How do I write a business plan for my Christian start-up? Part 3

So far in this series of posts we’ve gone over why a business plan is needed, what it needs to accomplish, how to put together its framework (outline), and where to find the resources for getting started on writing a business plan for your Christian startup. As promised in the last post, this one will focus on the research needed to complete your plan. I consider there to be three sources for the data you’ll be gathering. “Public Data”, “Hands On Data”, and “Pay For Data”.

Public Data is basically free. Its in the public domain, so you can gather it from the internet, visiting your local public and university libraries, or through other public sources.

Hands On Data is physically gathered. It is collected as you can imagine, by going out and doing some legwork; measuring drive by or foot traffic at possible locations, visiting competitors and scoping out their businesses, or even by conducting polls with potential customers. All of these are forms of this type of data source.

Pay For Data is collected by hiring a company that specializes in doing things such as: marketing focus groups, writing industry reports based on proprietary data, joining a chamber of commerce or industry associations to garner info you will need, etc. The following links are a list of resource sites and pages that will allow you to get started on gathering Public and Pay For data. Hands On data is up to you to go out and gather.

General Entrepreneurial & Business Info
SBA- The Small Business Administration
SCORE- (Service Corps of Retired Executives) Small business counseling and resources
Bureau of Labor Statistics- A U.S. Dept. of Labor site
Info USA- A U.S. Dept. of State site
American Factfinder- A U.S. Census Bureau site
Sta.rtUp.Biz- Entrepreneurial social network
Startup Nation- Entrepreneur resources network
Net Impact- Network of community leaders impacting the business world
Go4Funding Forums- Entrepreneur network Q&A forums
SBTV- Small business television
Entrepreneur magazine-
Small Biz Opportunities magazine
B-Net- Reference publications

Perfect Business- Entrepreneur network

Christian Specific Research
Generous Giving
Association of Religion Data Archives
Info USA Religion Data-
ASARB- Assoc. of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies
Lifeway Research
Barna Group- Free and for pay Christian focused info and custom research
CBA- Assoc. for Christian Retail
FCCI- (Canada) Fellowship of Companies for Christ International
Christ @ Work- US version of the network above

Industry Research
Bureau of Labor Statistics- U.S. Industries at a glance
Closerware- Non-Profit Market research
Crunchbase- Database of tech companies, people, and investors
Experts & Think tanks- Find an expert to help find specific information
Expert Pages-Mostly for attorneys, but can be used to get specific expertise data

Ibis World- Industry research and reports (pay for data)

Market Trends
Comscore- Internet Rankings
Alexa- Web Page rankings and visitor info
PSFK- Trends and innovation
Trendspotting- Internet trends & marketing research

Marketing Research Firms
Greenbook- Find research firms
Market Research World
Mindbranch- Christian and religious research and statistics
Fuld & Company- Competitive intelligence
Dun and Bradstreet- Company & credit research

Competitor Research
Future now- Article with tools to legally spy on your competition
Fuld & Company- Competitive intelligence tools
The Deal.com- News on deals occurring in the business world

Technorati Tags: Business plan,Christian Startup,Christian Business,Christian Capitalism,Business plan research,Christian Resources,Startup Resources

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How do I write a business plan for my Christian start-up? Part 2

Writing a business plan can be a hard task for an entrepreneur for many reasons, the biggest one of all being that the majority of entrepreneurs tend to be A type personalities. We subscribe to the “Just do it” mentality. We see an opportunity and are ready to go out and fill the need. “Forget about planning, lets get it done”. Right? We have the idea in our minds of the perfect product, service, or business. We know in our gut that there is a need for it, that people will love it. There are even many documented success stories where entrepreneurs went ahead and did just that. Unfortunately there have been studies done that show that the failure to have an adequate plan in place is a big factor in the failure of many firms. In the previous post I talked about why you need a business plan and what it should accomplish.

