Schools Helping Schools

Not-for-Profit Business Plan

Mr. Schwartz1/3/11

Mission Statement A paragraph or more that defines what your company is about and why it exists, as well as its core goals philosophies.

Guiding principles that keep the company focused on why you started the company.

Check out http://missionstatements.com/ to see examples

The Team You might be the only person because this is a new company.

Or, you might have a few other people who will be working with you to start the business.

List the names and their prior experience.

Problems & Opportunities You came up with an idea for your business because it is something that you like to do, you are interested in it, and/or you realize that you have a really unique idea.

There is usually a “problem” that your business is looking to solve, which creates an “opportunity”. If you are starting a dog walking business the “problem” would be that the dog owners are not at home to walk the dog.

The “opportunity” is that now you have a business that allows the dog to go outside, get exercise, and go to the bathroom.

Business Concept This is where you briefly and clearly state what you company does. Also, include what makes your company different from other companies that do something similar.

For example, if you are a dog walker then maybe you brush the dog after every walk whereas other dog walkers do not.

Competition Every business has competition, but there are many ways to define who the competitors might be You can say that XYZ company is your “direct” competitor because they do exactly what your company does, but…

There are also “indirect” competitors that are similar.

For example: If your store only sells boots then the “direct” competitor is another store that also only sells boots, but…

You also have “indirect” competitors like big stores that sell more than boots (Macy’s) or stores that sell other types of shoes/sneakers (Foot Locker)

Goals & Objectives Five-year goals

This is your chance to put on your magic glasses to see into the future

Imagine that it is 5 years from now and try to think about what you want to company to be

For example:• You might have 1 store in Ridgewood now, but you might want to eventually have 20 stores in various towns

• You might sell only boots now, but you might eventually want to expand and sell other shoes as well

Think “big”, but be realistic

First Year Budget

We will develop a budget using Excel, import the file,and place it on this slide.

References Because you are suppose to use images taken from

places like Google Images, you need to reference the URL, or website address.

Also, if you found information about your business on a website or elsewhere you will need to provide the reference.

If the URL is really long and you want to shorten it, you may use www.tinyurl.com to create a much shorter URL.