Tutorial

I. Introductory Content - 10% or 10 points Time allotted = 4 days

General Requirement

• There is a 20 page maximum (20 single sided or 10 double sided: Not including cover page, executive summary, table of contents, plus an additional 5 pages of supporting documents
• Must be a 12 point font and one-and-a-half or double spaced
• Acceptable for Table of Contents and Executive Summary to be on the same page.

Cover Page: Day 1

• The cover page for Lovebytes is located in the box to the right.
• The name of the company should be featured on the first line about two inches from the top of the page.
• The reader of the plan should be able to tell what type of business you have, A subtitle below the company name can be descriptive enough for the reader to tell the nature of the business
• The name of your school and the address should be included.
• I included the name of the CEO of the company.
• Company Contact information
• Include which academic year the plan is for

Table of Contents: Day 2

• Even though you do not know the page numbers, you can still put in the table of contents.
• Include all parts of the plan.
• Divide the plan into sections and subsections
• The page should be pleasing to the eye.
• The page numbers must match the plan
• Be consistent with appropriate page number format
• Check spelling on all items in table of contents
• The table or contents must be only one page.

Explain why you are putting this plan together: Day 2

• Possible choices her include needing to borrow money and obtain financing for start up cost, inventory, operating expenses.
• A plan also gives the company direction.
• Another reason for putting a plan in place might be to make projections for income, expenses and growth potential of your company

Executive Summary: Day 3

• The Executive Summary is one of the most important pages in a business plan. Day 3
• It summarizes the longer report in such a way that readers can quickly become acquainted with the larger body of material.
• It should contain a brief statement of the proposal.
• It should contain background information, concise analysis and main conclusions
• Many believe that it is the most important part of the business plan.
• Market information should be included as to size an number of potential customers..
• There should be some mention of the management of the company and how it will positively impact the success of the company.
• A section on the marketing mix and marketing plan should be included.
• There should be a summary of the financial section of the report as well as a SWOT Analysis.
• After making an initial executive summary, come back to it for revision after all the other parts of the plan have been completed.

Mission Statement: Day 4

• Defines the path for the company.
• Guiding principle. In our case matchmaking for Mr. Right/Miss Right Now not the forever date.
• Designed for high school and college students too busy to find their own dates.
• How will objective be achieved. On-line survey and matchmaking software

Business Objectives: Day 5

• The business plan needs a section the explains the reason for seeking a business loan.
• It has been determined that three month's worth of operating expenses is needed. With the new VE International guidelines, five months of operating expenses is acceptable.
• Another reason is to obtain enough money to purchase a server that will house the Loveytes software.
• Money is also needed for furniture and fixtures: desks, chairs, personal computers, cubicles, filing cabinets, and office supplies
• Determine where to concentrate your marketing efforts
• You want to lay out a plan for expanding your business. As you can see in the Business Objectives part of the Lovebytes plan,
• Set profit goals and break even point the first months of operations.
• Describe where the sales effort will be directed, ie which Virtual Enterprise network
• Address market share and expansion plans
• Be specific as how these objectives will be accomplished, like converting the questionnaires to other languages, tapping into social media sites, making the dating service avaiable on mobile devices, etc,

Company Description: Day 6

• A description of the company is also required.
• Describe the type of business you have.
• Check NAICS - North American Industry Classification Systems. They have a listing of over 20,000 industry segments.
• As you can see, there is even a classification for dating services - code 812990 - All other personal service segment.
• The legal description of Virtual Enterprise Companies is an S corporation.
• Include the date the company started, the street address, city, state and zip code.
• Include an organizational chart including all employees and their titles,
• Include here the type of business: service or merchandising
• If you are an existing company include the history of the company and its current status
• The company name, address, phone number, web address, email address
• Company purpose. What type of business are you in.
• Describe the marketplace for your type of business
• Background of key personnel
• Number of employees and their job titles

Description of Staffing (Key Personnel) : Day 7

• Include a list of job titles, their duties and salary paid
• Include an organizational chart show lines of authority and responsibility.
• Make a list of students and their qualifications for their jobs

II. Operating Procedures: Management Functions 15% or 15 points Time allotted = 5 days

Operating Procedures: Day 8

• Describe internal operations and processes necessary to deliver the product or service.
• Describe how the process works. In the case of Lovebytes, we collect an on-line survey and then process the results.