Image by panuta via Flickr

This post will show you how to begin taking the two most important first steps when building your Christian business plan: establishing an appropriate framework, and filling in the blanks by doing the research needed. In this stage you will solidify your ideas and back up what you feel in your gut, with hard facts and data. Ideally the data will support your original assumptions and maybe even give you some ideas to add value or depth. It is very important though, to be honest with yourself and look at what your findings are telling you, because sometimes the data tells us things we may not want to hear. It may tell you that you have to tweak or change a few things. Then again it may tell you that your original idea needs a major overhaul, or that it won’t work in its current format. Unfortunately I have been faced with this scenario on at least one occasion, and although disappointing at the time, it saved me a lot of wasted time, money, and future heartache. Looking at the situation and data I had collected, in an honest way, helped me to see that I needed to look into starting up my business in a different part of the country. The location I was looking at, would just not support the amount of revenue I was looking for. I’m not saying to quit your dream if the data is not supporting your idea. What I am saying is to use the data to reformulate things to give yourself the greatest chance to succeed. The frame work for a business plan is generally agreed upon. What is up for discussion is how long it should be, what areas you should spend more time on, etc… I believe that you have to adjust your business plan to what you will be using it for. The plan should start off with a section called the Executive Summary. This part should summarize the most important points that you want to communicate. It’s like an elevator pitch for your business plan. An investor should be able to have a general idea of what you want to do and how you are going to do it. If they are interested they can dive into the details by continuing to read on. You will follow the Executive Summary with specific areas that address the overview of the company, products and services, marketing, management, operations, financials, legal, and (for Christian companies) social benefit. Here are some sites that have templates or advice on how to put this framework together. SCORE Business Plan Template SCRIBD Business Plan Template Free Sample Business Plans Business Plan Resources I find these links particularly useful. The sections that you use in your specific business plan depend on your business type and your purpose for putting together a plan in the first place. Is this to get yourself organized and focused or is it targeted towards raising capital? What kind of investors are you looking to target? Are they VCs that expect you to make it succinct and to the point, or are they family and friends, that will take the time to read through and understand your plan? Think about what you want the plan to accomplish. Guy Kawasaki’s book “The Art of the Start” is a good source of info for getting a new business off the ground. There are also some good resource links on his venture capital page. Once you have decided on your framework, its time to fill it in with the information you will need, make sure to leave the Executive Summary for last. It will summarize your plan, so leave it blank until you have input all your info and research. First you will fill in the parts you know. Fill in the Business Description and Company Background. Summarize your Business Strategy and describe your Products and Services. Make sure you also fill in information on any Competitive Advantages your company may have; unique or proprietary technology, processes, or expertise. Social Benefit and Exit Strategy would also be sections you may be able to fill out before doing research, but as with everything you are doing at this point these may change once you start doing more in-depth research. Once you have filled in what you can with your existing knowledge, you should start the important work of doing research to flesh out and back up your plan. Two good places to start for general information and resources are SCORE and the SBA. There are also many local entrepreneur centers and university small business resources that you could tap into, close to where you live. In the next post I will talk more about research types and sources. I will also list some sites where you can get statistics and information that targets Christian business specifically. I welcome your comments regarding whether this post has helped you to put together your business plan, or if you have other resources links that could help others to put together their plan.

Technorati Tags: Business plan,Christian Business,Entrepreneur Resources,Christian Entrepreneur,Christian Startup,Starting a business,Entrepreneur,Startup

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How do I write a business plan for my Christian start-up? Part 1

Putting together a business plan for your Christian or Social Enterprise Start-up can be a daunting task, especially if you have never put one together before. Add to it the fact that there is an added social benefit aspect involved, and you see why people might think that this is beyond them. Don't worry! In this series of posts I will cover all the steps needed to put together your business plan.

Image by juhansonin via Flickr

That is, if you don't want to pay a professional to do it. I'll also include information on software that you can use to make your life easier, if that's the route you would like to take. I find that putting together my own plan really helps to form my ideas, work out problems, and really see things from an investor's and client's perspective. Going through the journey and doing the work and research it takes, to put together a good plan, really prepares you when it comes to presenting your "big idea" to prospective stakeholders.
Your business plan should help you to do the following:

• Better form your ideas regarding the business
  
• Formulate a strategy for your business including marketing plan, financial plan, products offered, etc.
  
• Ultimately help you to raise capital for your venture, by communicating your vision to others and answering the potential investor's main question: "Why should I invest my hard earned money in you and your idea, instead of somewhere else"?

Your business plan could be for a small home business with you as the only employee, or it could be for something on a much grander scale. Whatever the case, the plan needs to be able to communicate your vision, the steps to realize that vision, and it needs to show readers the following:

• You have experience in the business you are about to embark upon, or you have a management team that is experienced
• You have an understanding of the industry, the business, your target market, and your competition
  
• You have an understanding of the risks involved, you know the costs and have worked out an approach to overcome these factors (i.e.- operating on foreign soil)
  
• You have projected a financial outcome for the first five years with realistic numbers (pro forma statements) and it is going to bring a great return on investment (ROI)
  
• You have projected the social outcome in the first five years and it is going to bring a great social benefit
  

In the next post I will discuss what I consider to be the first step once you have your business idea and have decided to go forward with the business plan; doing the research. I'll include a list of information sources for your research so you can get started backing up your ideas with hard facts and figures.

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