Presentation by Darlene Newman, founder of Ivy Capital Technologies, on how to write a business plan, presented at the Business4U event in New York City on February 5, 2011.

1. Art of Business Planning Darlene Newman, Founder, Ivy Capital Technologies Email: darlene@ivycapitaltechnologies.com Copyright 2011, Ivy Capital Technologies

4. Competed in over 10 business plan competitions

5. Worked with three venture capital funds

6. Taught business plan development at Fordham University and the Grace Institute

8. Serve as a feasibility study for the chances of success and growth

9. Define your purpose, your competition and your management team

10. Act as a communication tool for investors, suppliers, employees and others interested in your business

12. Templates and guidelines: www.Wickedstart.comor www.Bplans.com

14. Why you are in business

15. What you do and how you do it

16. Where you operate

17. How you will generate money

18. Who your customers are

21. Table of Contents

22. Vision and Mission Statement

23. Industry and Product Description

24. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

25. Marketing and Sales Plan

26. Operating Plan

27. Management Team

28. Risk and Contingency Plan

29. Financial Plan

30. Summary and Conclusion

32. Table of Contents

33. Vision and Mission Statement

34. Industry and Product Description

35. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

36. Marketing and Sales Plan

37. Operating Plan

38. Management Team

39. Risk and Contingency Plan

40. Financial Plan

41. Summary and Conclusion

43. It should be less than two pages, single space

44. It should be the last thing you write, pulling it all together in a clearly and conciselyExecutive summary template available at https://docs0.google.com/document/d/1zX_eg39hyjkk-FSEFNDj_-ii6ijuIjxtVkpBtfLq1g4/edit?hl=en&authkey=CPWjvokE#

46. Table of Contents

47. Vision and Mission Statement

48. Industry and Product Description

49. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

50. Marketing and Sales Plan

51. Operating Plan

52. Management Team

53. Risk and Contingency Plan

54. Financial Plan

55. Summary and Conclusion

57. Table of Contents

58. Vision and Mission Statement

59. Industry and Product Description

60. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

61. Marketing and Sales Plan

62. Operating Plan

63. Management Team

64. Risk and Contingency Plan

65. Financial Plan

66. Summary and Conclusion

69. NO: We provide duplication technology for schools

70. YES: We “bring high-quality music” to the home

71. NO: We install record players and speakers“Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”

73. Give employees a sense of purpose

75. No more than one to three sentences

76. Act as an internal guideline, not public

77. Cover a two-year timeframe

79. Table of Contents

80. Vision and Mission Statement

81. Industry and Product Description

82. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

83. Marketing and Sales Plan

84. Operating Plan

85. Management Team

86. Risk and Contingency Plan

87. Financial Plan

88. Summary and Conclusion

90. Table of Contents

91. Vision and Mission Statement

92. Industry and Product Description

93. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

94. Marketing and Sales Plan

95. Operating Plan

96. Management Team

97. Risk and Contingency Plan

98. Financial Plan

99. Summary and Conclusion

101. Company description

102. Product and / or service description

103. Key accomplishmentsSection details No. of Pages 2

105. Your potential for growth

106. Who your competitors are

107. Who your target market isGives the “Big Picture” of what NEED your company fills and WHY you’ll be successful

110. Problems:What are the challenges facing the industry

112. Cover the basics of your product or service;

113. “What” you sell

114. “Where” will you sell it

115. “How” you will sell it

116. “Why” it exists as designed

117. What’s your pricing

119. Table of Contents

120. Vision and Mission Statement

121. Industry and Product Description

122. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

123. Marketing and Sales Plan

124. Operating Plan

125. Management Team

126. Risk and Contingency Plan

127. Financial Plan

128. Summary and Conclusion

130. Table of Contents

131. Vision and Mission Statement

132. Industry and Product Description

133. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

134. Marketing and Sales Plan

135. Operating Plan

136. Management Team

137. Risk and Contingency Plan

138. Financial Plan

139. Summary and Conclusion

141. Target Market / Customer Profile

142. Competition

143. Competitive AdvantageSection details No. of Pages 3

146. What makes you betterWhy do I care. . .

148. How: How do they buy it now, or will they most likely go to buy it in the future (i.e. retail store, Internet, etc.)