Selected areas that need to be addressed

• The report should contain the location of your virtual business. Indicate its address, square footage and type of space - office, warehouse, manufacturer, etc.
• Explain the nature of your type of business, and the advantage of your location.
• Include how you plan to expand, ie. add more Virtual Enterprise networks, add new product line, additional services
• Include what you will need to expand, ie additional assets, more personnel, etc.
• Process. Explain how the firm goes about about:

  • Acquiring products
  • Channels of distribution.
  • Do you buy products to resell or purchase them from other vendors?
  • How will you store or warehouse these products? Rent warehouse space? Direct shipments from other manufacturers, a Jobber or wholesale company
  • How will you distribute your goods or service. Package delivery companies, own trucks, etc.
  • Will you common carriers like UPS and FED EX to delivery your product?

  Planning: Goals and strategies to reach each goal: Day 9

  • Department Weekly objectives
  • List the goals of the business. In Lovebutes our goals is to provide a cost-effective dating experience for high school students
  • Then list how you can to achieve each of these goals: strategies In Lovebytes we will use an on-line questionnaire,
  • In Lovebytes, information technology, our staff will merge all the responses into a file
  • They will run a computer program that will evaluate and tabulate the data. Results will be email to each respondent.

  Organizing: Meet objectives. What jobs need to be done: Day 10

  • List job responsibilities for each person in the organization needed to accomplish goal.
  • CEO directs staff, has the ultimate responsibility for running the company.
  • CFO determines profitability of the venture : Break even projected financial statements, pay staff members. produce monthly financial statements, reconcile bank statements.
  • Sales/Marketing - pricing strategies, the product package, how to advertise service, special deals and promotions.
  • Information Technology should design the web page.
  • In Lovebytes IT creates the on-line questionnaire, tabulates the questionnaires and creates one large regional file for each region. Use the Lovebytes software to find matches. Email each respondent their matches and profiles.
  • Human Resources should keep all personnel and attendance records, create the company newsletter each month, name the employee of the month, handle grievances between employees,

  Directing: How is work-flow disseminated to the employees? Day 11

  • How do you get things done?
  • Who does what?
  • Design a cohesive plan for completing all tasks on time.
  • Look at 7 week template for assignments - front page of janetbelch.com
  • Plans are laid out in all of the Step By Step assignments:Accounting:Web Page, Sales Catalog, Human resources manual

  Controlling: Keeping all employees on track? Day 12

  • A plan needs to be in place to finish all assignments on time.
  • What are the consequences if employees do not accomplish given tasks?
  • What type of reporting mechanism is in place.
  • Who is in charge of each area and what are the consequences if they do not perform their jobs?

  III. Market Analysis 30 points/30%

  Market Analysis 15 points - 15%: Day 13

  • Look at competitors in the marketplace
  • How many similar companies exist in the real world and how many competitors do you have in your Virtual Enterprise network?
  • Is this market growing or in decline?
  • Identify strengths and threats to be addressed in long and short term planning.
  • Compare company vision and experience against averages for similar operations.

  Components of the Marketing Plan 10 points - 10%: Day 14 - Day 17

  PRODUCT/SERVICES: Day 14

  1. What are you actually offering the consumer?
  2. What are they getting for their money
  3. In Lovebytes, they are getting a list of potential matches and their personality profiles.
  4. How do you plan to interest potential customers and clients in your product or service and persuade them to buy the product of service you have to offer?

  PLACEMENT: Day 15

  1. Associated with the channels of distribution that serve as the means of getting the service/product to the target customers.
  2. Channels might include wholesaler, middleman or jobber and retail outlet.
  3. For many VE companies you will probably not have a lot to say here.
  4. Clothing and electronics might buy their goods from a wholesaler instead of a retailer in order to get a better price.
  5. Every one in the channel o distribution tacks on a percentage to make a profit.
  6. Federal Express or UPS would be considered a part of the channel of distribution

  PRICE: Day 16

  1. Takes into account profit margins and the probable pricing response of competitors including list price as well as discounts, financing and osther options such as leasing. Days 15
  2. You should do some secondary marketing research here.
  3. Find out what your competitors charge for similar items or services.
  4. What types of discounts and special offers will you have?
  5. Use holiday and trade show special promotions using price.
  6. You might want to undercut the competition's price, since you are selling on-line instead of from a physical building.
  7. Investigate companies offering equal pricing if you find a better deal online.
  8. Come up with the price for each item in your sales catalog.
  9. Calculate individual percentages of profit for all items.
  10. If the item is very expensive, consider leasing it.

