Business Plans   Click here to download the official Entry Kit for EP's $50,000 Business Plan Competition. Writing a business plan is an essential part of starting a successful entrepreneurial endeavor. A business plan should define your business, explain your goals, and act as the entrepreneurial endeavor’s resume. Just as a builder should not begin constructing a home without a blueprint, eager business owners should not jump into starting a new venture without a business plan. When writing a business plan, you should include the following information (all of the information listed below is not necessarily important for all businesses): Cover Sheet Executive Summary  The Business Description of business Marketing Competition Operating procedures Personnel Business insurance Financial Data Loan applications Capital equipment and supply list Balance sheet Breakeven analysis Pro-forma income projections (profit & loss statements) Three-year summary Detail by month, first year Detail by quarters, second and third years Assumptions upon which projections were based Pro-forma cash flow Supporting Documents Tax returns of principals for last three years Personal financial statement (all banks have these forms) For franchised businesses, a copy of franchise contract and all supporting documents provided by the franchisor  Copy of proposed lease or purchase agreement for building space Copy of licenses and other legal documents  Copy of resumes of all principals  Copies of letters of intent from suppliers, etc. Source: http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/writingplan.html Other important information you may want to include in your business plan include: What is the product? Features? Applications and uses? Benefits delivered? Market analysis and requirements? Competition Pricing Who is the user? Who makes/influences the purchase? What are likely sales channels? Marketing communications and public relations literature Distribution channels Product requirements Competitive positioning Target production costs Who installs the product? Training and field support requirements Customer support requirements Warranty policy Upgrade policy User, reference, installation manuals Product packaging Copy protection policy (for software) Maintenance considerations Expected product life Release schedule (alpha, beta testing, first release, etc.) Future product enhancements and extensions Functional requirements Performance requirements (responsiveness, accuracy, reliability, mean time between failure, etc.) Systems requirements Human factors External requirements Environmental requirements Office, factory, etc. Other requirements Regulatory requirements International and export considerations

"EP has been extremely helpful to us throughout the process. The business plan competition was particularly useful in providing us contacts with alumni and other prominent figures. This gave us important access and insight into the industry." -- Brendan Hargreaves '06 from FreeMotion   .............................................   "EP has been helpful to our team in meeting our goals." --Vivian Fong '06 from DigiTrex .............................................