Small business plan template

JJHelping Hand/ Jakes Grafix A Photography, Graphic Design, and Computer Repair Business Jacob Houle February 14, 2017

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Jacob Houle

Table of Contents Section 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 4 Statement of Purpose ............................................................................................................4 Executive Summary ...............................................................................................................4 Business Description - (Business Concept - Product and/or Service) ...................................4 Marketing (Marketing Opportunities and Strategy) ................................................................5 Operational Plan .................................................................................................................... 5 Ownership and Personnel (Management Team)....................................................................5 Financials (Financial Expectations - and Funding and/or Investments) .................................6 Business Concept - Description/Narrative .............................................................................6 Business Goals and Objectives - along with Company Mission and Vision for the Company .

7 Section 2: Products/Services ........................................................................................................7 Services .................................................................................................................................7 Section 3: Marketing ..................................................................................................................... 8 Industry Information ...............................................................................................................8 Market Analysis ......................................................................................................................8 Customer Analysis/Target Audience ......................................................................................8 Competitive Analysis ..............................................................................................................8 Market Potential ................................................................................................................... 10 Marketing Strategies ............................................................................................................10 Positioning, Packaging, and Pricing Strategies ..................................................................10 Packaging ...........................................................................................................................10 Pricing .................................................................................................................................10 Selling Strategies .................................................................................................................11 Promotional Strategies and Marketing Plan - Implementation .............................................11 Section 4: Operations.................................................................................................................. 12 Business Organization .........................................................................................................12 Management and Personnel ................................................................................................ 13 Motivating the Workforce .....................................................................................................14 Section 5: Financial Plan .............................................................................................................14 Investment Required for Start Up ........................................................................................14

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Jacob Houle Income Statement ................................................................................................................ 14 Cash Flow Analysis ..............................................................................................................15 Balance Sheet ......................................................................................................................16 Section 6: Attachments-Support Documents .............................................................................. 19

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Jacob Houle

Section 1: Introduction Statement of Purpose

The whole purpose is to obtain financing or earn a profit just like any other business. The finances will go toward the cost of my own home. I am writing this plan because I just want to get started out on life and begin earning my own living or profit and spend or save it how I want.

A profit is the difference between what it costs to make and sell a product and what a customer pays for it. I am not a non-profit organization because I want to earn as much money as I can and I don’t want my all my hard work to go toward another foundation. A non-profit organization is an organization that provides goods or services but does not have the basic purpose of earning a profit. I also want to use this small business toward startup and supply costs. Supply is the number of products that businesses are willing to sell at different prices at a specific time. The amount I am requesting is the full $7,500 scholarship award if I could please for business startup, supply costs, and to help pay for any expenses I will have in order to start my business, keep it running and/or to maintain my business.

Executive Summary

I will be starting my business out on my own and it will be a one man show for a while until I gain profit over time. I will then expand to a much larger business. Once that is done, I will add more jobs to my business and hire more employees to help get more work done. I will add more jobs like computer repairman and photography. The ultimate goal is to have a smooth running computer business. Once I reach that point I will have all kinds of computer related jobs in my business. I want to have more jobs to have more income. I feel if I eventually add computer repairman and photography to my graphic design business, I will be more successful. I know if I just stick with graphic design all year, every year I will most likely have some down times, like in the winter. My graphic design business will be slow in the winter time because people will most likely not be starting a business in the middle of the cold winter.

Whereas in the summer time or the fall those will be my busiest times of the year because that is the perfect time for people to start a new company in the warm weather. That is when people will want a logo or website for business start up and as a way of representing their company and advertising it as well.

Business Description - (Business Concept - Product and/or Service)

My Business name is JJHelping Hand. This is going to start out as a one man show but then eventually it will grow as a corporation and I can create more jobs for people. The kind of service I am going to provide is an intangible service. I am not going to focus on just one job; I want to have many to have more income. JJHelping Hand ties in a variety of jobs because my business is all about pleasing people and lending a “helping hand to my customers.” When I say a variety of jobs I mean I am capable of being an accountant, Game Designer, Movie Producer, Graphic Designer and even a computer repair technician. I can also take pictures of events like weddings, anniversaries, holidays (i.e. Christmas, New years, Valentine’s Day, or the 4th of July) or even work on a simple photo that someone wants to be edited in Photoshop. I can also make illustrations or tracings of people, objects or animals that anyone wants. My initials are JJH 4! of 19 !