  Promotion: Day 17

  1. How are your customers going to find out about your product?
  2. Most VE companies have their web site URL listed on the Virtual Enterprise Mall
  3. Consider creating Internet e-mail ads to be sent to other VE companies- See Step By Step Internet ads. First page of janetbelch.com
  4. Design an Internet ad to be displayed on janetbelch.com
  5. Promotion includes flyers and other means to draw people to your booth at trade fairs.
  6. Use articles in school newspapers, regular newspaper to promote your company
  7. If your school has a networked, closed-circuit TV station, create and advertisement for your company's services or products.

  Target Market Day 18

  1. A defined segment of the market that is a strategic focus of a business.

  2. This target market has a lot of things in common and are likely to purchase a particular product of service
  3. The target market represents who are your customers
  4. Who you want to sell to
  5. Most markets have segments: smaller parts with somewhat different characteristics
  6. Look at the segments in Lovebytes target market. There three segments.
  7. Lovebytes is appealing to only one of those segments
  8. Demographics refer to things like age, sex, income education etc.
  9. Geographic refers to places in the country, states, cities, countries, etc.
  10. Lovebytes' geographic target market is California
  11. Psycho-graphic refers to buying habits or preferences for products and services
  12. Doing some marketing research will reveal these psycho-graphic characteristics.

  Market Segmentation Day 19

  1. Markets can be segmented or divided into smaller parts.
  2. The more closely you can define your particular target market, the better success you will have.
  3. Looking at income, buying patterns, needs can help you define your market
  4. Look at Lovebytes. Its target market is really well defined and quite narrow.
  5. Try to find a niche, a special place in the overall target market.
  6. For example, There are lots of yoga studios in town. What if you defined a market where you brought the instruction to their business at the time they wanted and geared the instruction to employees 40 or over?

  Break-Even Analysis 5 points - 5% Day 20 & 21

  1. Check below for a detail way of how to make a break-even analysis.
  2. Break-even analysis is used to see if your venture is profitable or capable of earning enough money to cover your exoenses.
  3. There a number of ways to determine it.
  4. I used a template, found in chapter 4 of the accounting tutorial. There is also a link below.
  5. The VB10 General Ledger also provides a way to find your break-even point
  6. You could set up a spreadsheet to find it.
  7. Remember most expenses are fixed, except the cost of the merchandise you buy for re-sale
  8. Cost of good sold percentages can be found in Bizstats.com. There is a link to this web page in the accounting tutorial and below in this tutorial.
  9. To place a chart like the break-even analysis, you can copy and paste it into Microsoft Paint or other drawing program and then save it as a ".jpg" picture file
  10. Once you have a picture, you can paste it into your report
  11. A graphical representation can also be used
  12. For Lovebytes I took the dollar amount needed to break even and divided it by the cost of a dating package to find the number of packages that need to be sold.
  13. You could also use an average sale to create this chart. For example a clothing company might sell a shirt a pair of pants, a sweater to a customer. This might represent an average sale
  14. Some sales will be higher and some lower.

  IV. Financial Data: 25 points 25% Allotted time = 8 days

  If you are doing the business plan as a year-end project use the spreadsheet instructions (yellow text) not the VB10 General ledger instructions which are in white text. If you want to produce monthly financial statements use the VB10 General Ledger program.

