High Return Investments

Business plan

A business plan is a summary of how a business owner, manager, or
entrepreneur intends to organize a commercial endeavor and implement
activities necessary and sufficient for the venture to succeed. It is a
written explanation of the companies business model.

Business plans are used internally for management and planning and are also
used to convince outsiders such as banks or venture capitalists to invest
money into a venture.

Content of a business plan

A business plan can be seen as a collection of sub-plans including a
marketing plan, financial plan, production plan, and human resource plan.
The business plan has many forms. There is however a format that is typical:

   * Executive summary
        o explains the basic business model
        o gives rationale for the strategy
   * Background
        o gives short history of company (unless it is a new company)
        o provides background details such as:
             + age of company
             + number of employees
             + annual sales figures
             + location of facilities
             + form of ownership including
                  + sole proprietor
                  + Partnership
                  + entrepreneurial startup
                  + private corporate startup
                  + publicly traded corporation.
                  + public utility
                  + Non Profit Organization
        o background of key personnel including
             + owners
             + senior managers
             + head scientists and researchers
   * Marketing
        o the macroenviroment
        o the competitive environment
        o the industry
        o the customers priorities
        o product strategy
        o pricing strategy
        o promotion strategy
        o distribution strategy
   * Production and manufacturing
        o describe all processes
        o production facility requirements - size, layout, capacity,
          location
        o inventory requirements - raw materials inventory, finnished goods
          inventory, wharehouse space requirements
        o equipment requirements
        o supply chain requirements
        o fixed cost allocation
   * Finance
        o source of funds
        o expected return
        o break even analysis
        o monthly pro-forma cash flow statement
        o existing loans and liabilities
   * Human resources
        o assign responsibilities
        o training required
        o skills required
        o union issues
        o compensation
        o skills availability
        o new hiring

Specialized sections such as product research and development, legal
strategies, marketing research, or inter-company collaberations, are added
to deal with unique features or characterics of the business or its markets.

Investment FreshNews:

G7 finance chiefs to meet Friday in Washington: Treasury (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:42:02 GMT
The US Treasury said Monday that the finance chiefs of the Group of Seven industrialized nations will meet this week ahead of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

A.I.G. To Sell Thai Consumer Finance Unit (New York Times)
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:00:32 GMT
American International Group is to sell its Thai consumer finance businesses, including AIG Retail Bank and AIG Card, the head of the bank said on Monday.

European Finance Ministers Struggle to Agree on Crisis Response (Bloomberg)
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:37:24 GMT
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- European finance ministers struggled to agree on a coordinated response to the global financial crisis after European stocks dropped the most since 1987.

Brazil to Use International Reserves to Finance Trade (Update1) (Bloomberg)
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:39:18 GMT
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Brazilian central bank President Henrique Meirelles , seeking to shore up confidence after stocks and the currency plunged, said the government will use its record international reserves to finance exports and ease a credit crunch.

Council delays vote on hiring new finance director requesting more background information (Macon Telegraph)
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:31:14 GMT
A Macon City Council committee today postponed its confirmation of Tom Barber as the city's next finance director.

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