Suggestions
1. People, not ideas or products, make a company successful. This is probably the most important section of your plan, since most small businesses fail due to poor management.
2. Show your team's balance of technical skills, business skills, and experience.
3. Anyone with 20% or more ownership in the company needs to be included.
4. Investors prefer experienced managers who have a significant stake in the success of the
business.
5. When addressing the management team's skills and abilities, be sure to tailor your
comments to address each of the major reasons small businesses fail [pages 37-40].
Show that the firm has the right people organized in the right way to do the job.
Resources Needed to Write
1. An organizational chart.
2. Job descriptions for key positions.
3. Resumes of key officers. Each officer's age.
4. Financial statements on each officer detailing his/her personal finances and stake in the
company.
5. The compensation plan including stock options, buyout, etc.
6. A written copy of your philosophy of management.
7. A list of the members of your board.
Names.
Current employers and titles.
Experience.
What they bring to the company or why they are on the board.
Their individual stakes in the company.
8. The names and addresses of your:
Accountant.
Attorney.
Bank.
Insurance company.
Advertising agency.
Consultants, if any.
Other non-officers who are assisting in directing your company.
9. Succession plan; critical if this is a family-owned business or if company success rests
on any one officer.
Identification of Key People
1. Include the resumes of the officers, the key directors, and anyone with 20% or more interest in the business in an appendix. Reference their location in this section of the plan. Provide summary information here.
Emphasize job experience relevant to this venture.
2. Show the strength of the team and the variety ofits members' skills.
3. How will you retain these people?
Contracts.
Compensation plan and perks.
Ownership.
4. Identify your board of directors, providing the same information as for your key officers.
Succession Plan
1. Who succeeds each of your key officers?
2. Do you have key employee insurance? With whom? Detail the coverage.
3. What is your plan for developing successor(s), especially if this is a family-owned business?
What are your general family policies; hiring family members, supervising family members, etc.?
Management Philosophy
1. What is your management philosophy?
What are the company's responsibilities to employees?
What are the company's responsibilities to the community?
What are the company's responsibilities to the environment?
2. How will decisions be made? How will you keep the entrepreneurial focus as your company grows?
Business Organization/Structure
1. Provide a complete organizational chart in an appendix, but reference it here.
Name of the individual.
Title of position.
Age of individual.
2. Form of ownership.
Sole proprietorship.
S-corporation.
Partnership.
3. Charter or licensing issues.
Where is the corporation chartered?
If licensing is required, where is the business licensed to do business?
Identification of Firms Assisting the Company
1. Name the following:
Accountant.
Attorney.
Banker
Insurance company/agent.
Advertising agency.
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