149. Where:Where do they go to find information about it (i.e. magazines, television, social network sites, etc.)

150. What: Is the motivation for buying (i.e. necessity or a luxury)

151. When: When do they go to buy it (i.e. when needed, when desired, etc.)

152. How often: What’s the frequency in which they purchase it (i.e. daily, monthly, seasonally)The target market, who are they?

154. Trade Associations

155. Business Periodicals

156. State and Federal Resources

157. Local Resources (Chamber of Commerce, SBDCs, BICs)

158. Professional Research Companies

159. Studying the Competition

160. Surveys (focus groups and interviews)

161. ObservationsThe market, where do I look?

163. What do they offer, products and services?

164. Years they’ve been in business?

165. What are their price points?

166. What are their strengths?

167. What are their weaknesses?

168. Recent trends?Consider Creating a Matrix

170. Personal authority on the subject (e.g. Dell)

171. The “Dream Team” that has expertise hard to bring together (e.g. Google)

173. Table of Contents

174. Vision and Mission Statement

175. Industry and Product Description

176. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

177. Marketing and Sales Plan

178. Operating Plan

179. Management Team

180. Risk and Contingency Plan

181. Financial Plan

182. Summary and Conclusion

184. Table of Contents

185. Vision and Mission Statement

186. Industry and Product Description

187. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

188. Marketing and Sales Plan

189. Operating Plan

190. Management Team

191. Risk and Contingency Plan

192. Financial Plan

193. Summary and Conclusion

195. Pricing Strategy

196. Sales and Distribution Plan

197. Marketing Plan

198. BudgetSection details No. of Pages 4

199. First thing you need to do is determine your secret ingredient, your “special sauce” Develop your unique value proposition in two phases; Your unique value proposition Better Faster Cheaper Internally : You and your senior management team need to decide what makes you unique from your competitors Externally: Craft your value proposition into an outbound message to your market

201. then, compare your products and services to COMPARABLE OFFERINGS from other companies, and

203. Flat price

204. Subscription

205. Intro Packages

207. Marketing budgets

208. Final retail pricing

210. Retail (Physical / Online)

211. Distributors

212. Sales ForceDistribution partners are a great way for a small business to enter a market

214. How often will each be used? What will they cost? Why did you choose these marketing avenues over others?

215. What marketing materials will you need? What will it cost you? (brochures, website, etc)

216. Who will design your marketing materials? What will they cost?

217. What is the cost of marketing materials per prospect or client

218. Detail out your budget – is it realistic?

220. Table of Contents

221. Vision and Mission Statement

222. Industry and Product Description

223. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

224. Marketing and Sales Plan

225. Operating Plan

226. Management Team

227. Risk and Contingency Plan

228. Financial Plan

229. Summary and Conclusion

231. Table of Contents

232. Vision and Mission Statement

233. Industry and Product Description

234. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

235. Marketing and Sales Plan

236. Operating Plan

237. Management Team

238. Risk and Contingency Plan

239. Financial Plan

240. Summary and Conclusion

242. Production / Operations process

243. Start-up schedule

244. Regulatory and intellectual property (IP)

245. Capital requirements and budgetSection details No. of Pages 2

247. Production & Operation Processes: Outline the process by which you will produce, distribute and sell your product or service, include;

248. Facilities and equipment you’ll need

249. Quality assurance processes

250. Labor requirements

251. Startup Schedule: How long will it take to get your product market ready and what are your key milestones you want to hit?

