Creating a Business Plan

Your purpose in creating a business plan may be to obtain financing, to create a guide for managing your business, to clarify your business operation, to focus employees on core business objectives and goals, or some combination of these
or other factors.

Creating a business plan is the process of making a road map for your enterprise—it is an essential part of any business if it is to succeed.

The business plan serves many purposes and is essential to starting a new venture as part of your business. A business plan consists of several parts.

• Create a Mission Statement reflecting the core purpose of your business, stating the basic values and goals in a short, focused sentence of no more than 20 words. Ask yourself: What is the purpose of the proposed project? What benefit will it provide? Who are the costumers?

• Create a Marketing Slogan, consisting of a short, clever, even humorous translation of your mission statement that conveys a single, simple thought about your business to your customer.

• Set Measurable Goals & Objectives. Goals are 3-5 years out; objectives are things you want to accomplish in the next year. Some areas for consideration may include sales volume, profits, customer satisfaction, owner compensation, number of employees, employee development, etc. To set goals and objectives, ask yourself the basic: What? Why? How? When? and Who? questions. Then set timetables to match goals and objectives. Who will be responsible for what activities? Who are the key employees and what are their titles? How long do you plan to operate this venture? How many hours are you willing to commit to this venture? Where do you see the business in 3-5 years? How are you going to promote customer satisfaction?

• Gather Information from reputable sources to document your business plan. You’ll want to know about potential buyers and expenditures, preferences, and interests;competition and complementary services in your area; etc. These types of surveys are available from the OR Economic Development Department Tourism Commission and various associations. Also you can check trade publications and call yoou research dept. at your local public library, they can help too.

• Describe Enterprise: When was it started, or projected to start? Why was it started? Who started it? How does the enterprise fit in with your overall business or operation? How are you set up as a business (sole proprietorship, general partnership, limited partnership, regular corporation, chapter S corporation)?

• Describe Your Product or Service: Write down what you are selling to the public or the trade. Why should people buy your service? What does it do? What makes it unique? What will it cost to provide this service or product? How much will
you charge? How does it compare to other similar recreation enterprises? Are there complementary services in the area?

• Define Your Customers: Who are you targeting for your enterprise? You’ll want to define: gender, age, income, occupation, location, family status, children, education, and interests. For example, if you are developing a fee hunting enterprise, you’ll probably look at males in the 25 to 50-age range. Survey information on this type of profile may be available from sources listed later in this publication.