  Balance Sheet Investment: Day 22 VB10 General Ledger Instructions

  1. For new companies you will need to create a beginning balance sheet as of 10/31/XX
  2. Things to consider in making the balance sheet are:
  3. Decide on initial investment of shareholders (members of your company since this is an S corporation).
  4. Usually management invests more than regular workers.
  5. Lovebytes example show the investments by it employees and the accounting entry to record this number in the VB10 General ledger.
  6. The VB 10 general ledger can be run directly for janetbelch.com in the accounting training section, chapter 1
  7. Before running the program go over the instructions - either written or UTube tutorials
  8. Download the text file either service.txt or merchandise.txt from chapter one. These are your general ledger accounts
  9. Save in your work folder.
  10. The VB10 General interacts with this file
  Balance Sheet Investment/ seed money: Day 22 Spreadsheet Instructions
      Video Tutorial Business Plan 1: Investment
  1. Open the spreadsheet entitled Business Plan Spreadsheet.   Business Plan Spreadsheet
  2. There are three sheets for the Excel spreadsheet
  3. The first sheet contains a trial balance, income statement and balance sheet for a merchandising business
  4. The second tab is the place where you will enter numbers - like a journal
  5. The third sheet contains a trial balance, income statement and balance sheet for a service business
  6. The numbers will appear in the appropriate cells on the first page and third pages producing your financial reports.
  7. For the business investment, select the tab 2 worksheet
  8. Every accounting transaction affects two accounts
  9. Select cell B3 and enter the amount of your initial investment
  10. Select cell E3 and enter the same number.
  11. For a merchandising business, return to Sheet 1 by clicking its tab. Notice the numbers that you entered appear on this sheet.
  12. For a service business, click on Sheet 3.Notice the numbers that you entered appear on this sheet.

  Business Loan Balance Sheet Day 22: VB10 General Ledger instructions

  1. Decide which assets are necessary to run your business.
  2. These can include, equipment, furniture and fixtures, inventory, etc.
  3. Find description, quantities, and costs for these items
  4. Decide how much operating capital is needed to get your company off to a good start. You can use a number of monthe of operating expenses.. Do not include the Business contract for payroll, but do include, rent, utilities, insurance, etc.
  5. Calculate the amount of your loan.
  6. Loan from VEC is for 7 years at 7 percent. Starting date November 1 of the current year.
  7. Loan Calculator
  8. Write down or printout his information
  9. Use Browser's Refresh button to clear frame.
  10. You need monthly payment and first month's interest and principal.
  11. Look at Lovebytes financial section for the accounting entry to record this loan
  Business Loan Balance Sheet Day 22: Spreadsheet instructions
      Video Tutorial Business Plan 2: Business Loan
  1. Notice the numbers that you entered appear on this sheet.
  2. Decide which assets are necessary to run your business.
  3. These can include, equipment, furniture and fixtures, inventory, etc.
  4. Find description, quantities, and costs for these items
  5. Decide how much operating capital is needed to get your company off to a good start. You can use a number of months of operating expenses. Do not include the Business contract for payroll, but do include,
  6. Rent - $3,500 per month
  7. Workers' Comp insurance $110.00.
  8. Utilities: Water $3.00 for each employee, Gas $3.00 for each employee, Electricity $30.00 for each employee, Phone $25.00 for each employee, Internet $350.00 for the company, $99.00 Cable for entire company.
  9. Calculate the amount of your loan.
  10. Loan from VEC is for 7 years at 7 percent. Starting date November 1 of the current year.
  11. Loan from VEI new guidelines is for 5 years at prime rate +2% fixed loan, prime +1% variable.
  12. New VEI guidelines call for a 5 year loan. Interest rate is prime rate + 1% for a variable loan and prime rate + 2% for fixed rate. Use November 1 of the current year.
  13. Loan Calculator
  14. Write down or printout his information
  15. Click the browser's Refresh button to clear the frame.
  16. You need monthly payment and first month's interest and principal.
  17. Open the Business Plan Spreadsheet    Business Plan Spreadsheet
  18. Enter the total amount of the loan on Sheet 2 cell B4 and G4

  Recording purchase of assets Balance Sheet Day 22:VB10 General Ledger Instructions