Jacob Houle

(Jacob Jeffrey Houle) and I lend my customers a “hand” to help them out or please them. The services/talents I have are financial accountant, graphic designer, movie producer, game design & computer repair. Being a financial accountant, I can handle people’s taxes during tax season because I work well with numbers. I also am able to help them with money management and giving them tips on how to manage their income. As a graphic Designer, I am able to make logos, websites, and anything from book covers to a unique design on a t-shirt and everything in between. Anything you want graphic or image related I can do it. As a computer repair technician I can fix a computer no matter what the condition. If it has a virus, if it is slow or choppy, or even if it’s broken and not responding, I am right there to save the day. I have always had a passion for video games. I don’t play them often, but I do love the ideas of games being sold. Same with movie making/producing.

Business Goals

• • • •

Earn a profit Stay in business Create jobs for people Keep Customers Satisfied

Marketing (Marketing Opportunities and Strategy)

My marketing strategy is to create a website and a TV ad in order to promote my company name and business. That way people know my company name is out there to conduct business. My business is an all year every year ongoing projects of designing graphic images and video games/ movies. I also have put my company name on the internet for advertising freely. Another way to get my company out there is through the newspaper.

Operational Plan

In the beginning I am going to start out my business as a one man show. I will start small and work to become a bigger business. When I eventually gain enough profit over time I will then expand to a lager business. For operation and how I am going to offer my services is to have an office very similar to the multimedia classroom. I will have my employees always working on projects to carry out the work of my business and to keep my company running and to create jobs for people.

Ownership and Personnel (Management Team)

Since I am starting out as a one man show the plan is that I am starting my own small business and therefore I am the owner and creator of my own business. I am staring out my own business and so I own 100% of my business. Since I am just starting out on my own I have been experienced in the multimedia

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Jacob Houle field for one year and I have also had one year of training in the business program as well. I intend to hire more employees when I have substantial growth in my business. As far as I know I should not be using outside services like an accountant I am going to handle that job myself so that I have that much less expenses to hire someone to handle my finances. I will be my own accountant or I will have one of my employees that I hire later on handle my finances for me. I will not go to someone else in the outside world and have them do it for me I will have that job embedded in my business is what I am trying to say.

Financials (Financial Expectations - and Funding and/or Investments)

The financial documents that I have included are income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, and break even analysis. I would say that I made money in my income statement and final net income is $630.85.

Business Concept - Description/Narrative

Type of Business

The type of business that I am is a mixture of products and services. But I would say that I am more of a service business. As I explained earlier in my business plan, I am going to have multiple jobs so that I have more income. The more jobs I can take on the more income I have. I am more or less a computer repairman, designer, and a photographer. I am capable of doing many jobs and as I said, I will expand over time (once my profit grows) to a much larger company and hire new employees because it is hard for one man to run the whole show. So I will eventually have an office similar to that of the multimedia classroom here at GMTCC where I will have many Mac computers in one room and have employee always working on jobs.

Product Line and/or Services For services, I am going to provide graphic designs like logos, websites, banners, posters and even an ad in the paper. When I expand, I will then offer computer repair services to repair people’s broken computers.

Market

How I am going to market my business is I am going to sell my graphic design and computer repair business to customers between the ages of 25 and 50. I am also going to sell my services to small and mid size businesses that need a logo or in need of a computer repair.

Location For my business I will be staring out in my own home. I will start small and eventually work my way up to becoming a much larger company. I want to start small so that I don’t have as many expenses but as my profit goes up over time and customers take an interest in my business, I will then expand to a much larger business with my own location and a whole warehouse. For now my business is located in my upstairs bedroom. I have my own standard size printer and my own computer and email so people can contact me.

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Jacob Houle Operation As far as the operation go in my business I plan to have my business open at standard working hours like any other business. My doors will open at eight and go until like four or five o’clock at night. My busiest time of year is in the summer because that is the perfect time of year to open a new business and really make some money. It will also be busy in the fall as well because in that season the weather is still nice for people to be out and about conducting business. The winter and spring time are my least busy time of year because people will want to be in side try to stay warm and most likely not start a new business.

However I will be taking photos in the winter during holidays like Christmas or new years. But according to my sales chart it’s telling me that my highest point is in august going a high as $1900 but after that my sales take a nose dive and go down to about $1,000.

