Nội dung

7th edition How to Write a Business Plan by Mike McKeever always up to date The law changes, but Nolo is always on top of it! We offer several ways to make sure you and your Nolo products are always up to date: 1 Nolo’s Legal Updater We’ll send you an email whenever a new edition of your book is published! Sign up at www.nolo.com/legalupdater. 2 Updates @ Nolo.com Check www.nolo.com/updates to find recent changes in the law that affect the current edition of your book. 3 Nolo Customer Service To make sure that this edition of the book is the most recent one, call us at 800-728-3555 and ask one of our friendly customer service representatives. Or find out at www.nolo.com. NOLO please note We believe accurate and current legal information should help you solve many of your own legal problems on a cost-efficient basis. But this text is not a substitute for personalized advice from a knowledgeable lawyer. If you want the help of a trained professional, consult an attorney licensed to practice in your state. NOLO 7th edition How to Write a Business Plan by Mike McKeever SEVENTH EDITION JANUARY 2005 Editor RICHARD STIM Illustrations MARI STEIN Cover Design SUSAN PUTNEY Book Design TERRI HEARSH Manuscript Preparation STEPHANIE HAROLDE Proofreading ROBERT WELLS Index ELLEN DAVENPORT Printing DELTA PRINTING SOLUTIONS, INC. McKeever, Mike P. How to write a business plan / by Mike McKeever.-- 7th ed. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 1-4133-0092-8 (alk. paper) 1. Business planning. 2. New business enterprises--Planning. 3. New business enterprises--Finance. 4. Small business--Planning. 5. Small business--Finance. I. Title. HD30.28.M3839 2004 658.15'224—dc22 2004055209 Copyright © 1984, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1999, 2002, and 2004 by Mike P. McKeever . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Printed in the U.S.A. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher and the author. Reproduction prohibitions do not apply to the forms contained in this product when reproduced for personal use. For information on bulk purchases or corporate premium sales, please contact the Special Sales Department. For academic sales or textbook adoptions, ask for Academic Sales. Call 800-955-4775 or write to Nolo, 950 Parker Street, Berkeley, CA 94710. Dedication This book is dedicated to the memory of my late grandmother, Elizabeth Eudora Woodall Darby, whose influence I acknowledged only recently. Acknowledgments After more than a decade of working with various revisions and editions of this book, I am amazed at the uniform spirit of goodwill and cooperation given me by many people. Without that spirit, this book would not have seen the light of day or continued helping people. My first editor, Ralph “Jake” Warner, showed infinite patience in working with a first-time author. My second editor, Lisa Goldoftas, challenged every punctuation mark and sentence structure while gracefully deferring to my knowledge about the subject. Also at Nolo: Steve Elias designed many of the helpful charts and made a number of editorial suggestions; Adam Stanhope educated me about computers; Mark Stuhr lent his expertise by fine-tuning and updating computer-related material; Stephanie Harolde worked her word processing wonders on the manuscript; Terri Hearsh designed the book and lent her vast experience to enhance the quality of the book and financial forms; Eddie Warner gave helpful suggestions on online information; and many more helpful and professional folks at Nolo improved the book greatly. A special thanks to a number of generous individuals, each of whom knows a great deal about starting and operating a small business. Peg Moran, author of Invest in Yourself: A Woman’s Guide to Starting Her Own Business and Surviving the First Two Years: A Woman’s Guide to Running Her Business Successfully, made several suggestions that helped the book greatly and has been a good and supportive friend from the first. Terri Hearsh, a former Vice President for Bank of America, made a number of suggestions from the bank officer’s point of view. Roger Pritchard, a Berkeley, California, small business consultant who has counseled hundreds of small business owners, reminded me that small is often beautiful. Also, thanks to two people who took the time to read the book carefully and offer suggestions. Their input was extremely useful—but I am responsible for any information that is incorrect: Jason Wallach is a friend and a CPA in Santa Rosa, California; his input was very helpful. Harry Keller of the Santa Rosa SBA office was kind enough to explain several intricacies of that system to me. Dan Peters took time from starting his new manufacturing business to read the manuscript and offer valuable suggestions. Sharyn Simmons kindly allowed me to use her business concept as an example of a service business. Larry Healy let me modify his business plan as an example of a manufacturing business. Hugh Codding and Leroy Knibb of Codding Investments shared details of retail operations. Finally, I want to thank all my readers, clients, and students who have shared their hopes, dreams, and problems with me over the years. Many of their stories and suggestions appear here in disguised form. I hope you will profit from their experiences as I have. Mike P. McKeever San Francisco, California About the Author Mike P. McKeever’s education, work experience, business ownership, writing, and teaching careers give him a broad and unique perspective on business planning. He has a BA in Economics from Whittier College and a Master’s in Economics from the London (England) School of Economics, and has done post-graduate work in financial analysis at the USC Business School. Mike has taught classes at numerous community colleges in entrepreneurship and small business management. He has published articles on entrepreneurship for Dow Jones publications, the Sloan Publications Business Journal, and numerous newspapers and periodicals. Mike has successfully purchased, expanded, and sold a number of businesses, including a manufacturing company, tune-up shop, gas station, retail store, and commercial building. He has worked for a variety of companies ranging from small groceries to multimillion dollar manufacturers. As an independent business broker, he assessed the strengths and weaknesses of hundreds of companies. As senior financial analyst for a Fortune 500 company, he wrote and analyzed nearly 500 business plans. Currently, Mike runs a company, Business Plan Workshop, in which this book features prominently. He conducts workshops for groups of small business owners and takes each person through the actual steps of completing a business plan for his or her individual business. Table of Contents I How to Use This Book 1 Benefits of Writing a Business Plan A. What Is a Business Plan? ...................................................................... 1/2 B. Why Write a Business Plan? ................................................................ 1/2 C. Issues Beyond the Plan ........................................................................ 1/3 2 Do You Really Want to Own a Business? A. Introduction ......................................................................................... 2/2 B. Self-Evaluation Exercises ...................................................................... 2/3 C. How to Use the Self-Evaluation Lists ................................................... 2/6 D. Reality Check: Banker’s Analysis ......................................................... 2/6 3 Choosing the Right Business A. Introduction ......................................................................................... 3/2 B. Know Your Business ............................................................................ 3/2 C. Be Sure You Like Your Business ........................................................... 3/3 D. Describe Your Business ....................................................................... 3/4 E. Taste, Trends, and Technology: How Will the Future Affect Your Business? ........................................................................... 3/8 F. Break-Even Analysis: Will Your Business Make Money? .................... 3/11 G. What You Have Accomplished .......................................................... 3/21