BUSINESS PLAN PROJECT

Part $3($covering chapters $6-7-8)$

Your goal: To plan your startup$$s management, organization, operations, and production decisions.

You$$re ready to dig deeper into the planning process and work on your operations plan. This is where you will discuss your management team, personnel needs, organization, facilities requirements, and production decisions. To critique your plan, you$$ll step into the shoes of a management candidate seeking a position with your firm, and take a second look at your decisions.

A wheel shows a breakdown of the different components of a business plan, they are Operations, Timeline, Competitor Analysis, SWOT Analysis, Mission Statement, Marketing Plan, Product Description, and Financial Planning.

In two sentences, state the nature and mission of your new business, and what the mission means for you, your company, and your most important stakeholders.

As the founder of this startup, your planning includes setting goals in a number of areas, including production and finance. Although you$$re at an early stage in the business plan, write down your estimate of first$-$year and second$-$year unit and dollar sales. Also write down how many units you plan to produce in the first and second years. If your company is a service business, set goals for how many customers you want to serve in your first and second years. Are your estimates consistent with each other? Are they reasonable, given the timing of your business launch, your financing, and the competition you$$ll face? Explain your goals and justify them in a few sentences here.

Explore your organization$$s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Identify two internal factors as positives and two as negatives. Also identify two external factors as positives and two as negatives. List these factors in a SWOT $($strengths$,$ weaknesses, opportunities, and threats$)$ grid. Then write a brief paragraph describing how your business can make the most of its strengths and opportunities while countering its weaknesses and guarding against threats.

A concept map shows the element and examples of SWOT Analysis. At the center is a box titled, SWOT Analysis. At the top left of the box is another box titled, Strengths. It has the following sub$-$points. $1.$ Efficient distribution channels. $2.$ Employee education and experience. $3.$ Protected patents. $4.$ Core competencies. $5.$ Excellent facilities$/$equipment$.6.$ Proven management. $7.$ Economies of scale. $8.$ Cost advantages. At the top right is the box titled, Weaknesses. It has the following sub$-$points. $1.$ High turnover, absenteeism$.2.$ Lack of strategic direction. $3.$ Obsolete production facilities. $4.$ Labor grievances. $5.$ Lack of managerial depth. $6.$ Negative public image. At the bottom right is a box titled, Opportunities. It has the following sub$-$points. $1.$ New markets opening up$.2.$ New technologies. $3.$ Increased demand for new products. $4.$ Potential strategic alliances. $5.$ More favorable trade regulations in desirable foreign markets. $6.$ Competitor complacency. At the bottom right is the box titled Threats with the following sub$-$points. $1.$ Entry of lower$-$cost foreign competitors. $2.$ Unfavorable changes in buyer needs and tastes. $3.$ Rising sales of substitute products. $4.$ Slowing market growth. $5.$ Costly regulatory requirements. $6.$ Vulnerability to business cycle changes. $7.$ Sole sourcing.

Often, founders wear multiple hats until their businesses begin to generate sufficient income to cover payroll costs for additional personnel. These areas of specialization include financial, operations, marketing, human resources, and administrative managers. Which specialized management roles will you play in the new business? Will you need to hire people for particular management functions? Write a few sentences about your management skills and how they relate to the specialized management roles you will assume. If you need to bring in others for specific functions, explain your plan and timing.

Concept map shows areas of management specialization. The areas appear in boxes from left to right as follows. Finance. Operations. Marketing. Human resources. Administration. Others $($e$.$g$.,$ research and development$).$

As the manager of your own business, you$$ll need five types of skills for success. How much experience do you have in each