","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaie2UbeFhQHoP","pdf",173688,27,"English","# What is a Business Plan?\n## Why Create a Business Plan?\n# The 10 Questions You Must Answer\n## Determining Your Audience\n### Writing the plan for a lender…\n### Writing the business plan to attract an investor…","[{\"question\":\"What is a business plan and what parts does it usually include?\",\"answer\":\"A business plan is a written document describing a business’s current activities, future aims and objectives, and how they will be achieved over a set period. It typically includes a narrative (plan narrative) and a numbers-based section for financial projections.\"},{\"question\":\"Which 10 questions must a business plan answer?\",\"answer\":\"The guide lists 10 questions covering the business’s mission and future direction, what success looks like, what the business makes, how it makes it, how it sells, who the customers are, what unique contribution it offers, who the key players are, how it will make a profit, and what stands in the way of success and how it will be overcome.\"},{\"question\":\"How should the business plan be tailored for lenders versus investors?\",\"answer\":\"For lenders, the plan should be conservative, include collateral-related needs, break down the loan request, and clearly show cash flow capacity to repay the loan with principal and interest assumptions. For investors seeking equity, it emphasizes the executive summary as the first and potentially only section read, capturing the opportunity and plan essence in under a page, with further focus on the management team.\"}]","Cheat Sheet - Creating a Business Plan - Essential Guide | PDF",1791934080,9]