      Video Tutorial Business Plan 3: Purchase of assets
  1. The reason for the loan was to obtain necessary assets to run the company
  2. We also got some extra money for operating expenses.
  3. Listen to the video tutorial on how to handle this entry
  4. Use the posting portion of the program to record this entry
  Recording purchase of assets Balance Sheet Day 22: Spreadsheet instructions
  1. Open up the Business Plan Spreadsheet.   Business Plan Spreadsheet
  2. You need to buy equipment, fixtures and fixtures.
  3. Click on the tab for Sheet 2
  4. Select cell C5 and enter the total amount spent for equipment,furniture-fixtures and inventory.
  5. Select cell H5 and enter amount spent for equipment
  6. Select cell J5 and enter amount spent for furniture and fixtures
  7. Select cell L5 and enter amount spent for Inventory if you are a merchandising business, this number will appear under inventory.
  8. If you are a service business, the amount entered in L5 will appear as Other Assets
  9. You have entered enough information to produce a beginning balance sheet for your company.
  10. Click on the appropriate sheet 1 or sheet 3, scroll down to the balance sheet. Put it on the clipboard and paste it into your business plan document.
  Calculating and Recording the Business Contract: Day 23: Spreadsheet instructions
      Video Tutorial Business Plan 4: Business Contract
  1. First we must determine the amount of the business contract,
  2. The number is composed of the total amount of our gross payroll and cost of goods sold if we are a merchandising business.
  3. Here is a sample payroll. Sample Payroll
  4. To calculate your payroll, read the following instructions  Instructions
  5. Fill in the necessary payroll information for your company
  6. Save this spreadsheet.
  7.   Sample Payroll Template
  8. Print out your payroll, you will need later for the numbers calculated.
  9. Open up the Business Plan Spreadsheet.   Business Plan Spreadsheet
  10. Select cell B8 and enter the total amount of the gross payroll. New guidelines limit you to 75% of this amount. This is the amount of cash the VEC will deposit in your account each month.
  11. Select cell O8 and enter the amount of the business contract
  12. If you have a business that sells merchandise, you need to find the cost of sales percentage too. This is money that the VEC will deposit in your account each month.
  13. A program called bizstats.com can give you the answer you are looking for
  14. Business Statistics
  15. Assume that your cost of sales percentage was 52.82%. This is the cost of sales for a clothing store.
  16. Multiply that percentage times the gross amount of your payroll.
  17. Assume that your payroll was 83,328.00. These numbers came from the sample payroll
  18. Multiply 83,328 times .5282. The cost of goods sold answer is 43,356.42
  19. Next add the payroll and cost of sales together 83,328.00 + 43,356.42
  20. The amount of your VE contract therefore is: 126,684.24
  21. Click the browser's Refresh button to clear the frame.
  22. On Sheet 2,Select cell B9 and enter the amount of cash you will receive from the cost of sales amount
  23. On Sheet 2, Select cell Q9 and enter the amount of cost of goods sold for the business contract
  Recording payment on note payable - money borrowed from VEC Day 23: Spreadsheet instructions
      Video Tutorial Business Plan 5: Payment on Loan, Monthly expenses, and purchases of merchandise