Business Goals and Objectives - along with Company Mission and Vision for the Company

Business Goals • Earn a profit • Stay in business • Create jobs for people • Keep Customers Satisfied

Mission Statement: My sole mission is that I strive to guarantee that customers be 100% satisfied with my Logos, websites, computer repair, business cards, posters, Photography & Photo editing, Banners, Business Cards, rack cards, flyers, Newsletters, tickets, cards, Menus, Advertisements, Forms, and tags. My goal is to stay in business and always keep my customers satisfied with my services.

Section 2: Products/Services Services

I am going to provide a service for my customers. I am going to provide services that are intangible. The services that I am going to provide are graphic Designs, Computer Repair, as well as a computer programmer. I am going to start with basic services then maybe expand over time depending if people like my business. I will keep my customers satisfied by using quality control which I will maintain between my customers by exchanging our feedback of whether or not they liked my services. I will put out my company name and advertise my business name a lot so people know my business and so they can contact me and so they can present to me a design that they need to be made.

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Jacob Houle

Section 3: Marketing Industry Information

Depending the time of year that it is determines how much money I make. Winter will be slower because people will not be opening a business in the cold. But in the summer time it will be my busiest time of year for me to make logos and other designs for people to open a new business. Summer time is the time for me to make posters

Market Analysis

I plan to sell my services to males and females between the ages of 25 to 50 years old. I also plan to sell my services to small businesses and mid size businesses that need a design made to represent their company. I am going to start out small as a one man show and work my way up to become a bigger company as I gain profit over time. For now my location is going to start out at my home and then I will eventually expand to having my own company building.

Customer Analysis/Target Audience

The actual customers I am going to be making an exchange with are males and females between ages 25 to 50 years old.

The decision makers that I am going to be marketing my products or services to are small businesses to mid size businesses that need a design made to represent their company.

I have no target Market that I am going to be selling my products or services to. It does not matter whether or not I sell to male or females or married or unmarried people. I may sell my graphics to people of any income level as long as they can afford my services. My marketing strategy is to start out by talking to strangers on the street and introducing me and my business to them to see if they are interested or not. If they like my business they will spread the word to others that they like my business and maybe convince them that they should buy from me too.

Competitive Analysis

Graphic design is not a monopoly because there are many out there and there is not just one graphic design business. There are hundreds or even thousands of graphic designers out there competing against one another to bring in more customers in order to keep their company up and running. It is a growing field that gets a great pay if you work hard enough toward that high salary. A monopoly is the market structure that exists when there is only one business providing a product in a given market.

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Jacob Houle XPress

Great Big Graphics

Posters, Banners, Printing, Laminating, Logos, Websites, Business Cards, rack cards, flyers, Newsletters, tickets, cards, Menus, Advertisemen ts, Forms, tags

Logos, websites, Vehicle Graphics

JJHelping Hand

News and Citizen

Products/Services

Logos, websites, computer repair, business cards, posters, Photography & Photo editing, Banners, Business Cards, rack cards, flyers, Newsletters, tickets, cards, Menus, Advertisemen ts, Forms, tags

Newspapers, Ads, Brochures, & Menus.

Pricing

$14/Hour

$34-$51/week $50 (Charged by the job)

$12/Hour

Start out at home (677 Will Grimes rd Hyde Park, Vermont)

417 Brooklyn 73 Pond St, Stowe Street Vermont Morrisville, Vermont 05661

Morrisville

Market

Sale/Promotions/Advertising Image Location

Layout for retail Market Share

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Jacob Houle Market Potential

I want to offer my services for a reasonable price so people will want to buy because they can afford it.

When prices are low the demand for the product is high. But when prices are high the demand for the product is low because no one will want to buy it considering the fact that it’s too expensive for them.

When demand goes up supply goes down simply for the fact that people are buying your product and eventually your supply of the products depletes.

Marketing Strategies

For my Marketing Strategy, I plan to advertise my business in the newspaper, on television, on craigslist, and even on Face book. In order to promote my business I will talk and meet with my customers face to face and also they can talk with me face to face by just walking into my house. How I will sell and distribute my services is to give my customers a visual by showing them their logo and meeting face to face to ask them if they like it or not. I will also communicate by email and email them their logo or idea if we are too far away and can’t talk face to face. Also my marketing channel will be channel A in the intro to business book where my services are produced by me and my company and then handed straight to my customers/consumers.

