Section #5: Management Structure
Here you will discuss the person (you) or people (managers, partners etc.) who will play a role in operating the business. The stronger the credentials of each individual, the better weight your business plan will carry.
Note: if you are seeking funds from an angel or private investor, this section can outweigh most of the others in terms of building accountability and credibility.
- Key Titles to be held by you and/or your business partners, the responsibilities involved and the credentials of each person.
- Professional Support including your lawyer, accountant, or similar professionals who will play a role in the business, before and/or after it launches.
- Key advisors that will assist you with critical , operational advice such as franchise consultants and professional association executives.
Section #6: Financial Plan
The final section of your business plan is the one your lender or audience has been waiting for – to see if your business “narrative” will justify the numbers on which to base your financing needs. This section may require the assistance of a finance professional. The required documents in the financial plan are:
- Profit and Loss Projection: includes your projected sales, cost of sales, operating expenses, and net profit earned from month to month in your first year.
- Cash Flow Projection: similar in structure to the profit and loss projection, this document will show how well you planned your sales projections against your working capital and is a snapshot of how well your business is doing from month to month. The CFP narrows down when your business actually collects its revenue and shows patterns of money-in, money-out from month to month.
- Opening Balance Sheet: The OBS displays what your franchise owns (assets) versus what it owes (liabilities) and the difference (owner equity). To prepare this document you will need to add up all the start-up expenses to the franchise, including payouts for rent, utilities, and other fees.
- Break-Even Analysis: The B/E Analysis displays how much money your franchise needs to net each month to “break-even” – to meet the financial requirements to pay all of your monthly expenses, which can include your salary. Any net revenue above this B/E figure is considered business profit.
Section #7: Appendices
The Appendices are additional pieces of information that provide some form of illustration or visual description of the content in the body of the business plan. Here is where you can include franchise opportunity brochures and pamphlets supplied by the franchisor, copies of leases and contracts, and other supporting materials that may have been referenced in the body of the plan.
The Next Step
This business plan template can guide you through each of the sections outlined above. You will also find links in the Financial Plan section to samples of each financial document. You will require Microsoft Word to open the business plan template and Excel to open the financial data.
Bear in mind, not every section or sub-section will be applicable to your business venture; also, you may need to add specific sub-sections to outline various unique details pertinent to your franchise venture.