  1. On Sheet 2, Select cell C11 and enter the monthly payment amount.
  2. On Sheet 2, Select cell F11 and enter the amount paid toward the principal of the note.
  3. On Sheet 2, Select cell R11 and enter the amount monthly interest paid.
  Paying monthly expenses Day 23 : Spreadsheet instructions
  Standard Payment Rates for Companies
  1. We are only going to pay for three regular expenses. Water, gas, electric, Internet, phone, etc sre all considered utilities expense. See Link above on how to calculate these expenses.
  2. On Sheet 2, Select cell C14 and enter total cash paid for regular expenses
  3. On Sheet 2, Select cell T14 and enter amount paid for rent
  4. On Sheet 2, Select cell V14 and enter amount paid for insurance
  5. On Sheet 2, Select cell X14 and enter amount paid for utilities
  Recording the purchase of merchandise for the month Day 23, FOR MERCHANDISING BUSINESSES ONLY: Spreadsheet instructions
  1. On Sheet 2, Select cell C16 and enter amount of cash spent on purchases
  2. On Sheet 2, Select cell Z16 and enter amount of merchandise you need to purchase.
  Recording salary expense for the month Day 23: Spreadsheet Instructions
      Video Tutorial Business Plan 6: Salary Expense and Payroll Taxes
  1. Look at your payroll register for the following numbers
  2. On Sheet 2, Select cell C18 and enter Total Net Pay
  3. On Sheet 2, Select cell AB18 and enter Total Gross Pay - before all deductions
  4. On Sheet 2, Select cell AE18 and enter Social Security
  5. On Sheet 2, Select cell AG18 and enter Medicare
  6. On Sheet 2, Select cell AI18 and enter Federal Income Tax
  7. On Sheet 2, Select cell AK18 and enter State Disability Insurance (SDI)
  8. On Sheet 2, Select cell AN18 and enter State Income Tax
  9. On Sheet 2, Select cell AQ18 and enter State Training Tax
  Recording payroll taxes for the month Day 24: Spreadsheet Instructions
  1. Look at the payroll register for the section on payroll taxes.
  2. On Sheet 2, Select cell AR20 and enter Total amount of payroll taxes expense
  3. On Sheet 2, Select cell AG20 and enter Medicare amount
  4. On Sheet 2, Select cell AE20 and enter FICA amount
  5. On Sheet 2, Select cell AW20 and enter FUTA Amount
  6. On Sheet 2, Select cell AY20 and enter SUTA Amount
  7. On Sheet 2, Select cell AQ20 and enter State Training amount
  Examining the trial balance, income statement and balance sheet Day 24: Spreadsheet Instructions for a service business
      Video Tutorial Business Plan 7: Examining Financial Statements for a service business
  1. If your spreadsheet is not open, open it now.
  2. Look at the trial balance Sheet 3 for a service business
  3. Is it in balance? Do the debit totals equal the credit totals?
  4. If they are not in balance, go back thru the entries on Sheet 2 and correct any mistakes.
  5. Look at Sheet 2. All the way to the right hand side of all data
  6. For each line the debits must equal the credits.
  7. If they are not in balance go thru the entry and make certain that you entered the numbers in the correct cells.
  8. In addition all debit entries must equal all credit entries.
  9. An income statement and balance sheet are automatically created for you
  10. If you made a profit, printout the trial balance, income statement and balance sheet and continue with Day 25
  11. Chances are that your income statement shows a loss
  12. Since the purpose of this assignemt is to obtain a business loan, a loss is not what we wnt to show to the bankers
  13. Watch to the Video tutorial 7 to see how to show a profit.
  Examining the trial balance,income statement and balance sheet Day 24: Spreadsheet Instructions for a merchandising business
      Video Tutorial Business Plan 8: Examining Financial Statements for a merchandising business
  1. Look at the trial balance and make sure that it is in balance. The debit totals should equal the creit totals.
  2. Look at the income statement. Did you make a profit?
  3. If you did not make a profit? If you did make a profit just print out the trial balance,income statement and balance sheet. Skip down to Day 25
  4. If you did not make a profit, we need to determine how many additional sales we need to break even
  5. Break-Even Sample
  6. Break-Even Analysis Template

  To see a completed spreadsheet, click here  Completed Sample Excel Spreadsheet

  Projected balance sheet for 4/30/XX Day 24

  1. Run the VB10 General ledger program and record these transactions.
  2. Check to see if you are in balance after each entry
  3. Use the company Information tab to key in your company name and the date.
  4. For this balance sheet key in 10/31/XX
  5. Click on the income statement tab for either a service or merchandising business
  6. Click on the balance sheet tab
  7. Create a file with a printable balance sheet
  8. From Notepad or Notepad++ look at the balance sheet
  9. Do a screen capture using the Print Screen Key
  10. Paste this report into a program like Microsoft Paint.
  11. Crop it if necessary
  12. Save it as a .jpg picture file so that it can be easily be inserted into your business plan.

  Projected Income Statement Day 25

  1. Find the following amounts to create a projected income statement for November 30, XX
  2. Look in the Break-Even Analysis
     • The amount of the Virtual Enterprise Business Contract
     • Estimate of sales at Bakersfield Trade Show
     • Payroll taxes expense
     • Salary Expense
     • Rent Expense
     • Utilities expense
     • Insurance expense
     • Depreciation expense on equipment and furniture and fixtures
     • Principal portion payment of loan
  3. Run the VB10 General Ledger Program
  4. Retrieve your file
  5. Post all revenue and expenses.
  6. Click on Trial Balance Tab to see if you are in balance.
  7. Click on the Income Service tab to see projected net income.
  8. All that needs o be done to make this an actual income statement is to enter the true amount of sales from open house and/or trade shows into the program
  9. Add the income statement to the business plan as a jpg picture.
  10. Projecting other months of income
  11. Load in the spreadsheet template from the accounting tutorial chapter 4
  12. Enter the numbers
  13. Create a link to the income projections spreadsheet in the text of the business plan.