Positioning, Packaging, and Pricing Strategies

As far as my positioning goes for my business plan, I am going to start out in the privacy and comfort of my own home. I will start by getting my business name out to the world through advertising in the news paper, on YouTube, and I can also use other sites to my advantage like Craigslist. I will advertise my business on that site and dedicate a whole page just to advertise my business. I can also use social media sites to my advantage like Face book. I can post a status to say that "Hey I’m a small business just starting out" and I can have people come to me on face book, once I post information on my small business, saying they want a logo, an ad, business card, poster, banner or whatever else they want for a design, I can do it.

Packaging

In my small business I am going to start out by providing a service to my customers and when my business expands over time I will then incorporate more jobs. I will incorporate jobs like computer repairman, and photographer. Once my business expands and I gain more profit over time, I will then use some of that money to buy a nice camera and a lighting studio to take some great shots for people. I will also buy some parts needed to start a whole separate shop to fix people's computers if they need fixing. As I said over time, I will eventually offer a computer repair service as part of my business to have more income. There are certain times of year that the design part of my business will slow down and so I will then rely on the other portion of my business to keep my income constant.

Pricing

For the pricing of my services, I can charge by the hour or by the job. Some jobs are priced differently than others. When someone needs a logo or a poster then I can just charge a standard price of like $15$30. But if it's something like a website or banner, I’m going to most likely charge by the hour. I might charge like $6/hour for longer jobs like a website.

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Jacob Houle Selling Strategies

I would export my products or services in another country by flying or driving to Canada or Mexico and talking to my customers see what they want, like or don’t like. Exporting is the sale of goods and services to a foreign market. I would make an ad and broadcast it worldwide. I could also get my name out there through word of the mouth. NAFTA helps me in my selling strategy by allowing me to trade my goods or services without any cost or penalties. NAFTA Stands for North American Free Trade Agreement and it is an agreement that eliminates most tariffs and trade restrictions on agricultural and manufactured products to encourage trade among, Canada the United States and Mexico.

Promotional Strategies and Marketing Plan - Implementation

For my promotional strategies and marketing plan I am going to use as many of my resources that I can communicate my small business out to the world as I can. I am going to advertise in the local newspaper and create a print ad I am also going to use social media to my advantage and advertise there too. I will post a status on face book more or less saying that I am a small business starting out and I would like to know if anyone is interested. I will let others know what I do for them in my business. I will also make use of YouTube and advertise my company there as well. I also plan on creating an ad on craigslist because that is a very popular site and many people visit it every day. I also plan to make a radio announcement of my small business so I can further communicate to others that I am a new business just starting out. I will also create flyers, signs, business cards, brochures, and lastly I will advertise my business in magazines as well hoping that people will come to me to conduct business. I am going to advertise my business in just about every way possible to get my company out there in order to keep my business going and make a profit.

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Jacob Houle

Section 4: Operations

What is needed to operate this business? What are the tasks? Who will do them and how many hours will they take? What qualifications do you have to be able to run this business?

Business Organization

Ownership, Regulations, Contracts

Sole Proprietorship

Advantages

Disadvantages

Owned by one person and is the easiest way to conduct business

Unlimited personal liability, Limited ability to raise capital, Limited expertise and growth potential, limited life expectancy Business partners are liable for the actions each other The partnership may have a limited life; it may end upon the withdrawal or death of a partner.

Partnership

Easy way for two people to conduct business

A partnership usually has limitations that keep it from becoming a large business.

You have to consult your partner and negotiate more as you cannot make decisions by yourself. You therefore need to be more flexible

Corporation

A legal entity with shareholders or stockholders

There are rules and terms and conditions you have to abide by

S Corporation

A legal entity with tax advantages for restricted number of shareholders

Ongoing expenses, Restrictions on stock ownership.

Limited Liability Company

Avoid personal lawsuits

Laws vary by state

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Jacob Houle

The Structure of my company is going to start out as a Limited Liability Company. That way I can make all the money I can make. As a one man show, I am going to satisfy my customers as much as possible to the best of my abilities. I also am going to be in charge of my own company and be self-employed. I can work from home and not have to travel to work. I own 100% of my business. My business is going to start out as a sole proprietorship because I am starting my own business as a one man show; then as my profits increase over time, I will expand to a corporation and create jobs for people. The profits I earn independently are going toward startup and supply costs.