252. Intellectual Property: Will you file for patent, trademarks / service mark?

253. Budget: What will it take to startup and maintain operations?The operational plan

255. Table of Contents

256. Vision and Mission Statement

257. Industry and Product Description

258. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

259. Marketing and Sales Plan

260. Operating Plan

261. Management Team

262. Risk and Contingency Plan

263. Financial Plan

264. Summary and Conclusion

266. Table of Contents

267. Vision and Mission Statement

268. Industry and Product Description

269. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

270. Marketing and Sales Plan

271. Operating Plan

272. Management Team

273. Risk and Contingency Plan

274. Financial Plan

275. Summary and Conclusion

277. Key executive team members

278. Executive compensation and ownership

279. Board of directors

280. Board of advisors and / or consultants

281. Organization chart (if appropriate)Section Details No. of Pages 2

283. Strengths that align with the company’s product or service

285. Board of advisors: Possible equity but no voting rights

287. Table of Contents

288. Vision and Mission Statement

289. Industry and Product Description

290. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

291. Marketing and Sales Plan

292. Operating Plan

293. Management Team

294. Risk and Contingency Plan

295. Financial Plan

296. Summary and Conclusion

298. Table of Contents

299. Vision and Mission Statement

300. Industry and Product Description

301. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

302. Marketing and Sales Plan

303. Operating Plan

304. Management Team

305. Risk and Contingency Plan

306. Financial Plan

307. Summary and Conclusion

312. Table of Contents

313. Vision and Mission Statement

314. Industry and Product Description

315. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

316. Marketing and Sales Plan

317. Operating Plan

318. Management Team

319. Risk and Contingency Plan

320. Financial Plan

321. Summary and Conclusion

323. Table of Contents

324. Vision and Mission Statement

325. Industry and Product Description

326. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

327. Marketing and Sales Plan

328. Operating Plan

329. Management Team

330. Risk and Contingency Plan

331. Financial Plan

332. Summary and Conclusion

334. Statement of assumptions

335. Key financial data

336. Break-even analysis

337. Desired financing and structure

338. Use of funds

339. Valuations and return

341. Are you selling a product or service?

342. Are you going to be home-based / online or will you have a store front / physical location?

343. Are you going to license or offer subscription based pricing or pay as you go?

344. Are you going to use multi-level marketing / affiliates?How do you plan on keeping your business afloat?

346. Cost of goods sold (COGS): what does each unit sold cost you?

347. Operating costs: what do you need each month to maintain operations?‘BURN RATE’ KNOW your burn rate – what do you spend each month, know it 6, 12 even 18 months out

349. No. of units sold: how many units of your product will you sell each month Note: may want to base your sales off of your marketing spend BE REALISTIC! Few companies make money right out of the starting gate

351. Cash flow statement

354. Break-Even = Total fixed costs / margin

355. Margin = Revenue per unit - Cost per unitKnowing how much you have to sell to cover your costs is key

357. Friends / family

358. Banks / SBA (Small Business Association)

359. Equity: Money obtained from investors in exchange for an ownership

360. Friends / family

361. Angel investors

362. Venture capitalist

364. Sell your shares

365. Liquidate; although not recommended as part of your business plan if you’re looking for investors

366. IPO (Initial Public Offering): sell shares on the open market

368. Table of Contents

369. Vision and Mission Statement

370. Industry and Product Description

371. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

372. Marketing and Sales Plan

373. Operating Plan

374. Management Team

375. Risk and Contingency Plan

376. Financial Plan

377. Summary and Conclusion

379. Table of Contents

380. Vision and Mission Statement

381. Industry and Product Description

382. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

383. Marketing and Sales Plan

384. Operating Plan

385. Management Team

386. Risk and Contingency Plan

387. Financial Plan

388. Summary and Conclusion

391. Table of Contents

392. Vision and Mission Statement

393. Industry and Product Description

394. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

395. Marketing and Sales Plan

396. Operating Plan

397. Management Team

398. Risk and Contingency Plan

399. Financial Plan

400. Summary and Conclusion

402. Table of Contents

403. Vision and Mission Statement

404. Industry and Product Description

405. Market Analysis and Competitive Advantage

406. Marketing and Sales Plan

407. Operating Plan

408. Management Team

409. Risk and Contingency Plan

410. Financial Plan

411. Summary and Conclusion

414. 1.5 line spacing, except the executive summary

415. Use clear font and fonts size that can be read, Arial, 11 pt or larger

416. Set generous margins

417. Use bullets – makes it easier for people to pinpoint what they need to know

418. Use simple terms, no big words

419. Use graphics whenever possibleExecutive summary template available at https://docs0.google.com/document/d/1zX_eg39hyjkk-FSEFNDj_-ii6ijuIjxtVkpBtfLq1g4/edit?hl=en&authkey=CPWjvokE# Investor deck template available at https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AaXsMsxhFJBuZGM3YzRnazNfMTdncHJmbmhjeg&hl=en&authkey=CNb3sboK

420. Questions?