  Income Projections: Day 25 :Spreadsheet Instructions Optional Assignment
  1. Load the following spreadsheet for a service business  Service business projections
  2. Load the following spreadsheet for a merchandising business  Merchandising business projections
  3. Plan on how much you think you will get in revenue at Trade Shows, open houses and grand openings.
  4. There three or maybe four trades shows in California: December, March, April and maybe February in Long Beach.
  5. New York show is in April. Sales are not typically high there
  6. Get Visitor checks - $2,000 value for your open houses. You will need to generate more revenue each month than the VEC gives you.
  7. Refer to your financial statements and enter your numbers. Save and print.
  8. For more detailed instructions, refer to the Accounting Tutorial Chapter 3 Continued.

  Cash Flow Statement: Day 26 & 27

  1. On janetbelch.com web page, in the accounting training, chapter 4 second half, load the cash flow template
  2. Enter the appropriate numbers.
  3. Copy and paste expenses :Rent, Salaries, Payroll taxes, Insurance, Utilities into each month
  4. Interest expense changes each month. Use amortization schedule for 7 year 7% loan. New guidelines from VEI uses 5 year term and prim rate +1% or + 25
  5. Remember that when you have charge sales like at trade shows, the money does not come at the time of the sale.
  6. Assuming that you send an invoice for the goods or services purchased, you should receive the money the next month.

  Cash Flow Day 26 and 27: Spreadsheet Instructions: Optional Assignment

  1. For more detailed information, refer to the Accounting Tutorial, Chapter 5

     Financial Write-Up: Day 28 for both spreadsheet method and VB10 General Ledger methods

     1. Explain the financial statements. Where did you get all the numbers? How did you arrive at the data?
     2. How did you estimate sales
     3. Assets needed to run the business
     4. How did you arrive at the numbers needed in the business loan?
     5. Explain payroll amounts and payroll costs.
     6. How did you complete the Cash Flow Analysis
     7. See Business Plan Written Rubric if you are a continuing company with actual financial statements

     Start-Up Business Plan additional items: Day 29.

     1. Completed loan application
     2. Time needed to repay the loan
     3. Start-Up Budget
     Completed Sample Excel Spreadsheet
     Printer Friendly Spreadsheet Instructions

     V. SWOT Analysis 10 points - 10% allotted time

     SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats: Days 30 - 31

  2. The strengths and weaknesses are internal and the opportunities and threats are external forces based on your particular market.
  3. The SWOT analysis is a valuable step in your situational analysis. It looks at your firm's strengths and weaknesses, market opportubnities and threats.
  4. A SWOT analysis begins by conducting and inventory of internal strengths and weaknesses in your organization
  5. Capture the factors that you believe are relevant to each of the four areas.
  6. The primary purpose of the SWOT analysis is to identify and assign each significant factor, both positive and negative to one of the four categories: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
  7. Take an objective look at your business model.
  8. The SWOT analysis can really help you develop your marketing strategy.

     List your company's strengths: Day 30

     List your company;s weaknesses:Day 30

     List Opportunities that can help your company: Day 31

     List the threats that your company faces:Day 31

     VI. Presentation of The Business Plan 10 points - 10% Days 32 - 34

     Check plan for overall arrangement: Day 32

  9. Collate each part of the document and copy and paste each piece into one document.
  10. Does it follow the rubric?
  11. Are the fonts, pages, graphics uniform? Does it look professional?

      Design the cover Day 33

  12. Do not plagiarize. Make it your own work
  13. Check your writing skills. See rubric Get report bound

      Put electronic presentation together Day 34

      VII. Appendix/Supporting Documents

      Appendix: Day 35

  14. Bank statement as of 10/31 for new companies. Should show investment of owners/seed money and business loan.
  15. Copy of contract used for sales to non virtual entities with required contract.
  16. Loan amortization table for companies with loans

  17. Additional items in Lovebytes Appendix
      1. Video Tutorials on how to use the program
      2. Dating File to be downloaded
      3. Pictures to be copied
      4. Lovebytes computer dating program that runs from site.