In the future, if I have substantial growth and I hire many employees, I would consider being a part of a labor union just because it seems easier and more logical. I will have my company be a part of a labor union in which employee organizations are formed to deal with employers for achieving better wages, hours, and working conditions. I will also offer profit sharing where a percentage of my profits are distributed to my employees. After they have done well with the job I have assigned them and they have focused on the task at hand as well as worked hard and long they will receive a bonus for their efforts.

Management and Personnel

I will start out by myself, but eventually, when I expand, I will hire someone in my business to be the financial manager, first-line managers, top manager, middle manager, production and operations manager, human resources manager, marketing manager, information technology manager, and administrative manager due to the fact that it is a lot of work for one person to handle and I don’t think any one person could handle all that work at once. Financial managers are the ones who focus on obtaining needed funds for the successful operation of an organization and using those funds to further organizational goals. The top manager is the president, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), or even the Chief Operations Officer (COO) who have the overall responsibility for the organization. The middle managers are those who are members of an organization responsible for the tactical planning that implements the general guidelines established by top management. First-line managers are those who supervise both workers and the daily operations of an organization. Production and Operations Managers develop and administer the activities involved in transferring resources into goods, services, and ideas ready for the marketplace. Human Resources Managers are those who handle the staffing function and deal with employees in a formalized manner. Marketing Managers are responsible for planning, pricing, and promoting products and making the available to customers.

Information technology Managers are responsible for implementing, maintaining, and controlling technology applications in business, such as computer networks. Lastly Administrative Managers are ones who manage an entire business or a major segment of a business; they are not specialists but coordinate the activities of specialized managers. I will

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Jacob Houle

most likely hire one person per position or even one person to hand two positions. I will also hire a bookkeeper to keep track of my finances/ daily transactions. As I said before that would be ridiculous for one person (me) to handle all those jobs. I will hire several people in order to run and maintain my business.

Motivating the Workforce In my small business I will start small as a one man show and eventually when I my profits build up overt time I will expand to a much lager company where I will have many employees work for me. To keep my employees motivated in the work place I will give them extrinsic rewards by giving them praise to make them feel good and give them positive input on something they accomplished or even give them a raise. I will also give them the needs of those listed on maslows hierarchy. I would also offer job rotation in my business to relieve them of boredom with the same job everyday all day. I will also offer job sharing where my employees can work together on one full time job to get more work accomplished. Flextime will be incorporated into my business as well.

Section 5: Financial Plan Investment Required for Start Up

What I need for minimum requirements for my small business is a fresh set of ink cartridges to replenish my inventory to keep my business going. As far as my premises go, I will be starting out at my own home but then as I gain profit over time my business will expand to a larger building. I will use my own personal vehicle and go and talk with my customers to see what they want for a job and also use that company vehicle to deliver the jobs as well. I will use $1000 of my own personal cash for business start up.

Income Statement

My Net Sales is projected to be $15,331 and expenses are projected to come in at $14,700.15. My Net income is going to be $630.85. I will have a lot of expenses like salaries expense and I will need to also have repairs and maintenance done in my shop to keep my business up and going. I will have supplies to replenish my inventory and that would also keep my shop up and going. Telephone Expense is needed as well so I can stay in touch with my customers. Advertising expense is needed as well to keep my company name out there and keep people interested in coming to my business to have a job done.

Insurance expense is needed for liability purposes.

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Jacob Houle Cash Flow Analysis

The amount of cash on hand that I am going to start out with is $1,000 to invest in my business for start up costs. I will then use the money left over from my startup to invest I my business for the following month.

Cash receipts is the money that I am going to invest on in my small business and I am going to use it for start up and supply costs. I am just starting my own business so I plan to just invest $1,000 for my pre start up estimate.

The amount of cash I have available is the same price as my pre start up estimate. Which is still $1,000.

The amount of cash I have paid out is equivalent to $710. That number is the sum of all of my expenses.

I subtracted my expenses from my pre start up estimate. So I took $1,000 subtract my expenses which came to a total of $710 and so I had $290 left over to be put in the first month of my small business start up.

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Jacob Houle Balance Sheet

Balance Sheet for a business:

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Sales $1,900.00

$1,425.00

$950.00

$475.00

$0.00 Feb-19

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Apr-19

Jun-19

Aug-19

Oct-19

Dec-19

Jacob Houle

Additional Financial Information

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Section 6: Attachments-Support Documents

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